Financial Recovery & Restitution Resources
Restitution & Other Financial Recovery
The financial impacts of an offender’s criminal conduct can be devastating for crime victims. Because of this, every jurisdiction has passed laws that afford victims a right to restitution and every jurisdiction has established a Crime Victim Compensation Program.
Restitution
Restitution is a court-ordered payment from a convicted person to the victim for the costs incurred because of the crime. Restitution can play an important part in crime victims recovering from the crime. To help make a victim’s right to restitution meaningful, NCVLI develops resources to help survivors understand the right to restitution and to help advocates and attorneys work to ensure that a victim’s right to restitution is afforded in jurisdictions across the country. Many of these resources can be found in our Victim Law Library and our Victims’ Rights Enforcement Toolkit.
In 2019, NCVLI began a collaboration with the Council of State Governments Justice Center (CSG) to develop additional resources, analyze systems, and provide technical assistance to improve restitution processes and victims’ ability to effectuate their right to restitution. This joint endeavor is the Restitution Resource Center.
Restitution Related Publications
Victim Law Library
A number of publications in NCVLI’s Victim Law Library address victims’ right to restitution. A selection of restitution-related publications are included below; please visit the Victim Law Library to access additional publications related to victims’ rights.
Fundamentals of Victims’ Rights: A Victim’s Right to Restitution
Future Expenses: A Necessary Component of Restitution
Survey of Select Laws Governing Timelines for Entry of Initial Restitution Order in a Criminal Case
Survey of Select State and Federal Laws Providing for the Recovery of Attorney Fees in Restitution
Abatement Ab Initio and a Crime Victim’s Right to Restitution
Restitution Law & Practice– Legal Practitioner’s Guide, Restitution Overview and Law Assessment Tool
Practice Tools
NCVLI offers an assortment of tools and resrouces to make a victim’s right to restitution meaningful. Two basic resources are here:
Restitution Checklist
Sample Restitution Log
In addition, NCVLI’s Rights Enforcement Toolkit features a number of different resources designed to support the assertion and enforcement of victims’ rights in connection with criminal proceedings by victims’ rights attorneys and advocates. A number of Tools focusing on victims’ right to restitution are included below, and additional Tools can be accessed by visiting the main Rights Enforcement Toolkit page.
Post-Conviction: Restitution
RRC Making Restitution Meaningful: Part 1
RRC Making Restitution Meaningful: Part 2
NCVLI’s Know Your Rights / Quicktools are a series of short videos about victims’ rights and how those rights can be protected. One video addressing victims’ right to restitution is included below, and additional Quicktools can be accessed by visiting the main Quicktools Page.
Trainings
This website was funded in part by a subgrant from The Council of State Governments (CSG) under Grant No. 2019-V3-GX-K038, awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this website are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice or CSG.
