§ 18-1.3-601 — Legislative declaration

Colorado § 18-1.3-601

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 18: Criminal
• Art.: Sentencing in Criminal Cases

Text

(1) The general assembly finds and
declares that:

(a) Crime victims endure undue suffering and hardship resulting from
physical injury, emotional and psychological injury, or loss of property;

(b) Persons found guilty of causing such suffering and hardship should be
under a moral and legal obligation to make full restitution to those harmed by their
misconduct;

(c) The payment of restitution by criminal offenders to their victims is a
mechanism for the rehabilitation of offenders;

(d) Restitution is recognized as a deterrent to future criminality;

(e) An effective criminal justice system requires timely restitution to victims
of crime and to members of the immediate families of such victims in order to
lessen the financial burdens inflicted upon them, to compensate them for their
suffering and hardship, and to preserve the individual dignity of victims;

(f) Former procedures for restitution assessment, collection, and distribution
have proven to be inadequate and inconsistent from case to case;

(g) The purposes of this part 6 are to facilitate:

(I) The establishment of programs and procedures to provide for and collect
full restitution for victims of crime in the most expeditious manner; and

(II) The effective and timely assessment, collection, and distribution of
restitution requires the cooperation and collaboration of all criminal justice
agencies and departments.

(2) It is the intent of the general assembly that restitution be ordered,
collected, and disbursed to the victims of crime and their immediate families. Such
restitution will aid the offender in reintegration as a productive member of society.
This part 6 shall be liberally construed to accomplish all such purposes.

Legislative History

Source: L. 2002: Entire article added with relocations, p. 1419, � 2, effective October 1.