Debt to society paid: State law frees juvenile offenders from making restitution to victims

by Steve Brooks, Bay City News March 1, 2025February 28, 2025

AI ILLUSTRATION: A study by the UC Berkeley Law Policy Advocacy Clinic found that only 13% of restitution orders by California courts actually get paid. A new restitution law called the REPAIR Act clears the debt of thousands of individuals who were incarcerated for crimes committed in their youth. (AI llustration by Glenn Gehlke/Local News Matters via Adobe Firefly)

UNDER A NEW LAW, juvenile offenders now do not have to pay restitution to the victims of crime in California.

Assembly Bill 1186, otherwise known as the REPAIR Act, was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom and went into effect at the start of the new year. It will make it the responsibility of the California Victim Compensation Board to compensate victims of crime.

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