As used in this sub-chapter, the following definitions apply:

(1) "Administrative fee" means the cost of supervising the payment of restitution authorized by 46-18-201 , MCA.

(2) "Cost of collecting the payments for restitution" means the actual cost a collection agency under contract with the department incurs to collect restitution plus the 10% fee for the cost of supervising the payment of restitution for an offender whose criminal sentence has expired.

(3) "Department" means the department of corrections established in 2-15-2301 , MCA.

(4) "Felony offender" means a person who has been found guilty of a felony offense upon a verdict of guilty or a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, and whom a judge has ordered to pay restitution to a victim, including a juvenile convicted under 41-5-206 , MCA.

(5) "Inmate account" means the prison inmate trust account an incarcerated offender maintains pursuant to 53-1-107 , MCA.

(6) "Offender" has the same meaning as felony offender in (4) .

(7) "Restitution" means the amount of money a district court judge has ordered a felony offender to pay to a victim.

(8) "State prison" has the same meaning as found in 53-30-101 , MCA.

(9) "Victim" has the same meaning as found in 46-18-243 , MCA.

(1) The department shall maintain a victim's restitution fund to hold in trust all restitution payments made by or on behalf of offenders. The department shall maintain a special revenue account to hold administrative fees to pay for the cost to administer the restitution program.

(2) For each felony offender subject to a restitution judgment, the department shall maintain the following:

(a) a list of each cause number of each case for which a judge ordered the offender to pay restitution, and the amount the judge ordered the offender to pay in each case; and

(b) each payment the offender has paid and how the department applied it to the offender's outstanding restitution obligation.

(3) The department shall generate and submit quarterly reports to:

(a) the offender's supervising officer if the offender is under supervision of the adult probation and parole bureau; and

(b) the crime victim compensation program of the department of justice.

(4) The department shall give the department of revenue a copy of the restitution order to allow diversion of state and federal tax refunds to the department to meet the restitution obligation.

(5) The department shall notify the district court of record and the department of revenue when an offender has fully satisfied a court-ordered restitution obligation.

(1) For offenders who are incarcerated in a state prison, prison officials may take up to 50% of money that enters an inmate's prison account to satisfy the offender's restitution obligation.

(2) The state prison shall withhold 15% of gross wages paid to an inmate in a federally certified prison industries program to satisfy unpaid restitution in the manner provided by these rules. If the obligation has been fully paid or no restitution was ordered, the department shall forward the amount to the crime victim compensation program in the department of justice.

(3) The state prison shall forward the restitution payment to the department's central office in Helena on a monthly basis.

(4) Offenders under supervision of adult probation and parole or a prerelease center shall submit restitution payments directly to the department in an amount determined by the offender's probation and parole officer or case manager in accordance with 46-18-244 (6) , MCA.

(5) Offenders who are not incarcerated in a state prison or youth correctional facility, or who are no longer under supervision by the state, shall continue to pay restitution and administrative fees directly to the department.

(6) Offenders shall send restitution payments by cashier's check or money order addressed to the Department of Corrections, Attn: Restitution, P.O. Box 201350, Helena, Montana 59620-1350. The department may accept checks from the prerelease centers on behalf of offenders who reside in the center or from an offender's employer pursuant to a garnishment order.

(1) The department may refer outstanding restitution obligations for collection by a private collection agency or the department of revenue.

(2) The collection agents specified in (1) shall forward all money collected for restitution less the agency's actual costs of collection to the department.

(3) The department shall withhold an administrative fee of 10% of the payment it receives from a private agency or the department of revenue.

(4) Upon receipt of information that a person under the supervision of the department of corrections is entitled to receive money from any source, the department may request the office of victim services in the department of justice and the county attorney for the county in which the person was sentenced to petition the sentencing court to garnish the money for the payment of restitution, child support, and per diem costs of incarceration.

(1) The department shall disburse victim restitution fund balances greater than $25 at least monthly. The department shall disburse fund balances of $25 or less on a quarterly basis.

(2) If the judgment does not specify the timing or sequence in which multiple victims are to receive restitution, the department shall pay victims by the most equitable method determined in the discretion of the department, following these general guidelines:

(a) for multiple restitution obligations of less than $500, the department shall distribute restitution payments in the order listed in the judgment until each victim's restitution is paid in full;

(b) for multiple restitution obligations greater than $500, the department shall distribute restitution payments to all individual victims on a prorated basis; and

(c) the department shall pay the crime victim compensation program, then any state or local government agency after all individual victims have received full restitution.

(3) If the offender owes restitution to victims in more than one judgment, in order of the date of the judgment, the department shall pay all victims in a prior judgment before addressing the obligations of a subsequent judgment.

(4) If the department is unable to locate a victim with an outstanding restitution obligation, the department shall forward the full amount of restitution to the Montana department of revenue to hold in an abandoned property account.