Restitution

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WI Court of Appeals – District II

Case Name: State of Wisconsin v. Marquis T. Williams

Case No.: 2017AP320-CR

Officials: Neubauer, C.J., Reilly, P.J., and Gundrum, J.

Focus: Restitution

Marquis T. Williams pled guilty in 2014 to first degree reckless homicide, was sentenced to prison for seven years, and was ordered to pay $25,142.80 in restitution. Williams does not challenge the imposition of restitution nor its amount, see WIS. STAT. § 973.20 (2015-16), but he does object to the Department of Corrections (DOC) deducting funds from his prison account to pay his restitution obligation. Williams moved his sentencing court to order DOC to stop taking funds from his prison account to pay his restitution obligation. The circuit court denied Williams’ request. We affirm, as the circuit court, sitting in its role as the sentencing court, did not have competency to address Williams’ motion. As an inmate, Williams’ recourse is to the inmate complaint review system (ICRS), WIS. ADMIN. CODE ch. DOC 310 (Dec. 2014), which, if denied at the administrative level, allows Williams to bring a writ of certiorari to the circuit court. As Williams did not utilize nor exhaust his administrative remedies under the ICRS, the circuit court, sitting as the sentencing court, did not have competency to entertain Williams’ motion.

Williams also challenges the collection of funds from his prison account as a violation of his judgment of conviction. We disagree. The judgment of conviction provides that “[i]f Probation/Extended Supervision is revoked and/or a prison term ordered, outstanding financial obligations shall be collected pursuant to statutory provisions, including deductions from inmate prison monies.”4 With the inclusion of the word “or,” the language clearly states that “[i]f … a prison term [is] ordered, outstanding financial obligations shall be collected … including deductions from inmate prison monies.”5 As previously discussed, the DOC can collect restitution from an inmate’s account, and nothing in the judgment of conviction provides otherwise. Once the court orders restitution, it is within the DOC’s authority to collect it from an inmate. See WIS. STAT. §§ 301.31, 301.32(1), 303.01(8).

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.