How to Make Restitution While Incarcerated for a Crime

Anyone found guilty of a violent crime, or a crime involving stolen money, can potentially be ordered by the court to make restitution. This might mean paying the victim a certain amount of money to compensate for injuries or medical bills, or it could mean repaying money you stole or embezzled. Of course, if you're convicted of a heinous crime, you will probably be incarcerated. So how do you make restitution from inside a jail cell?

First, you should know that you don't always have control over when and how you make restitution for your crimes. Incarcerated or not, a judge can order the funds seized from your bank account or garnished from unpaid wages, or a lien can be placed on property you own. If you join a work program while in jail, the judge can also have those wages garnished, assuming you actually earn money from your prison's work program.

If, however, you have no property or money to your name, the courts will have to exercise other options to collect restitution for your victims. This might mean that you have to wait until you are released from jail to make good on the judgment against you, in which case the amount may earn interest during the period of your incarceration. Restitution is a serious matter that shouldn't be dismissed; the courts take it seriously, as well.

In some cases, you may be allowed to set up a payment program for paying restitution while incarcerated. A portion of the funds deposited into your commissary account, for example, may be garnished to contribute toward this purpose. When you are released from jail, you will then be put on another payment program that will require weekly or monthly installments to be paid in full. If you default on this requirement, it is possible they will send you back to jail.