Restitution & Other Financial Recovery

Overview

The financial impacts of an offender’s criminal conduct can be devastating for crime victims. Because of this, every jurisdiction has passed laws that afford victims a right to restitution and every jurisdiction has established a Crime Victim Compensation Program.

Restitution

Restitution is a court-ordered payment from a convicted person to the victim for the costs incurred because of the crime. Restitution can play an important part in crime victims recovering from the crime. To help make a victim’s right to restitution meaningful, NCVLI develops resources to help survivors understand the right to restitution and to help advocates and attorneys work to ensure that a victim’s right to restitution is afforded in jurisdictions across the country. Many of these resources can be found in our Victim Law Library as well as our Victims’ Rights Enforcement Toolkit.

Most recently, in 2019, NCVLI began a collaboration with the Council of State Governments Justice Center (CSG) to develop additional resources, analyze systems, and provide technical assistance to improve the restitution processes and victims’ ability to effectuate their right to restitution. This joint endeavor is the Restitution Resource Center.

Navigate our Restitution & Financial Recovery Pages to learn more about avenues of financial recovery, including to restitution and to access resources. Learn more about the collaboration with CSG and the foundation of the Restitution Resource Center here.

 

This website was funded in part by a subgrant from The Council of State Governments (CSG) under Grant No. 2019-V3-GX-K038, awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this website are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice or CSG.