Offsets of State Income Tax Refunds

If you have received a letter from the Colorado Department of Revenue advising you that all or part of your income tax refund was intercepted to pay outstanding court fees/fines or restitution, please refer to Tax Offset Information.

Collections of Court-Ordered Fees, Fines, and Restitution

Court-ordered fees, fines, and restitution are due and payable on the day they are ordered.  If a defendant is unable to pay, he or she will be directed to work with a Collections Investigator (CI).  CIs are located in each judicial district as required by Sections 18-1.3-401(1)(a)(III)(C) and 16-18.5-104, Colorado Revised Statutes.  The CIs’ primary functions are as follows:

• Conduct a formal interview and thorough financial investigation of defendants to determine their ability to pay their assessed fines, fees, and restitution.
• Obtain immediate payments from defendants if possible, or set up the shortest possible time frame for repayment.
• Monitor payments and report to the court issues regarding compliance with the payment plan.
• Ensure that appropriate action is taken when defendants fail to pay their assessments.
• Prepare court accounts for assignment to private collection agencies and manage the referral and tracking of such accounts for the courts and probation departments. 

Collections from criminal defendants exceed $100 million a year.  Of the total, approximately 9% are General Fund revenues, 23% are recoveries of Restitution, 22% are funds to support statewide Victim Compensation and Assistance Programs, and 46% are funds to support the Highway User’s Trust Fund, Offender Services Fund, Law Enforcement Assistance Fund, Drug Offender Surcharge Fund, and other important funds.  The strong results, despite the challenges inherent with collecting from criminal defendants, are attributed to the efforts of CIs in cooperation with other system personnel.  The State has also benefited greatly through the Judicial Branch’s use of collection tools that have been implemented as a result of the Legislature’s strengthening of statutes in this area.