As established in the Judicial Code, payments shall be made to petitioners who have been found to be factually innocent. The petitioner is entitled to receive for each year or portion of a year they were incarcerated, up to a maximum of 15 years, the monetary equivalent of the average annual nonagricultural payroll wage in Utah, as determined by the date most recently published by the Department of Workforce Services at the time of the petitioner's release from prison.
During the 2015 General Session, the Legislature appropriated for Fiscal Year 2016, $105,900 from all sources for CCJJ Factual Innocence Payments. This is a 35.4 percent reduction from Fiscal Year 2015 revised estimated amounts from all sources. The total includes $60,200 from the General/Education Funds, a reduction of 89.5 percent from revised Fiscal Year 2015 estimates.
In addition to statewide compensation and internal service fund cost increases, the following appropriation adjustments were made during the 2015 General Session:
The $51,700 General Fund appropriation in FY 2013 is the second part of a $124,800 September 2011 court-ordered payment from a factual innocence case. This appropriation is directed to be paid in quarterly installments to the recipient until paid in full. The $18,800 nonlapsing amount in FY 2014 is the outstanding amount from this case and is scheduled to be paid on time. The remaining $73,000 is explained further in the Crime Victim Reparations line item.
COBI contains unaudited data as presented to the Legislature by state agencies at the time of publication. For audited financial data see the State of Utah's Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports.