2013 Arizona Revised Statutes
Title 31 - Prisons and Prisoners
§ 31-238 Incarceration costs; setoff

31-238. Incarceration costs; setoff

A. The director of the state department of corrections shall establish a per annum cost of incarceration for any person convicted in a state court and committed to the state department of corrections.

B. This cost of incarceration shall reflect the amount of dollars the state expended in behalf of the prisoner and shall be the equivalent to the average cost of one year's incarceration, and the director shall credit or debit a prorated portion of the cost of incarceration with respect to any such person incarcerated for three hundred thirty-four or fewer days in a given fiscal year.

C. The calculation of the number of days of incarceration in a given fiscal year for the purpose of such fee shall include time served prior to conviction.

D. The state shall have the right to set off the cost of incarceration calculated under subsection A at any time and without prior notice against any claim made by or monetary obligation owed to a person for whom a cost of incarceration can be calculated, except that twenty per cent of any claim or monetary obligation shall be exempt from the provisions of this section.

E. Based on the average annual cost of incarceration for the previous three years, the state may set off a sum to cover the minimum future incarceration that a person will serve but must tender to the person upon his release the difference between the monies set off and the actual cost of incarceration, if any.

F. If a person for whom a cost of incarceration can be calculated obtains a monetary judgment against the state and the attorney general appears and exercises the rights of this section, any monies set off against the monetary judgment shall be distributed as follows:

1. Seventy per cent of the monies set off shall be transmitted to the state general fund.

2. Thirty per cent of the monies shall go to the office of the attorney general to cover the costs associated with litigation.

G. On or before the fifteenth day of January and July of each year, the attorney general shall file with the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the chairman of the senate and house appropriations committees, and the director of the joint legislative budget committee, a full and complete account of receipts and disbursements resulting from actions taken pursuant to subsection F for the previous six months.