Why am I receiving letters stating that I owe restitution from 2 years back when I was a juvenile?
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Why am I receiving letters stating that I owe restitution from 2 years back when I was a juvenile?
I’m currently on no probation; now an adult was told that I owe $5000? The letter says my guardians are responsible but both were incarcerated at the time I caught a charge. I got sent to TJJD and my parole officer discharged me successful and said I had no fines. Do I have to pay this still or are my parents still responsible?
Asked on March 23, 2018 under Criminal Law, Texas
Answers:
B.H.F., Member, Texas State Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
Most likely....the statute of limitations has run and you are no longer liable for this restitution, based on what you have described. Additionally, if it was not part of your sentence, it cannot now be retroactively imposed on you.
The main emphasis here is that this is based on the limited information from your question. Without seeing the actual letter, my advice is somewhat limited. It still wouldn't hurt to take the actual documents to an attorney at let them review it during a consultation. Many attorneys now offer free or low costs consults. They can tell you if this is a legal collection effort....or if it's an attempt by the collector to get you to ratify (voluntarily reinstate) a debt that you do not currently owe. It will be a little inconvenient to set up a meeting, but it's worth the effort to know what other rights you may have or should invoke.
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