File your restitution claim

Restitution is money that a defendant owes to a victim.

If you are a victim of a crime and you experience a financial loss as a result of the crime, you have the right to receive restitution from the defendant.

What's a victim?

The victim could be:

• the person or business who was directly harmed
• that person’s immediate family member(s)
• another person if the victim is a minor, deceased, or physically or psychologically incapacitated

How it works

If you're a victim, once a defendant is referred to the Adult Probation Department for a presentence investigation, we reach out to you to help you get a restitution order.

The judge will then order the defendant to pay restitution to you. If the defendant is sentenced locally, like probation or county jail for example, the Comprehensive Collections Unit (CCU) of the San Francisco Superior Court will collect restitution from the defendant.

If the defendant is sentenced to state prison, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) will collect restitution payments from the defendant.

The CCU or CDCR will then send payments to you.