Start with your signed diversion order, SC-3107, and any separate restitution order, SC-3108. SC-3107 records the conditions and hearings chosen for the case; SC-3108 records how a victim-loss amount was determined and what the court ordered. If the amount is disputed or a hearing is set, compare the claimed losses with the supporting records before agreeing to a number or waiving a hearing. A blank form or a proposed amount is not the final signed order. (Santa Barbara Superior Court SC-3107; SC-3108)
Read the diversion order before the amount order
Santa Barbara Superior Court’s forms index lists three related misdemeanor-diversion forms. SC-3106 contains pre-plea advisements; SC-3107 is the individualized diversion order; SC-3108 addresses restitution. Put the completed forms together with the complaint and hearing notices, then note the case number, checked conditions, proof or compliance hearing, and any restitution hearing written into SC-3107. The printed options are not all automatically imposed. (SC-3106; SC-3107)
If SC-3107 schedules a restitution hearing, ask counsel what amount the prosecution or claimant seeks and what documents support it. If it refers to an SC-3108 order already signed, obtain that order rather than assuming the amount from a verbal estimate. Keep the date and any instruction about bringing or filing documents. Do not assume a hearing disappeared merely because someone discussed an amount informally.
What SC-3108 should let you check
SC-3108 separates the evidence of victim loss from the route used to set the amount: a court hearing, a stipulation, or a waiver of the hearing. It has places for the amount, payee, loss categories and other terms. Check what the judge actually selected and signed. A printed interest, cost, or loss category does not apply merely because it appears on the template. (SC-3108)
Make a short item-by-item comparison: who claims each loss, what was purchased or repaired, when the expense arose, the bill or receipt supporting it, any amount already paid, and how it relates to the charged incident. Give counsel records that contradict a date, duplicate an item, or show a different amount. That is a way to prepare a factual dispute; it does not predetermine what the judge will find. Before signing a stipulation or hearing waiver, ask what amount, payee and payment terms it will establish.
Inability to pay and the enforceable order are separate questions
For judicial misdemeanor diversion under Penal Code section 1001.95, section 1001.96 requires full restitution for dismissal. But it also says a person may not be denied diversion or found not to have complied solely because indigence prevents payment. SC-3106 gives the same warning. If payment is the issue, document your financial circumstances and ask counsel to raise that statutory protection. It does not automatically erase a properly determined restitution amount.
Penal Code section 1214(b) addresses a different consequence: a restitution order has money-judgment effect when the defendant was informed of the right to a judicial determination of the amount and was given a hearing, waived one, or stipulated to the amount ordered. SC-3108’s hearing and stipulation boxes matter for that reason. Ask counsel to compare the signed amount order, the path by which it was entered, and any later payment record before assuming a claimed balance is final or unenforceable.
The Law Offices of David S. Chesley’s Santa Maria criminal defense page provides local practice context. For help reviewing the diversion and restitution forms in your case, call (800) 755-5174.