How Texas restitution works
Unlike a fine, which is paid to the State, restitution is paid to the person the crime actually harmed. Texas treats it as part of the sentence: a judge may order it after a conviction, a guilty plea, or a plea of no contest, and may make it a condition of community supervision (probation), parole, or mandatory supervision. Under art. 42.037(a), if a judge decides not to order restitution - or orders only part of the loss - the judge must state the reasons on the record.
The number the calculator above produces is an estimate of the restitution a court may order, built from the victim-loss and ability-to-pay figures you enter. The final amount is set by the judge and must be "just," supported by evidence in the record, and limited to the losses caused by the offense you were convicted of. Restitution is not a replacement for a civil suit, and it does not aim to make the victim whole for every kind of harm - only for the concrete, provable costs the statute lists.
The article 42.037 framework
Article 42.037 is organized by subsection. The calculator prints the controlling subsection under each figure so you can trace where every dollar comes from. Here is the ladder the statute sets out:
| Subsection | What it governs |
|---|---|
| art. 42.037(a) | Authority to order restitution to any victim of the offense; the judge must state reasons on the record for ordering no restitution or only partial restitution. |
| art. 42.037(b)(1) | Property offenses: return the property, or pay the greater of its value on the date of the loss or on the date of sentencing, less the value of any property returned. |
| art. 42.037(b)(2) | Personal-injury offenses: reimburse the victim's expenses - medical, psychiatric, and psychological care, plus lost income; funeral and burial costs in a death case. |
| art. 42.037(c) | In setting the amount, the court considers the amount of the victim's loss and any amount already paid by the Crime Victims' Compensation Fund, plus other factors the court finds appropriate. |
| art. 42.037(h) | Ability to pay: the defendant's employment, current and future earning ability and financial resources, the willfulness of any failure to pay, and other special circumstances. |
| art. 42.037(k) | Burden of proof: the State proves the amount of the loss; the defendant proves financial resources and future ability to pay; disputes are resolved by a preponderance of the evidence. |
What restitution can and cannot include
Texas restitution reimburses concrete, provable economic losses. It is not a substitute for a civil lawsuit and does not compensate every harm a victim feels.
| Can be ordered | Cannot be ordered |
|---|---|
| Value of property stolen, damaged, or destroyed (art. 42.037(b)(1)) | Pain, suffering, and mental anguish (not an expense incurred) |
| Medical, psychiatric, and psychological treatment (art. 42.037(b)(2)) | Losses from charges that were dismissed, uncharged, or never proven |
| The victim's lost income and wages (art. 42.037(b)(2)) | Losses to people who are not victims of the offense of conviction |
| Funeral and burial expenses in a homicide case (art. 42.037(b)(2)) | Any amount with no factual basis in the record |
| Repayment to the Crime Victims' Compensation Fund or an insurer that already paid (art. 42.037(c)) | Interest, attorney's fees, and court costs (billed separately, not as restitution) |
- Victim
- A person who suffered property loss or personal injury as a direct result of the offense of conviction. Restitution runs to that victim, or to a person or fund that has compensated the victim - not to the public at large.
- Just amount
- An amount tied to the victim's actual loss and supported by evidence in the record - not a round figure taken from a presentence report alone.
- Offense of conviction
- The specific charge you pleaded to or were found guilty of. Restitution cannot reach losses from other episodes, even if they are part of the same overall scheme, unless you agree or those losses are separately adjudicated.
Ability to pay and payment schedules
A common misunderstanding is that being unable to pay erases restitution. It does not. The amount of restitution tracks the victim's loss; your finances mainly shape the payment schedule and what happens if you fall behind. Under art. 42.037(h), when restitution is a condition of community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision, the court weighs your employment, your current and future earning ability and resources, whether any failure to pay was willful, and other special circumstances before treating non-payment as a violation.
Article 42.037(k) puts the burden of proving your financial resources and your future ability to pay on you - the defense - while the State must prove the amount of the victim's loss. If you plan to ask for a manageable monthly payment, be ready to document income, dependents, and obligations. The monthly figure in the calculator simply divides the total obligation across the term you enter; a judge can approve a lower schedule based on your proof.
Who receives restitution - and when
Restitution is paid through the court or a community-supervision department, which then forwards it to the victim; defendants do not hand money directly to the person they harmed. If the Crime Victims' Compensation Fund or a private insurer already reimbursed the victim, the court can order that portion paid back to the fund or insurer instead, so no one is paid twice for the same loss (art. 42.037(c)). A restitution order also outlasts the case: for many offenses it must be paid before supervision ends, and unpaid restitution can be reduced to a civil judgment. Failing to make a good-faith effort to pay can extend supervision or, if the failure is willful, support revocation - which is why the art. 42.037(h) ability-to-pay factors matter so much.
The offense-of-conviction limit
The single most important limit on restitution is that it may cover only the offense you were actually convicted of, and only its real victims. A judge cannot fold in losses from a dismissed count, from conduct the State never charged, or from other victims of a broader scheme unless you agree or a court has adjudicated those losses. If your loss figures include anything from another episode, the calculator's estimate is too high - strip those amounts out before you rely on it, and uncheck the offense-of-conviction box to see the warning.
How courts apply article 42.037
Texas appellate courts review restitution for abuse of discretion and enforce due-process limits on the amount.
In Cartwright v. State, the Court of Criminal Appeals held that "due process considerations ... require that there must be evidence in the record to show that the amount set by the court has a factual basis," and that a hearsay presentence report, standing alone, is not enough to support the figure. Cartwright v. State, 605 S.W.2d 287, 289 (Tex. Crim. App. 1980).
In Campbell v. State, the court explained that "the amount of restitution must be just, and it must have a factual basis within the loss of the victim," and that a court "may not order restitution for an offense for which the defendant is not criminally responsible." Campbell v. State, 5 S.W.3d 693, 696-97 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999).
In Burt v. State, the court gathered the rule into three limits: restitution "must be for only the offense for which the defendant is criminally responsible," may run "only [to] the victim or victims of the offense," and its amount "must be just and supported by a factual basis within the record." When the amount lacks that basis, the remedy is to vacate and send the case back for a restitution hearing - not to erase the order. Burt v. State, 445 S.W.3d 752, 758 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014).
Texas restitution vs. federal MVRA
This tool covers Texas state restitution under art. 42.037. If your case is in federal court, a different law controls - the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act (18 U.S.C. § 3663A), which makes restitution mandatory for many crimes and measures loss differently. For a federal case, use our Federal Restitution (MVRA) Calculator instead. The two systems are not interchangeable, and an amount ordered in one does not set the amount in the other.
Challenging or reducing a restitution order
Because the State must prove the loss and the amount must have a factual basis, restitution is often negotiable and sometimes appealable. Defense counsel can contest the loss figures at sentencing, request a separate restitution hearing, present evidence of ability to pay to shape the schedule, and - if the record does not support the amount - challenge it on appeal, where the usual remedy is a new restitution hearing rather than deletion. A judge may also allow restitution to be paid in installments over the length of supervision instead of in a lump sum. If you have been ordered to pay restitution, or expect to be, talk with a lawyer before the amount is entered.