Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

We have different state courts: criminal courts where a government office (the prosecuting attorney) files charges; and civil courts where a party with 'standing' (usually a victim) files a civil cause of action (sometimes seeking money damages, sometimes seeking injunctions, etc.). It is not unusual for the same illegal conduct to result in actions filed in both court 'systems'. (Remember the OJ Simpson case? He was charged criminally and found not-guilty. But the victims' families filed a civil law suit and proved his responsibility by the civil court's lower burden of proof, and were awarded money damages.) In your situation, I cannot comment on the civil case because you don't say what the civil cause of action was for, what damages were awarded etc. But, under the Crime Victim's Rights Act (CVRA) and the Code of Criminal Procedure, any money that the criminal court collected is supposed to be a set-off (credit) against any civil judgment obtained in a civil case arising out of the same facts; and the flip-side of the same coin (any money collected in the civil case is a credit against your criminal case restitution order). The victim should not collect "double" for the same losses, but the criminal and civil laws allow parallel actions to ensure the greatest likelihood that victims will be paid back in full and at the soonest possible date. (Your concern about the income tax garnishment suggests that you weren't likely going to hand that windfall over to the victim voluntarily.) You should present to the probation department and court clerk evidence of whatever was collected to pay off the civil lawsuit judgment so your criminal restitution order is given whatever set-off is allowed. Michigan's garnishment laws allow for STATE income tax rebates to be garnished to pay court judgments, including criminal restitution debts (and there's a bill in Washington pending that would expand that to Federal income tax refunds, but this isn't law yet).