BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 680|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 680
Author: Hall (D)
Amended: 6/22/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 4-1, 7/7/09
AYES: Corbett, Harman, Florez, Leno
NOES: Walters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 64-13, 5/28/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Local government: fees and judgments
SOURCE : Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department
DIGEST : This bill revises several provisions relating to
the collection of funds from judgment debtors and creates
an ex-parte application for relief when a levying officer
has not paid funds to a person entitled to a money
judgment, and exempts those actions from the Tort Claims
Act.
ANALYSIS : Existing law prescribes the amounts of fees
that may be charged for various services performed by
county sheriffs and marshals. (Government Code Section
26720 et seq.)
This bill, effective July 1, 2011, increases the following
fees from $30 to $35:
CONTINUED
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1.The fee for serving or executing any process or notice.
(Government Code Section 26721.)
2.The fee for service of a summons, complaint, or
prejudgment claim of right to possession in an action for
unlawful detainer. (Government Code Section 26721.1.)
3.The fee for serving, executing, or processing a writ of
attachment, writ of execution, writ of sale, order on
real estate, and the fee for serving a record owner other
than the defendant. (Government Code Section 26725.)
4.The fee for preparing and posting the initial notice of
personal property sale under a writ of attachment,
execution, sale, or order of court. (Government Code
Section 26728.)
5.The fee for making a levy on personal property already in
possession of the officer who is holding it under
attachment in the same action. (Government Code Section
26734.)
6.The fee for executing and delivering any other instrument
(other than a certificate or deed of sale; deed or
certificate of redemption). (Government Code Section
26742.)
7.The fee for subpoenaing a witness. (Government code
Section 26743.)
8.The fee for maintaining custody of property under levy by
the use of a keeper for each day custody is maintained
after the first day. (Government Code Section 26726(b).)
9.The fee for making a not found return on specified
documents required to be served, and certifying that the
person or property cannot be found at the given address.
(Government Code Section 26738.)
This bill, effective January 1, 2011, increases the fee for
keeping and caring for property under a writ of attachment,
execution, possession, or sale from $120 to $140, when
employed for any eight-hour period or any part thereof.
This bill permits that increased fee to be charged by any
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additional sheriff who performs keeping services that are
required, and increases the maximum amount a sheriff may
receive in a 24-hour period from $240 to $380 (double the
fee amount). (Government Code Section 26726(a).)
This bill, effective January 1, 2011, increases the fee
that a keeper receives from $40 to $50, when, pursuant to
Government Code Section 26738, a levying officer prepares a
not-found return. (Government Code Section 26726(c).)
This bill, effective January 1, 2011, increases the fee for
cancellation of service, or execution of any process or
notice prior to its completion, from $28 to 436.
(Government Code Section 26736.)
Existing law permits a court to issue a warrant for failure
to appear pursuant to a subpoena or failure to appear
pursuant to a court order, as an alternative to issuing a
warrant for contempt, if certain statutory requirements are
met. (Code of Civil Procedure Section 1993.) Existing law
prescribes the fees for processing a warrant pursuant to
Section 1993 that must be paid by the moving party.
(Government Code Section 26744.5.)
This bill, effective January 1, 2011, increases those fees
as follows:
1.$30 to $35 to receive and process a warrant.
2.$28 to $35 to cancel the service of the warrants.
3.$60 to $75 if, using due diligence, the sheriff is unable
to find the person at the address specified.
4.$75 to $85 to arrest the person.
Existing law provides that a $15 fee shall be assessed by
the sheriff or marshal for certification of correction on
each citation that requires inspection for proof of
correction, as specified. (Government Code Section
26746.1.)
This bill, effective January 1, 2011, increases that fee to
$17.
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Existing law provides that $10 of any fee collected by the
sheriff's civil division or marshal for performing
specified services must be deposited in a special fund in
the county treasury. (Government Code Section 26731.)
This bill, effective January 1, 2011, increases that amount
to $15.
Existing law authorizes the sheriff to charge a $10
processing fee for each disbursement of money collected
under a writ of attachment, execution, possession, or sale
(except child support collections). (Government Code
Section 26746.)
This bill increases that fee to $12.
Existing law provides that if a writ is issued to enforce a
judgment, a levying officer must, among other things,
compute and collect the amount of additional interest
accrued on the principal amount of the judgment remaining
unsatisfied from the date of issuance of the writ until the
date interest ceases to accrue. Existing law permits the
levying officer to adjust the amount of daily interest to
reflect partial satisfaction, if the amounts collected
periodically do not fully satisfy the money judgment.
(Code of Civil Procedure Section 685.050.)
This bill, instead, requires the levying officer to make
that adjustment.
Existing law requires a levying officer to distribute the
proceeds or collection of a money judgment by a writ of
execution in order of priority, including the judgment
creditor to (1) satisfy costs and interest accruing after
the issuance of the writ pursuant to which the sale or
collection is conducted, and (2) satisfy the amount due on
the judgment with costs and interest, as entered on the
writ. (Code of Civil Procedure Section 701.810.)
This bill clarifies that the distribution of proceeds or
collection from a money judgment to a judgment creditor
must be in the following order: (1) any costs and interest
accruing on the judgment after issuance of the writ, as
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specified, and (2) the principal amount due on the judgment
with costs and interest as entered on the writ.
Existing law authorizes a person entitled to a money
judgment held by a sheriff to make a demand for that money,
and if the sheriff neglects or refuses to pay over to that
person the amount owed, the person is authorized to recover
the amount owed, 25 percent damages, and interest at a rate
of 10 percent per month. (Government code Section 26680.)
Those provisions apply to a levying officer if (1) the
officer fails to pay the proceeds or deposit them with the
court, as specified, (2) a person entitled to any of the
proceeds has filed a written demand for payment with the
levying officer, and (3) the levying officer has failed,
within 10 days after the demand is filed, to pay the person
that filed the demand the proceeds to which the person is
entitled. (Code of Civil Procedure Section 701.820.)
This bill authorizes a judgment creditor to file an
ex-parte application for an order directing the levying
officer to show cause why relief should not be granted
pursuant to Section 26680 of the Government Code, as
specified.
This bill provides that if the court finds the facts
alleged in the ex-parte application to be knowingly false,
or made in bad faith, the court may award costs and
reasonable attorney fees to the levying officer. This bill
similarly allows the recovery of costs, including
reasonable attorney's fees, under Section 26680.
Existing law requires the levying officer to promptly
distribute the proceeds of a sale or collection of the
entitled parties, and authorizes the levying officer, if
proceeds are not to be received in one payment, to
accumulate proceeds received during a 30 day period and
make payment of those proceeds to the entitled parties
within 20 days of the end of the 30-day period. (Code of
Civil Procedure Section 701.820(c).)
This bill requires the levying officer, if proceeds are not
received in one payment, to make payment of those proceeds
to the entitled persons within 10 days of the end of the
30-day period.
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Existing law, the Tort Claims Act, provides that a claim
for money or damages against the state or a local public
entity must be presented in accordance with the terms of
the Act. (Government Code Sections 905, 905.2.) Existing
law provides that 13 specified claims against local public
entities are exempted from the Act, including claims under
the Revenue and Taxation Code, claims by public employees
regarding salary and benefits, and worker's compensation
claims. (Government Code Section 905.O
This bill exempts claims for the recovery of the money from
a levying officer pursuant to a money judgment under
Section 26680, as specified, from the Act.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/8/09)
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (source)
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
Bill Lutze, Sheriff of Inyo County
Brian Muller, Sheriff of Mariposa County
California Association of Legal Support Professionals
California Correctional Supervisors Organization
California State Association of Counties
Gregory Ahern, Sheriff of Alameda County
Jeff Neves, Sheriff of El Dorado County
Keith Royal, Sheriff of Nevada County
Office of the Sheriff, San Bernardino County
Peace Officers Research Association of California
Perry L. Reniff, Sheriff of Butte County
Phil Wowak, Acting Sheriff of Santa Cruz County
Regional Council of Rural Counties
Riverside Sheriffs' Association
Sacramento County Sheriff's Department
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Tom Bosenko, Sheriff of Shasta County
Warren Rupe, Sheriff of Contra Costa County
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
"Under current law, a county sheriff's office is authorized
to collect various civil fees for serving, executing, and
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processing required court notices, writs, orders and other
services provided by a sheriff's order.
"While the costs associated with these services has
increased dramatically in recent years, most of the civil
fees have remained stagnant since 2000. Fuel prices alone
have skyrocketed and personnel costs, such as pay,
benefits, and other administrative costs have also
increased significantly."
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, sponsor of the
bill, states that "[b]ased on the increased costs to
conduct business, a moderate increase to some of the fees
would greatly enhance our ability to continue to provide
the same high level of service to the community. The
proposed fee increased would range from $5 to $20 for the
various services provided by county sheriffs and marshals.
Many of the proposed fees have not been increases since the
passage of AB 1768 (Steinberg), chapter 629, Statutes of
2000, and generally reflect their present amount adjusted
for inflation. (For reference, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics' CPI inflation calculator states that $30 in
2000 is the equivalent of $37.26 today.) The numerous
sections for which a $30 fee would be increased to $35 to
reflect that change in value due to inflation.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Brownley,
Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro,
Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes,
Furutani, Galgiani, Gilmore, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez,
Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande,
Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino,
Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Yamada,
Bass
NOES: Anderson, DeVore, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Harkey,
Knight, Logue, Niello, Silva, Smyth, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Duvall, Hagman, Jeffries
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RJG:cm 7/8/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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