BILL NUMBER: AB 2499 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 16, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 25, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Portantino
( Coauthor: Assembly Member
Fletcher )
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to amend Sections 1803.5, 1808.7, 11200,
11202, 11202.5, 11205, 11205.1, 11205.2, 40512.6, 41501,
42005, 42005.1, 42005.5, 42007, 42007.1, 42007.3, and 42007.4 of,
to amend, repeal, and add Sections 1803.5 and 1808.7 of,
to repeal Section 11205.4 of, and to repeal and add Section 11208 of,
the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2499, as amended, Portantino. Vehicles: traffic violator school
program.
(1) Existing law provides for the licensing and administration by
the Department of Motor Vehicles of traffic violator schools,
operators, and instructors in a classroom setting. Existing law also
defines the term "traffic violator school" for purposes of the
Vehicle Code to mean, among other things, a business that provides
instruction in traffic safety, including, but not limited to,
classroom traffic violator curricula.
Existing law authorizes a court, in lieu of adjudicating a traffic
offense committed by a person who holds a specified class of driver'
s license, to order or permit a the
person to attend a licensed traffic violator school, licensed driving
school, or other court-approved program of driving instruction.
Existing law also permits a court to order a continuance against a
person who receives a notice to appear in court for a violation of a
statute relating to the safe operation of a vehicle, in consideration
for attendance at a licensed school for traffic violators, a
licensed driving school, or any other court-approved program of
driving instruction, and after that attendance, to dismiss the
complaint, as specified.
This bill would revise and recast these provisions and, instead,
would authorize the court, after a deposit of bail and bail
forfeiture, a plea of guilty or no contest, or a conviction, to order
a continuance of the proceeding against a person who receives a
notice to appear in court for a violation of a statute relating to
safe operation of a vehicle, in consideration for attendance at a
licensed school for traffic violators and order that the conviction
be held confidential. The bill would prohibit the record of certain
convictions from being confidential under these provisions.
The
The bill would also require that no violation point
count be assessed if the record of conviction is confidential, unless
other specified conditions apply. The bill would require that
these provisions become operative on July 1, 2011.
(2) Existing law establishes traffic violator school licensing
requirements and requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to
license traffic violator school operators .
This bill would revise these requirements, including the licensing
criteria applicable to a traffic violator school owner or operator
and a person licensed as an owner/operator and who is so
designated on the owner's license .
The bill would revise the requirements applicable to a
court-approved program and would require a court-approved program
that was in operation prior to July January
1, 2011, to file an application for licensure as a traffic
violator school by September 1, 2011 January
1, 2012 . The bill would prohibit a court from approving a
traffic safety program after June 30 January
1 , 2011.
(3) Existing law authorizes a court , under contract,
to use a court assistance program (CAP) to perform services related
to the processing and monitoring of traffic violators and traffic
violator schools and establishes requirements for the program.
The bill would authorize a CAP under contract with the Department
of Motor Vehicles to assist in oversight activities.
This bill would delete provisions relating to both a monitoring
report prepared by a CAP and other provisions that preclude the
Department of Motor Vehicles department
or the court from removing a traffic violator school from a referral
list if certain conditions are met. The bill would also delete
provisions relating to a requirement that the Judicial Council
collect and compile data on CAPs and traffic safety instruction.
The bill would authorize the court to charge a traffic violator
fee to defray the costs incurred by a CAP for traffic administration
services provided to the court and to delegate collection of the fee
to the CAP. The bill would require that the fees be approved and
regulated by the court and that the fee not exceed the actual costs
incurred by the CAP.
(4) Existing law requires a traffic violator school owner to file
a bond of $2,000 with the department.
The bill would increase the amount of the bond to $15,000 for
home study schools and require a $2,000 bond for classroom-based
schools .
(5) Existing law establishes fees related to the department's
licensing of traffic violator schools.
This bill would discontinue the fee charged for the completion
certificate and would, instead, require the department to charge fees
for issuance of an original, renewal, or duplicate or corrected
traffic violator school owner, operator, instructor, and branch or
classroom location license. The bill would require the court to
collect a single administrative fee to be collected from the person
attending the traffic violator school, which would include an amount
sufficient to defray the cost of monitoring traffic violator school
instruction.
(6) Existing law requires the court to make available to persons
who choose the traffic violator school, the current list of traffic
violator schools, published by the department.
This bill would require the department
Department of Motor Vehicles to provide a list of licensed
traffic violator schools on its Internet Web site, as specified, and
to develop a Web-based database accessible by the courts and traffic
violator schools to allow oversight of traffic violator school
student enrollments and course completions.
The bill would also require, if a court or a CAP provides a hard
copy list of licensed traffic violator schools to a traffic violator,
to provide only a current date-stamped list downloaded from the
department's Internet Web site.
(7) Under existing law, with certain exceptions, a violation of
the Vehicle Code is a crime.
Because this bill would change the definition of an existing
crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program.
(8) The bill would make conforming changes.
(9) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) Numerous studies around the country show a direct link between
the accumulation of traffic violator points and the likelihood that
a multiple traffic offender will at some time be involved in a
serious traffic accident resulting in injury, death, or both.
Sanctions alone are not the answer but should be coupled with
education that fosters safe driving habits to reduce traffic safety
risks.
(b) In 1984, the Legislature authorized a program designed to
reduce recidivism among multiple offenders. In exchange for
attendance at a traffic violator school (TVS), an offender's
violation is dismissed by the court, which in turn prevents the
Department of Motor Vehicles from imposing a point on the offender's
driving record. Use of this option has expanded significantly over
the years and now nearly 25 percent of all minor traffic offenses,
numbering over one million annually, are dismissed in exchange for
attendance at traffic violator schools.
(c) In addition, while current law only allows the first offense
within any 18-month period to be dismissed for TVS attendance, if a
superior court is unaware of the previous dismissal and allows an
offender to attend TVS more frequently, there is nothing the
department can do to enforce the law. As a result, many drivers avoid
sanctions that would otherwise be appropriate because of the number
and frequency of their violations.
(d) Currently, the department licenses approximately 400 classroom
TVS programs, and superior courts have approved approximately 200
home study programs, including Internet, video, and paper-based
correspondence programs. This divided administration of education
delivery has resulted in various curricula without uniform criteria
that would help achieve the ultimate goal of traffic safety. In
addition to variations in curricula, the traffic violator schools
operate under multiple regulatory, oversight, and monitoring
structures, because each court in a county has different requirements
under which a traffic violator school is approved.
(e) To carry out local oversight of currently unlicensed traffic
violator schools, superior courts currently use court assistance
programs (CAPs) to monitor schools and act as a liaison between
traffic violators and the courts as well as violators and the
department. The critical services provided by CAPs have kept the
current system functioning, helped courts oversee their local traffic
violator programs, ensured that violators who do not have Internet
access find schools to attend, and otherwise served to guide
violators successfully through the process. Without this local
monitoring, the department and courts would be hard pressed to run
their TVS programs and any change in the current system should
include the use of services such as those of court assistance
programs.
(f) However, with increasing use of TVS programs since 1984 and a
recent study concluding that current programs do not reduce the
likelihood that attendees will be involved in fewer traffic
collisions or avoid committing additional traffic offenses, it must
be concluded that the current TVS system is not reaching its full
potential to meet the desired goals of the program.
(g) Therefore, it is the intent of Legislature to make the TVS
program as effective as possible by developing a comprehensive system
of statewide regulation of traffic violator schools, thereby
ensuring uniform curricula and consistency in oversight and
monitoring. It is further the intent of the Legislature to bring all
traffic schools under the department's jurisdiction, charge the
department with developing curricula and licensing courses for all
modalities and specified personnel, utilize multiple third-party
contractors to conduct local monitoring of the program, ensure
traffic violator students have fair and equal access to programs, and
prohibit the masking of traffic convictions for attendance at a TVS
unless the school is appropriately licensed by the department and the
traffic violator has no masked conviction within the previous 18
months.
SEC. 1.5. Section 1803.5 of the Vehicle
Code is amended to read:
1803.5. (a) In accordance with Section 41501 or 42005, the clerk
of a court or hearing officer, when a person who receives a notice to
appear at a court or board proceeding for a violation of any statute
relating to the safe operation of vehicles is granted a continuance
of the proceeding in consideration for attendance at a school for
traffic violators, a licensed driving school, or any other
court-approved program of driving instruction, and which results in a
dismissal of the complaint in consideration for that attendance,
shall prepare an abstract of the record of the court or board
proceeding, certify the abstract to be true and correct, and cause
the abstract to be forwarded to the department at its office at
Sacramento within 10 days after the complaint is dismissed.
(b) This section shall become operative on September 20, 2005.
(b) This section shall remain in effect until July 1, 2011, and as
of that date is repealed.
SEC. 1.7. Section 1803.5 is added to the
Vehicle Code , to read:
1803.5. (a) In accordance with Section 41501 or 42005, the clerk
of a court or hearing officer, when a person who receives a notice to
appear at a court or board proceeding for a violation of any statute
relating to the safe operation of vehicles is granted a continuance
of the proceeding in consideration for completion of a licensed
program at a school for traffic violators, that results in a
designation of the conviction as confidential in consideration for
that attendance, shall prepare an abstract of the record of the court
or board proceeding that indicates that the person was convicted of
the violation and ordered to complete a traffic violator program,
certify the abstract to be true and correct, and cause the abstract
to be forwarded to the department at its office at Sacramento within
five days after granting a request or the entry of an order to attend
a traffic violator program.
(b) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2011.
SEC. 2. Section 1808.7 of the Vehicle
Code is amended to read:
1808.7. (a) The record of the department
relating to the first proceeding and dismissal under Section 1803.5
in any 18-month period for participation by a person in a licensed
school for traffic violators, a licensed driving school, or any other
court-approved program of driving instruction, is confidential,
shall not be disclosed to any person, except a court, and shall be
used only for statistical purposes by the department.
(b) This section shall remain in effect until July 1, 2011, and as
of that date is repealed.
SEC. 2.5. Section 1808.7 is added to the
Vehicle Code , to read:
1808.7. (a) The record of the department relating to the first
proceeding and conviction under Section 1803.5 in any 18-month period
for completion of a licensed traffic violator school program is
confidential, shall not be disclosed to any person, except a court
and as provided for in subdivision (b), and shall be used only for
statistical purposes by the department. No violation point count
shall be assessed pursuant to Section 12810 if the conviction is
confidential.
(b) The record of a conviction described in subdivision (a) shall
not be confidential if any of the following circumstances applies:
(1) The person convicted holds a commercial driver's license as
defined by Section 15210.
(2) The person convicted holds a commercial driver's license in
another state, in accordance with Part 383 of Title 49 of the Code of
Federal Regulations.
(3) The violation occurred in a commercial motor vehicle, as
defined in subdivision (b) of Section 15210.
(4) The conviction would result in a violation point count of more
than one point pursuant to Section 12810.
(c) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2011.
SECTION 1. Section 1803.5 of the Vehicle Code
is amended to read:
1803.5. In accordance with Section 41501 or 42005, the clerk of a
court or hearing officer, when a person who receives a notice to
appear at a court or board proceeding for a violation of any statute
relating to the safe operation of vehicles is granted a continuance
of the proceeding in consideration for completion of a program at a
school for traffic violators, that results in a designation of the
conviction as confidential in consideration for that attendance,
shall prepare an abstract of the record of the court or board
proceeding that indicates that the person was convicted of the
violation and ordered to complete a traffic violator program, certify
the abstract to be true and correct, and cause the abstract to be
forwarded to the department at its office at Sacramento within 5 days
after granting a request or the entry of an order to attend a
traffic violator program.
SEC. 2. Section 1808.7 of the Vehicle Code is
amended to read:
1808.7. (a) The record of the department relating to the first
proceeding and conviction under Section 1803.5 in any 18-month period
for completion of a licensed traffic violator school program is
confidential, shall not be disclosed to any person, except a court
and as provided for in subdivision (b), and shall be used only for
statistical purposes by the department. No violation point count
shall be assessed pursuant to Section 12810 if the conviction is
confidential.
(b) The record of a conviction described in subdivision (a) shall
not be confidential if any of the following circumstances apply:
(1) The person convicted holds a commercial driver's license as
defined by Section 15210.
(2) The person convicted holds a commercial driver's license in
another state, in accordance with Part 383 of Title 49 of the Code of
Federal Regulations.
(3) The violation occurred in a commercial motor vehicle, as
defined in subdivision (b) of Section 15210.
(4) The conviction would result in a violation point count of more
than one point pursuant to Section 12810.
SEC. 3. Section 11200 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
11200. (a) The department shall license schools for traffic
violators for purposes of Section 41501 or 42005 and to provide
traffic safety instruction to other persons who elect to attend. A
person may not own or operate a traffic violator school or, except as
provided in Section 11206, give instruction for compensation in a
traffic violator school without a currently valid license issued by
the department.
(b) (1) Any person who elects to attend a traffic violator school
shall receive from the traffic violator school and shall sign a copy
of the following consumer disclosure statement prior to the payment
of the school fee and attending the school:
"Course content is limited to traffic violator curricula approved by
the Department of Motor Vehicles. Students in the classroom include
traffic offenders, repeat traffic offenders, adults, and teenagers,
and those who have and those who have not been referred by a court.
Instructor training, business regulatory standards, and Vehicle Code
requirements of traffic violator schools are not equal to the
training, standards, and Vehicle Code requirements of licensed
driving schools (California Vehicle Code Section 11200 (b)
(1))." 11200(b)(1))."
(2) In the case of a minor who elects to attend a traffic violator
school, the minor's parent or guardian shall sign the consumer
disclosure statement.
(3) A copy of each signed disclosure statement shall be retained
by the traffic violator school for a minimum of 36 months.
(4) This subdivision does not apply to a person referred by a
court pursuant to Section 42005.
SEC. 4. Section 11202 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
11202. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (c), a traffic
violator school owner shall meet all of the following criteria before
a license may be issued for the traffic violator school:
(1) Maintain an established place of business in this state that
is open to the public. An office or place of business of a traffic
violator school, including any traffic violator school branch or
classroom location, shall not be situated within 500 feet of any
court of law.
(2) Conform to standards established by regulation of the
department. In adopting the standards, the department shall consider
those practices and instructional programs that may reasonably foster
the knowledge, skills, and judgment necessary for compliance with
traffic laws. The department shall establish standards for each
instructional modality, which may include requirements specific to
each modality. The standards may include, but are not limited to,
school personnel, equipment, curriculum, procedures for the testing
and evaluation of students, recordkeeping, and business practices.
(3) Procure and file with the department a bond of fifteen
thousand dollars ($15,000) for home study schools and two
thousand dollars ($2,000) for classroom-based schools executed
by an admitted surety and conditioned upon the applicant not
practicing fraud or making a fraudulent representation that will
cause a monetary loss to a person taking instruction from the
applicant or to the state or any local authority.
(4) Have the proper equipment necessary for giving instruction to
traffic violators.
(5) Have a lesson plan approved by the department, except as
provided for in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c), and provide not
less than the minimum instructional time specified in the approved
plan. The approved plan shall include a postlesson knowledge test.
The lesson plan for each instructional modality shall require
separate approval by the department.
(6) (A) Execute and file with the department an instrument
designating the director as agent of the applicant for service of
process, as provided in this paragraph, in any action commenced
against the applicant arising out of a claim for damages suffered by
a person by the applicant's violation of a provision of this code
committed in relation to the specifications of the applicant's
traffic violator school or a condition of the bond required by
paragraph (3).
(B) The applicant shall stipulate in the instrument that a process
directed to the applicant, when personal service cannot be made in
this state after due diligence, may be served instead upon the
director or, in the director's absence from the department's
principal offices, upon an employee in charge of the office of the
director, and this substituted service is of the same effect as
personal service on the applicant. The instrument shall further
stipulate that the agency created by the designation shall continue
during the period covered by the license issued pursuant to this
section and so long thereafter as the applicant may be made to answer
in damages for a violation of this code for which the surety may be
made liable or a condition of the bond.
(C) The instrument designating the director as agent for service
of process shall be acknowledged by the applicant before a notary
public.
(D) If the director or an employee of the department, in lieu of
the director, is served with a summons and complaint on behalf of the
licensee, one copy of the summons and complaint shall be left with
the director or in the director's office in Sacramento or mailed to
the office of the director in Sacramento. A fee of five dollars ($5)
shall also be paid to the director or employee at the time of service
of the copy of the summons and complaint, or shall be included with
a summons and complaint served by mail.
(E) The service on the director or department employee pursuant to
this paragraph is sufficient service on the licensee if a notice of
the service and a copy of the summons and complaint is
are , on the same day as the service or mailing
of the summons and complaint, sent by registered mail by the
plaintiff or his or her attorney to the licensee. A copy of the
summons and complaint shall also be mailed by the plaintiff or
plaintiff's attorney to the surety on the licensee's bond at the
address of the surety given in the bond, postpaid and registered with
request for return receipt.
(F) The director shall keep a record of all processes served
pursuant to this paragraph showing the day and hour of service, and
shall retain the documents served in the department's files.
(G) If the licensee is served with process by service upon the
director or a department employee in lieu of the director, the
licensee has 30 days after that service within which to answer any
complaint or other pleading filed in the cause. For purposes of
venue, if the licensee is served with process by service upon the
director or a department employee in lieu of the director, the
service is considered to have been made upon the licensee in the
county in which the licensee has or last had his or her established
place of business.
(7) (A) Meet the requirements of Section 11202.5, relating to
traffic violator school operators, if the owner is also the operator
of the traffic violator school. If the owner is not designated to act
as the operator of the traffic violator school, the owner shall
designate an employee as operator who shall meet the requirements of
Section 11202.5.
(B) A person may only be designated as the operator for
one traffic violator school owner for schools that share a
single established business location .
(C) A traffic violator school with multiple branch locations may
designate a separate operator for each location, but shall designate
one of the operators as the primary contact for the department.
(8) Have an instructor who meets the requirements of Section
11206. An owner who is designated as the operator for the school is
authorized to act as an instructor without meeting the requirements
of Section 11206. The owner license may also include authorization to
act as an instructor if the owner is not designated as the operator
but meets the requirements of Section 11206. The owner license shall
specify if the owner is authorized to offer instruction. If the owner
is not approved to act as an instructor, the school must employ an
instructor licensed pursuant to Section 11202.6
11206 .
(9) Provide the department with a written assurance that the
school will comply with the applicable provisions of Subchapter II or
III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. Sec.
12101 , et seq.), and any other federal and state
laws prohibiting discrimination against individuals with
disabilities. Compliance may include providing sign language
interpreters or other accommodations for students with disabilities.
(b) The qualifying requirements specified in subdivision (a) shall
be met within one year from the date of application for a license,
or a new application and fee is are
required.
(c) A court-approved program that was in operation prior to
July January 1, 2011, shall file an
application for licensure as a traffic violator school by
September 1, 2011 January 1, 2012 . A court
shall not approve a traffic safety program after June 30,
2011. a traffic violator school program after January
1, 2011.
(1) A court-approved program may continue to operate as approved
by a court until the department makes a licensing decision.
(2) A court-approved program shall be exempt from paragraph (5) of
subdivision (a). The licensed program may continue to use the
curriculum approved by the court until the department establishes
curriculum standards in regulation. The court-approved program must
comply with the new curriculum standards by the effective date
established in regulation.
(d) Paragraphs (3) and (6) of subdivision (a) do not apply to
public schools or other public agencies, which shall also not be
required to post a cash deposit pursuant to Section 11203.
(e) Paragraph (7) of subdivision (a) does not apply to public
schools or other public educational institutions.
(f) A notice approved by the department shall be posted in every
traffic violator school, branch, and classroom location stating that
any person involved in the offering of, or soliciting for, a
completion certificate for attendance at a traffic violator school
program in which the person does not attend or does not complete the
minimum amount of instruction time may be guilty of violating Section
134 of the Penal Code.
SEC. 4.5. Section 11202.5 of the
Vehicle Code is amended to read:
11202.5. (a) The department shall license traffic violator school
operators. No A person may
shall not act as a traffic violator school
operator without a currently valid license issued by the department
, unless the person is an owner/operator and is so designated on
the owner's license . Every person, in order to qualify as a
traffic violator school operator, shall meet all of the following
criteria in order to be issued a traffic violator school operator's
license:
(1) Have not committed any act which, if the applicant were
licensed as a traffic violator school operator, would be grounds for
suspension or revocation of the license.
(2) Within three attempts, pass an examination that the department
requires on traffic laws, safe driving practices, operation of motor
vehicles, teaching methods and techniques, traffic violator school
statutes and regulations, and office procedures and recordkeeping.
(3) Be 21 years of age or older.
(4) Have worked for an established California traffic violator
school, an established California driving school licensed under
Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 11100) of Division 5, or an
established commercial driving training and education program
operated by a bona fide labor organization as an instructor for a
period of not less than 500 hours of actual in-class instruction.
(b) Paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) does not apply to a traffic
violator school operator validly licensed prior to January 1, 1987.
(4) Have successfully completed an educational program of not less
than four hours. The program shall include, but is not limited to,
operator responsibilities, current laws, and the regulations in
Article 4 of Title 13 of the California Code of Regulations. The
instruction may be provided by generally accredited educational
institutions, private vocational schools, and education programs and
seminars offered by professional societies, organizations, trade
associations, and other educational and technical programs that meet
the requirements of this section.
(5) Provide a certification from the owner that the applicant has
the knowledge necessary to perform the duties of the operator.
(c)
(b) All the qualifying requirements specified in this
section shall be met within one year from the date of application for
the license or the application shall lapse. However, the applicant
may thereafter submit a new application upon payment of the required
fee.
SEC. 5. Section 11205 of the Vehicle Code, as amended by Section 1
of Chapter 518 of the Statutes of 2003, is amended to read:
11205. (a) The department shall provide a list of licensed
traffic violator schools on its Internet Web site. For each licensed
school, the list shall indicate the modalities of instruction offered
and specify the cities where classroom instruction is offered. The
sequential listing of licensed schools shall be randomized daily.
(b) If a court or court assistance program (CAP) provides a hard
copy list of licensed traffic violator schools to a traffic violator,
the court or CAP shall provide only a current date-stamped list
downloaded from the department's Internet Web site. As used in this
section, "current" means not more than 30 days old.
(b)
(c) The department shall develop a Web-based database
accessible by the courts and traffic violator schools to allow
oversight of traffic violator school student enrollments and course
completions.
(c) The court may charge a traffic violator a fee to defray the
costs incurred by a court assistance program for monitoring
activities performed pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 11205.2
and traffic administration services provided to the court. The court
may delegate collection of the fee to the court assistance program.
Fees shall be approved and regulated by the court. The fee shall not
exceed the actual cost incurred by the court assistance program.
SEC. 6. Section 11205.1 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
11205.1. The fee authorized in subdivision (c) of Section
11205 11205.2 shall be applicable only
in those instances where a traffic violator has agreed to attend or
has been ordered to attend a traffic violator school pursuant to
Section 41501 or 42005.
SEC. 7. Section 11205.2 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
11205.2. (a)
As used in this chapter, a court assistance program (CAP) is a public
or private nonprofit agency that provides services, under contract
with a court , to process traffic violators
to process traffic violators or under contract with the department to
assist in oversight activities .
(b) A court may use a CAP to assist the court in performing
services related to the processing of traffic violators. As used in
this section, "services" includes means
those services relating to the processing of traffic
violators infraction cases at, and for, the
court , including printing and providing to the court and
traffic violators hard copy county-specific lists printed from the
department's Internet Web site, administratively assisting traffic
violators, and any other lawful activity relating to the
administration of the court's traffic infraction caseload .
(c) The court may charge a traffic violator a fee to defray the
costs incurred by a court assistance program for traffic case
administration services provided to the court pursuant to subdivision
(b). The court may delegate collection of the fee to the court
assistance program. Fees shall be approved and regulated by the
court. The fee shall not exceed the actual costs incurred by the
court assistance program for the activities authorized under
subdivision (b).
(c) This section does not preclude a court from entering into a
contract with public or private nonprofit agencies to provide
services to the court, other than those described in this section,
provided that the services do not duplicate those conducted by the
department.
SEC. 8. Section 11205.4 of the Vehicle Code is repealed.
SEC. 9. Section 11208 of the Vehicle Code is repealed.
SEC. 10. Section 11208 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
11208. (a) The department shall charge a fee, to be determined by
the department, for the following traffic violator school program
activities:
(1) Original issuance of a traffic violator school owner,
operator, instructor, and branch or classroom location license.
(2) Renewal of a traffic violator school owner, operator,
instructor, and branch or classroom location license.
(3) Issuance of a duplicate or corrected traffic violator school
owner, operator, instructor, and branch or classroom location
license.
(4) Transfer of an operator or instructor license from one traffic
violator school to another.
(5) Approval of curriculum, based on the instructional modality of
the curriculum.
(6) Fees for administering the examinations pursuant to Sections
11206 and 11207.
(b) The fees authorized under subdivision (a) shall be sufficient
to defray the actual cost to the department to administer the traffic
violator school program, except for routine monitoring of
instruction.
(c) A single administrative fee shall be assessed against, and
collected by the court from, each driver who is allowed or ordered to
attend traffic violator school. Included in this fee shall be an
amount determined by the department to be sufficient to defray the
cost of routine monitoring of traffic violator school instruction.
SEC. 11. Section 40512.6 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
40512.6. If a defendant who elects or is ordered to attend a
traffic violator school in accordance with Section 42005 and has paid
the full traffic violator school fee under Section 42007 fails to
submit proof of completion within the time ordered by the court or
any extension thereof, the court may, following notice to the
defendant, order that the fee paid by the defendant be converted to
bail and declare the bail forfeited. The bail forfeiture under this
section shall be distributed as provided by Section 42007. Upon
forfeiture of the bail, the court may order that no further
proceedings shall be had in the case or follow the procedure in
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 41501.
proceedings shall be had in the case.
SEC. 12. Section 41501 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
41501. (a) (1) After a
deposit of bail and bail forfeiture, a plea of guilty or no contest,
or a conviction, the court may order a continuance of a proceeding
against a person, who receives a notice to appear in court for a
violation of a statute relating to the safe operation of a vehicle,
in consideration for attendance at a licensed school for traffic
violators and pursuant to Section 1803.5 or 42005, the court may
order that the conviction be held confidential by the department
according to Section 1808.7 if the offense is not alleged to have
occurred within 18 months of another offense that was held
confidential under this section, and the court may order or permit
completion of a licensed traffic violator school program.
(2) The person shall submit to the court a certificate of
completion for the traffic violator program by the date required by
the court. If the certificate of completion is not received by the
court as required, the court may issue an order to show cause for the
failure to comply with the court's order. Upon issuance of an order
to show cause, the court shall notify the person by mail that failure
to appear at court within 10 days of the notice and show good cause
for the failure to comply with the order to submit a certificate of
completion shall result in the reporting of the conviction,
assessment of points for an offense, and an increased sentence up to
the full fine, penalties, and fees allowed by law for the conviction.
If the person fails to appear as ordered, the court shall update the
court records to change the status of the conviction included in the
previous order from confidential to public and shall report the
conviction to the department.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to a person who receives a
notice to appear as to, or is otherwise charged with, a violation of
an offense described in subdivisions (a) to (e), inclusive, of
Section 12810.
SEC. 13. Section 42005 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
42005. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, after a
deposit of the fee under Section 42007 or bail, a plea of guilty or
no contest, or a conviction, a court may order or permit a person who
holds a noncommercial class C, class M1, or class M2 driver's
license who pleads guilty or no contest or is convicted of a traffic
violation to attend a traffic violator school licensed pursuant to
Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 11200) of Division 5.
(b) Pursuant to Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the
court may not order or permit a person who holds a class A, class B,
or commercial class C driver's license to complete a licensed traffic
violator school, in lieu of adjudicating any traffic offense or
order that a conviction of a traffic offense by a person holding a
class A, class B, or commercial class C driver's license be kept
confidential.
(c) The court shall not order that a conviction of an offense be
kept confidential according to Section 1808.7 or permit a person,
regardless of the driver's license class, to complete a program at a
licensed traffic violator school in lieu of adjudicating an offense
if either of the following applies to the offense:
(1) It occurred in a commercial motor vehicle, as defined in
subdivision (b) of Section 15210 or
(2) Is a violation of Section 20001, 20002, 23103, 23104, 23105,
23140, 23152, or 23153, or of Section 23103, as specified in Section
23103.5.
(d) A person ordered to attend a traffic violator school pursuant
to subdivision (a) may choose the traffic violator school the person
will attend. The court shall make available to each person subject to
that order information regarding obtaining the department's current
list of traffic violator schools published online by the department
pursuant to Section 11205.
(e) A person who willfully fails to comply with a court order to
attend traffic violator school is guilty of a misdemeanor.
SEC. 14. Section 42005.1 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
42005.1. The court may order a person designated to attend a
traffic violator school to instead participate in a study of traffic
violator schools licensed pursuant to Chapter 1.5 (commencing with
Section 11200) of Division 5. The person's participation in that
study constitutes attending a licensed traffic violator school
program.
SEC. 15. Section 42005.5 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
42005.5. Notwithstanding Section 46300 or 84500 of the Education
Code or any other provision of law, on and after September 1, 1985,
attendance at a school for traffic violators permitted or ordered
pursuant to Section 41501 or 42005 shall not be included in computing
the average daily attendance of any school district, community
college district, or other public educational institution for
purposes of allocation of state funds.
SEC. 16. Section 42007 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
42007. (a) (1) The clerk of the court shall collect a fee from
every person who is ordered or permitted to attend a traffic violator
school pursuant to Section 41501 or 42005. The fee shall be in an
amount equal to the total bail set forth for the eligible offense on
the uniform countywide bail schedule. As used in this subdivision,
"total bail" means the amount established pursuant to Section 1269b
of the Penal Code in accordance with the Uniform Statewide Bail
Schedule adopted by the Judicial Council, including all assessments,
surcharges, and penalty amounts. If multiple offenses are charged in
a single notice to appear, the "total bail" is the amount applicable
for the greater of the qualifying offenses. However, the court may
determine a lesser fee under this subdivision upon a showing that the
defendant is unable to pay the full amount. The fee shall not
include the cost, or any part thereof, of traffic safety instruction
offered by the school.
(2) The clerk may accept from a defendant who is ordered or
permitted to attend traffic violator school a payment of at least 25
percent of the fee required by paragraph (1) upon filing a written
agreement by the defendant to pay the remainder of the fee according
to an installment payment schedule of no more than 90 days as agreed
upon with the court. The Judicial Council shall prescribe the form of
the agreement for payment of the fee in installments. If the
defendant signs the Judicial Council form for payment of the fee in
installments, the court shall continue the case to the date in the
agreement to complete payment of the fee and submit the certificate
of completion of traffic violator school to the court. The clerk
shall collect a fee of up to thirty-five dollars ($35) to cover the
cost of processing an installment payment of the traffic violator
school fee under this paragraph.
(3) If a defendant fails to make an installment payment of the
fee according to an installment agreement, the court may convert the
fee to bail, declare it forfeited, and report the forfeiture as a
conviction under Section 1803. The court may also charge a failure to
pay under Section 40508 and impose a civil assessment as provided in
Section 1214.1 of the Penal Code or issue an arrest warrant for a
failure to pay.
(b) Revenues derived from the fee collected under this section
shall be deposited in accordance with Section 68084 of the Government
Code in the general fund of the county and, as may be applicable,
distributed as follows:
(1) In any county in which a fund is established pursuant to
Section 76100 or 76101 of the Government Code, the sum of one dollar
($1) for each fund so established shall be deposited with the county
treasurer and placed in that fund.
(2) In any county that has established a Maddy Emergency Medical
Services Fund pursuant to Section 1797.98a of the Health and Safety
Code, an amount equal to the sum of each two dollars ($2) for every
seven dollars ($7) that would have been collected pursuant to Section
76000 of the Government Code and, commencing January 1, 2009, an
amount equal to the sum of each two dollars ($2) for every ten
dollars ($10) that would have been collected pursuant to Section
76000.5 of the Government Code with respect to those counties to
which that section is applicable shall be deposited in that fund.
Nothing in the act that added this paragraph shall be interpreted in
a manner that would result in either of the following:
(A) The utilization of penalty assessment funds that had been set
aside, on or before January 1, 2000, to finance debt service on a
capital facility that existed before January 1, 2000.
(B) The reduction of the availability of penalty assessment
revenues that had been pledged, on or before January 1, 2000, as a
means of financing a facility that was approved by a county board of
supervisors, but on January 1, 2000, is not under construction.
(3) The amount of the fee that is attributable to Section 70372 of
the Government Code shall be transferred pursuant to subdivision (f)
of that section.
(c) For fees resulting from city arrests, an amount equal to the
amount of base fines that would have been deposited in the treasury
of the appropriate city pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (b)
of Section 1463.001 of the Penal Code shall be deposited in the
treasury of the appropriate city.
(d) The clerk of the court, in a county that offers traffic school
shall include in any courtesy notice mailed to a defendant for an
offense that qualifies for traffic school attendance the following
statement:
NOTICE: If you are eligible and decide not to attend traffic
school your automobile insurance may be adversely affected. One
conviction in any 18-month period will be held confidential and not
show on your driving record if you complete a traffic violator school
program.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a county that has
established a Maddy Emergency Medical Services Fund pursuant to
Section 1797.98a of the Health and Safety Code shall not be held
liable for having deposited into the fund, prior to January 1, 2009,
an amount equal to two dollars ($2) for every ten dollars ($10) that
would have been collected pursuant to Section 76000.5 of the
Government Code from revenues derived from traffic violator school
fees collected pursuant to this section.
SEC. 17. Section 42007.1 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
42007.1. (a) The fee collected by the clerk pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section 42007 shall be in an amount equal to the
total bail set forth for the eligible offense on the uniform
countywide bail schedule plus a forty-nine-dollar ($49) court
administrative fee and a fee determined by the department to be
sufficient to defray the cost of routine monitoring of traffic
violator school instruction pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section
11208.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 42007, the revenue
from the forty-nine-dollar ($49) fee collected under this section
shall be deposited in the county general fund. Fifty-one percent of
the amount collected under this section and deposited into the county
general fund shall be transmitted therefrom monthly to the
Controller for deposit in the Immediate and Critical Needs Account of
the State Court Facilities Construction Fund, established in Section
70371.5 of the Government Code.
(c) The fee assessed pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 11208
shall be allocated to the department to defray the costs of
monitoring traffic violator school instruction.
SEC. 18. Section 42007.3 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
42007.3. (a) Notwithstanding Section 42007, revenues derived from
fees collected under Section 42007 from each person required or
permitted to attend traffic violator school pursuant to Section 41501
or 42005 as a result of a violation of subdivision (a) or (c) of
Section 21453, subdivision (c) of Section 21454, or subdivision (a)
of Section 21457 shall be allocated as follows:
(1) The first 30 percent of the amount collected shall be
allocated to the general fund of the city or county in which the
offense occurred.
(2) The balance of the amount collected shall be deposited by the
county treasurer under Section 42007.
(b) This section does not apply to the additional
forty-nine-dollar ($49) court administrative fee assessed pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 11208 collected under subdivision (a) of
Section 42007.1.
SEC. 19. Section 42007.4 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
42007.4. (a) Notwithstanding Section 42007, revenues derived from
fees collected under Section 42007 from each person required or
permitted to attend traffic violator school pursuant to Section 369b
of the Penal Code as a result of a violation of subdivision (c) of
Section 21752, involving railroad grade crossings, or Section 22451
or 22452 shall be allocated as follows:
(1) If the offense occurred in an area where a transit district or
transportation commission established under Division 12 (commencing
with Section 130000) of the Public Utilities Code provides rail
transportation, the first 30 percent of the amount collected shall be
allocated to the general fund of that transit district or
transportation commission to be used only for public safety and
public education purposes relating to railroad grade crossings.
(2) If there is no transit district or transportation commission
providing rail transportation in the area where the offense occurred,
the first 30 percent of the amount collected shall be allocated to
the general fund of the county in which the offense occurred, to be
used only for public safety and public education purposes relating to
railroad grade crossings.
(3) The balance of the amount collected shall be deposited by the
county treasurer under Section 1463 of the Penal Code.
(4) A transit district, transportation commission, or a county
that is allocated funds pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2) shall
provide public safety and public education relating to railroad grade
crossings only to the extent that those purposes are funded by the
allocations provided pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2).
(b) This section does not apply to the additional
forty-nine-dollar ($49) court administrative fee assessed pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 11208 collected under subdivision (a) of
Section 42007.1.
SEC. 20. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.