BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 426
                                                                  Page  1

          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 426 (Bonnie Lowenthal)
          As Amended  June 10, 2011
          Majority vote
           
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |74-0 |(April 11,      |SENATE: |37-0 |(June 27,      |
          |           |     |2011)           |        |     |2011)          |
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           Original Committee Reference:    PUB. S.  

           SUMMARY  :  Permits specified transit authorities to create 
          ordinances that allow a person cited for a violation be afforded 
          an opportunity to complete an administrative process that 
          imposes only a civil penalty.  Requires that penalties be 
          deposited in the respective general fund of the county in which 
          the citation is administered.  

           The Senate amendments  : 

          1)Add the North County Transit District to the list of transit 
            authorities authorized to create local ordinances relating to 
            fare evasion and passenger misconduct. 

          2)Require an entity that enacts a local ordinance to report 
            specified information to the Legislature, both, two and five 
            years after enactment.

          3)Require that penalties collected by the Los Angeles County 
            Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Southern 
            California Regional Rail Authority be deposits in the general 
            fund of the county where the citation is administered.

           EXISTING LAW  :

             1)   Declares that notwithstanding specified law that deems 
               certain acts as infractions or misdemeanors, the specified 
               transit authorities may enact and enforce an ordinance 
               providing that any of the specified acts, over which the 
               authority has jurisdiction, shall be subject only to an 
               administrative penalty imposed and enforced in a civil 
               proceeding.  

             2)   Provides that pursuant to the Penal Code, as specified, 








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               the specified transit authorities may enact and enforce an 
               ordinance to impose and enforce an administrative penalty 
               for any of the specified acts.  States that the ordinance 
               shall include provisions, as specified, and shall not apply 
               to minors.  

          3)Prescribes the following acts as infractions, for first or 
            second time violations, when committed on or in a facility or 
            vehicle of a public transportation system, punishable by a 
            fine not to exceed $250 and by community service for a total 
            time not to exceed 48 hours over a period not to exceed 30 
            days.  Declares that a third or subsequent violation of the 
            following acts is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not 
            more than $400 or by imprisonment in a county jail for a 
            period of not more than 90 days, or by both:

               a)     Evasion of the payment of a fare of the system, as 
                 specified; 

               b)     Misuse of a transfer, pass, ticket or token with 
                 intent to evade the payment of a fare;

               c)     Unauthorized use of a discount ticket or failure to 
                 present acceptable proof of eligibility, as specified.  
                 Acceptable proof must be clearly defined, as specified;

               d)     Disturbing another person by loud or unreasonable 
                 noise;  

               e)     Smoking, eating, or drinking in or on a system 
                 facility or vehicle in areas where those activities are 
                 prohibited by that system;

               f)     Expectorating upon a system facility or vehicle; 
                 and,

               g)     Skateboarding, roller skating, bicycle riding, 
                 roller blading, or operating a motorized scooter or 
                 similar device, as specified, in a system facility, 
                 vehicle, or parking structure except as necessary for 
                 utilization of the transit facility by a bicyclist, as 
                 specified.

             4)   Provides that all fare evasion and passenger conduct 
               violation penalties collected by the transit authority or 








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               its processing agency, as specified, shall be deposited in 
               the general fund of the specified county.  

           AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY  , this bill permitted specified transit 
          authorities to create ordinances that allow a violation to be 
          handled administratively, and determined that penalties must be 
          deposited in the respective transit authority's fund instead of 
          the county general fund.  Specifically,  this bill  :

             1)   Permitted the Los Angeles County Metropolitan 
               Transportation Authority (LACMTA) and the Southern 
               California Regional Rail Authority to enact and enforce an 
               ordinance providing that a person who is subject to a 
               citation for a specified act, over which the respective 
               authority has jurisdiction may, under the circumstances set 
               forth by the ordinance, be offered an opportunity to 
               resolve the citation by completing an administrative 
               process that imposes only an administrative penalty 
               enforced in a civil proceeding.

             2)   Declared that the ordinance shall include provisions of 
               the Public Utilities Code, as specified, and shall not 
               apply to minors.
              
              3)   Required that penalties collected by the LACMTA and the 
               Southern California Regional Rail Authority be deposited in 
               the general fund of the authority.   
           
           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown.  This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the 
          Legislative Counsel.

           COMMENTS  :  According to the author, "Current law allows a number 
          of transit agencies around the state to create transit courts.  
          These courts will allow local transit agencies to process 
          citations on their individual systems rather than having these 
          citations processed through the typical court process. 

          "Los Angeles Metro has been working with the Los Angeles County 
          Sheriff's Department in the implementation of its system.  Metro 
          has identified that a two tiered system would be best for Los 
          Angeles.  Under this system, Metro's Transit Court would process 
          the majority of minor citations and the regular judicial process 
          would still be available for more serious violations such as 
          chronic violators and those with additional criminal issues.









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          "Current law does not clearly authorize a two-tiered process.  
          ÝThis bill] will allow the two-tiered process developed by Metro 
          and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

          "Additionally, Ýthis bill] provides additional assistance to 
          Metro's transit court by allowing revenues from violations on 
          Metro's system to be deposited in Metro's General Fund rather 
          than having to pass through the County's General Fund.  This 
          will improve the accounting of revenues from violations on the 
          system and ensure accountability in the citation process.

          "The author's office has recently amended the bill to allow the 
          Southern California Regional Rail Authority (Metrolink), at 
          their request, to also benefit from the bill's provisions."

          Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion 
          of this bill.
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :    Stefani Salt and Greg Pagan / PUB. S. / 
          (916) 319-3744 


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