Amended in Senate August 26, 2015

Amended in Senate July 15, 2015

Amended in Senate June 29, 2015

Amended in Senate June 9, 2015

Amended in Assembly May 4, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 21, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 514


Introduced by Assembly Member Williams

February 23, 2015


An act to amend Sections 25132 and 53069.4 of the Government Code, relating to local government.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 514, as amended, Williams. Ordinances: violations: administrative fines.

Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a city, county, or city and county to collect any fee, cost, or charge incurred in specified activities, including the abatement of public nuisances, enforcement of specified zoning ordinances, inspections and abatement of violations of the State Housing Law, inspections and abatement of violations of the California Building Standards Code, and inspections and abatement of violations related to local ordinances that implement these laws. Existing law limits the amount of this fee, cost, or charge to the actual cost incurred performing the inspections and enforcement activity, including permit fees, fines, late charges, and interest.

Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a local agency to make, by ordinance, any violation of an ordinance subject to an administrative fine or penalty and limits the maximum fine or penalty amounts for infractions, as specified. For violations of city or county building and safety codes determined to be an infraction, existing law limits the amount of the fine to $100 for a first violation, $500 for a 2nd violation of the same ordinance within one year, and $1,000 for each additional violation of the same ordinance within one year of the first violation.

This bill would authorize a county to establish administrative fines, notbegin delete beend deletebegin insert toend insert exceed specified limits, for violations of certain county ordinances, including a county building and safety ordinance, brush removal ordinance, grading ordinance, film permit ordinance, or zoning ordinance, determined to be an infraction, subject to certain county findings.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

Section 25132 of the Government Code is
2amended to read:

3

25132.  

(a) Violation of a county ordinance is a misdemeanor
4unless by ordinance it is made an infraction. The violation of a
5county ordinance may be prosecuted by county authorities in the
6name of the people of the State of California, or redressed by civil
7action.

8(b) Every violation determined to be an infraction is punishable
9by the following:

10(1) A fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100) for a first
11violation.

12(2) A fine not exceeding two hundred dollars ($200) for a second
13violation of the same ordinance within one year.

14(3) A fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) for each
15additional violation of the same ordinance within one year.

16(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a violation of
17local building and safety codes determined to be an infraction is
18punishable by an administrative fine described in Section 53069.4
19or by one of the following:

20(1) A fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100) for a first
21 violation.

P3    1(2) A fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) for a second
2violation of the same ordinance within one year.

3(3) A fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each
4additional violation of the same ordinance within one year of the
5first violation.

6

SEC. 2.  

Section 53069.4 of the Government Code is amended
7to read:

8

53069.4.  

(a) (1) The legislative body of a local agency, as the
9term “local agency” is defined in Section 54951, may by ordinance
10make any violation of any ordinance enacted by the local agency
11subject to an administrative fine or penalty. The local agency shall
12set forth by ordinance the administrative procedures that shall
13govern the imposition, enforcement, collection, and administrative
14review by the local agency of those administrative fines or
15penalties. Where the violation would otherwise be an infraction,
16the administrative fine or penalty shall not exceed the maximum
17fine or penalty amounts for infractions set forth in subdivision (b)
18of Section 25132 and subdivision (b) of Section 36900.

19(2) begin delete(A)end deletebegin deleteend deleteNotwithstanding paragraph (1), the amount of an
20administrative fine forbegin delete theend deletebegin insert a one-timeend insert violation of a county building
21and safety ordinance, brush removal ordinance, grading ordinance,
22film permit ordinance, or zoning ordinance, that is determined to
23be an infractionbegin delete shall, if the county makes the findings required
24by subparagraph (B),end delete
begin insert shallend insert be based upon the severity of the threat
25to public health and safety and shall not exceed the following:

begin delete

26(A)(i)

end delete

27begin insert(A)end insert For the first violation, an amount that does not exceed five
28thousand dollars ($5,000) or the amount of the permit fee required
29by the ordinance multiplied by three, whichever is less. In the
30absence of a permit fee, an amount that does not exceed one
31thousand dollars ($1,000).

begin delete

32(B)(ii)

end delete

33begin insert(B)end insert For the second violation of the same ordinance within five
34years of the first violation, an amount that does not exceed ten
35thousand dollars ($10,000) or the amount of the permit fee required
36by the ordinance multiplied by five, whichever is less. In the
37absence of a permit fee, an amount that does not exceed two
38thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500).

begin delete

39(C)(iii)

end delete

P4    1begin insert(C)end insert For the third violation and subsequent violations of the same
2ordinance within five years of the first violation, an amount that
3is greater than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), but does not exceed
4fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000). In the absence of a permit fee,
5an amount that does not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).

begin delete

6(B) A county shall not assess an administrative fine of more
7than five hundred dollars ($500) pursuant to subparagraph (A)
8unless the county makes both of the following findings in the
9administrative record:

end delete
begin insert

10(D) Notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) to (C), inclusive, an
11administrative fine assessed pursuant to this paragraph shall not
12exceed five hundred dollars ($500) unless both of the following
13findings are made in the administrative record prior to the
14assessment of the administrative fine:

end insert

15(i) Thebegin delete administrative fine was assessed for a willful violation
16or a violation thatend delete
begin insert person who violated the ordinance did so
17willingly or the violationend insert
resulted in an unusual and significant
18threat to the public health and safety.

19(ii) The payment of the administrative fine would not impose
20an undue financial hardship on the person responsible for the
21payment.

begin insert

22(E) For purposes of this paragraph, “a one-time violation”
23means a violation that is not a continuing violation and cannot be
24corrected or cured, including, but not limited to, a violation of
25permit conditions or a use violation.

end insert

26(3) The administrative procedures set forth by ordinance adopted
27by the local agency pursuant to this subdivision shall provide for
28a reasonable period of time, as specified in the ordinance, for a
29person responsible for a continuing violation to correct or otherwise
30remedy the violation prior to the imposition of administrative fines
31or penalties, when the violation pertains to building, plumbing,
32electrical, or other similar structural or zoning issues, that do not
33create an immediate danger to health or safety.

34(b) (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 1094.5 or
351094.6 of the Code of Civil Procedure, within 20 days after service
36of the final administrative order or decision of the local agency is
37 made pursuant to an ordinance enacted in accordance with this
38section regarding the imposition, enforcement or collection of the
39administrative fines or penalties, a person contesting that final
40administrative order or decision may seek review by filing an
P5    1appeal to be heard by the superior court, where the same shall be
2heard de novo, except that the contents of the local agency’s file
3in the case shall be received in evidence. A proceeding under this
4subdivision is a limited civil case. A copy of the document or
5instrument of the local agency providing notice of the violation
6and imposition of the administrative fine or penalty shall be
7admitted into evidence as prima facie evidence of the facts stated
8therein. A copy of the notice of appeal shall be served in person
9or by first-class mail upon the local agency by the contestant.

10(2) The fee for filing the notice of appeal shall be as specified
11in Section 70615. The court shall request that the local agency’s
12file on the case be forwarded to the court, to be received within
1315 days of the request. The court shall retain the fee specified in
14Section 70615 regardless of the outcome of the appeal. If the court
15finds in favor of the contestant, the amount of the fee shall be
16reimbursed to the contestant by the local agency. Any deposit of
17the fine or penalty shall be refunded by the local agency in
18accordance with the judgment of the court.

19(3) The conduct of the appeal under this section is a subordinate
20judicial duty that may be performed by traffic trial commissioners
21and other subordinate judicial officials at the direction of the
22presiding judge of the court.

23(c) If no notice of appeal of the local agency’s final
24administrative order or decision is filed within the period set forth
25in this section, the order or decision shall be deemed confirmed.

26(d) If the fine or penalty has not been deposited and the decision
27of the court is against the contestant, the local agency may proceed
28to collect the penalty pursuant to the procedures set forth in its
29ordinance.



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