Amended in Assembly April 13, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 869

Introduced by Assembly Member Cooper

February 26, 2015

An act to amend Section 99580 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to transportation.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 869, as amended, Cooper. Public transportation agencies: fare evasion and prohibited conduct.

Existing law authorizes a public transportation agency to adopt and enforce an ordinance to impose and enforce civil administrative penalties for fare evasion or other passenger misconduct, other than by minors, on or in a transit facility or vehicle in lieu of the criminal penalties otherwise applicable, with specified administrative procedures for the imposition and enforcement of the administrative penalties, including an initial review and opportunity for a subsequent administrative hearing.

This bill would provide that a person who fails to pay the administrative penalty when due or successfully complete the administrative process to dismiss the notice of fare evasion or passenger misconduct may be subject to those criminal penalties. The bill would require the notice of fare evasion or passenger misconduct to contain a printed statement that the person may be charged with an infraction or misdemeanor if the administrative penalty is not paid when due or dismissed pursuant to these provisions.

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The bill would also require the processing agency to dismiss the original notice of fare evasion and make no further attempts to collect the administrative penalty if the person is charged with an infraction or misdemeanor after failing to pay the administrative penalty or successfully complete the civil administrative process. The bill would require the processing agency to personally serve the person charged with an infraction or misdemeanor with a new notice of fare evasion that sets forth the criminal violation.

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Because the bill would expand the scope of an existing crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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.  

Section 99580 of the Public Utilities Code is
amended to read:

99580.  

(a) Pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 640 of the
Penal Code, a public transportation agency may enact and enforce
an ordinance to impose and enforce an administrative penalty for
any of the acts described in subdivision (b). The ordinance shall
include the provisions of this chapter and shall not apply to minors.

(b) (1) Evasion of the payment of a fare of the system.

(2) Misuse of a transfer, pass, ticket, or token with the intent to
evade the payment of a fare.

(3) Playing sound equipment on or in a system facility or
vehicle.

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

(5) Expectorating upon a system facility or vehicle.

(6) Willfully disturbing others on or in a system facility or
vehicle by engaging in boisterous or unruly behavior.

(7) Carrying an explosive or acid, flammable liquid, or toxic or
hazardous material in a system facility or vehicle.

(8) Urinating or defecating in a system facility or vehicle, except
in a lavatory. However, this paragraph shall not apply to a person
who cannot comply with this paragraph as a result of a disability,
age, or a medical condition.

(9) (A) Willfully blocking the free movement of another person
in a system facility or vehicle.

(B) This paragraph shall not be interpreted to affect any lawful
activities permitted or begin delete first amendment end delete begin insert First Amendment end insert rights
protected under the laws of this state or applicable federal law,
including, but not limited to, laws related to collective bargaining,
labor relations, or labor disputes.

(10) Skateboarding, roller skating, bicycle riding, or roller
blading in a system facility, including a parking structure, or in a
system vehicle. This paragraph does not apply to an activity that
is necessary for utilization of a system facility by a bicyclist,
including, but not limited to, an activity that is necessary for
parking a bicycle or transporting a bicycle aboard a system vehicle,
if that activity is conducted with the permission of the agency of
the system in a manner that does not interfere with the safety of
the bicyclist or other patrons of the system facility.

(11) (A) Unauthorized use of a discount ticket or failure to
present, upon request from a system representative, acceptable
proof of eligibility to use a discount ticket, in accordance with
Section 99155, and posted system identification policies when
entering or exiting a system station or vehicle. Acceptable proof
of eligibility must be clearly defined in the posting.

(B) In the event that an eligible discount ticket user is not in
possession of acceptable proof at the time of request, an issued
notice of fare evasion or passenger conduct violation shall be held
for a period of 72 hours to allow the user to produce acceptable
proof. If the proof is provided, that notice shall be voided. If the
proof is not produced within that time period, that notice shall be
processed.

(12) Sale or peddling of any goods, merchandise, property, or
services of any kind whatsoever on the facilities, vehicles, or
property of the public transportation system without the express
written consent of the public transportation system or its duly
authorized representatives.

(c) (1) The public transportation agency may contract with a
private vendor or governmental agency for the processing of notices
of fare evasion or passenger conduct violation, and notices of
delinquent fare evasion or passenger conduct violation pursuant
to Section 99581.

(2) For the purpose of this chapter, “processing agency” means
either of the following:

(A) The agency issuing the notice of fare evasion or passenger
conduct violation and the notice of delinquent fare evasion or
passenger conduct violation.

(B) The party responsible for processing the notice of fare
evasion or passenger conduct violation and the notice of delinquent
violation, if a contract is entered into pursuant to paragraph (1).

(3) For the purpose of this chapter, “fare evasion or passenger
conduct violation penalty” includes, but is not limited to, a late
payment penalty, administrative fee, fine, assessment, and costs
of collection as provided for in the ordinance.

(4) For the purpose of this chapter, “public transportation
agency” shall mean a public agency that provides public
transportation as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (f) of
Section 1 of Article XIX A of the California Constitution.

(5) All fare evasion and passenger conduct violation penalties
collected pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited in the general
fund of the county in which the citation is administered.

(d) (1) If a fare evasion or passenger conduct violation is
observed by a person authorized to enforce the ordinance, a notice
of fare evasion or passenger conduct violation shall be issued. The
notice shall set forth all of the following:

(A) The violation, including reference to the ordinance setting
forth the administrative penalty.

(B) The date and approximate time of the violation, and the
location where the violation occurred.

(C) A printed statement indicating the date payment is required
to be made.

(D) The procedure for contesting the notice.

(E) A printed statement that the person may be charged with an
infraction or misdemeanor pursuant to Section 640 of the Penal
Code if the administrative penalty is not paid when due or
dismissed pursuant to the procedure for contesting the notice.

(2) The notice shall be served by personal service upon the
violator. The notice, or copy of the notice, shall be considered a
record kept in the ordinary course of business of the issuing agency
and the processing agency, and shall be prima facie evidence of
the facts contained in the notice establishing a rebuttable
presumption affecting the burden of producing evidence.

(3) When a notice of fare evasion or passenger conduct violation
has been served, the person issuing the notice shall file the notice
with the processing agency.

(4) If, after a notice of fare evasion or passenger conduct
violation is issued pursuant to this section, the issuing officer
determines that there is incorrect data on the notice, including, but
not limited to, the date or time, the issuing officer may indicate in
writing on a form attached to the original notice the necessary
correction to allow for the timely entry of the corrected notice on
the processing agency’s data system. A copy of the correction shall
be mailed to the address provided by the person cited at the time
the original notice of fare evasion or passenger conduct violation
was served.

(5) If a person contests a notice of fare evasion or passenger
conduct violation, the issuing agency shall proceed in accordance
with Section 99581.

(e) In setting the amounts of administrative penalties for the
violations listed in subdivision (b), the public transportation agency
shall not establish penalty amounts that exceed the maximum fine
amount set forth in Section 640 of the Penal Code.

(f) (1) A person who receives a notice of fare evasion or
passenger conduct violation pursuant to this section shall not be
subject to citation for a violation of Section 640 of the Penal Code,
if the person pays the administrative penalty when due or
successfully completes the civil administrative process pursuant
to this chapter.

(2) A person who fails to pay the administrative penalty when
due or successfully complete the civil administrative process
pursuant to this chapter may be charged with an infraction or
misdemeanor pursuant to Section 640 of the Penal Code.

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(3) If a person is charged with an infraction or misdemeanor
pursuant to Section 640 of the Penal Code, after failing to pay the
administrative penalty or successfully complete the civil
administrative process pursuant to this chapter, the processing
agency shall dismiss the original notice of fare evasion and make
no further attempts to collect the administrative penalty.

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(4) A person who is charged with an infraction or misdemeanor
pursuant to Section 640 of the Penal Code, after failing to pay the
administrative penalty or successfully complete the civil
administrative process pursuant to this chapter, shall be personally
served by the processing agency with a new notice of fare evasion
that sets forth the violation under Section 640 of the Penal Code.

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(g) If an entity enacts an ordinance pursuant to this section it
shall, both two years and five years after enactment of the
ordinance, report all of the following information to the Senate
Committee on Transportation and Housing and the Assembly
Committee on Transportation:

(1) A description of the ordinance, including the circumstances
under which an alleged violator is afforded the opportunity to
complete the administrative process.

(2) The amount of the administrative penalties.

(3) The number and types of citations administered pursuant to
the ordinance.

(4) To the extent available, a comparison of the number and
types of citations administered pursuant to the ordinance with the
number and types of citations issued for similar offenses and
administered through the courts both in the two years prior to the
ordinance and, if any, since enactment of the ordinance.

(5) A discussion of the effect of the ordinance on passenger
behavior.

(6) A discussion of the effect of the ordinance on revenues to
the entity described in subdivision (a) and, in consultation with
the superior courts, the cost savings to the county courts. The
superior courts are encouraged to collaborate on and provide data
for this report.

SEC. 2.  

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.