BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2839
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Date of Hearing: May 4, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2839 (Thurmond) - As Amended April 13, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill clarifies that when a criminal defendant is ordered
imprisoned for non-payment of a non-restitution criminal fine,
that only the base fine is used when determining the term of
imprisonment.
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FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Reduced costs of incarceration in county jails. Because some
defendants choose to convert their fines to time in custody,
by requiring custody credits be applied to the base fine,
those defendants who choose to serve time in lieu of paying
fines would be able to serve less time in custody to satisfy
payment of the criminal base fines and not serve time for the
additional assessments.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose/Background. According to the author, the Legislature
passed AB 1375 to help address the excesses of the 'debt trap'
faced by many defendants facing small fines in criminal court.
It increased from $30 to $125 per day the rate at which jail
time offset assessed fines that the prisoner could not pay.
The purpose of the bill was to reduce the time spent in jail
by indigent defendants unable to pay small fines. However,
some courts changed their method of calculating the fines
against which the jail time is offset, these courts now are
applying the credit only after penalties and assessments have
been added. In these courts, indigent defendants face more
jail time for the same minor fine, rather than less.
The author states,"AB 2839 will address this issue by
specifying that the credit for jail time is to be applied to
the base fine, not to the fine enhanced by penalties and
assessments."
Currently, courts impose fees and assessments automatically in
proportion to the base fine. Existing law states that when
AB 2839
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incarcerated individuals receive credit toward their criminal
fines -excluding restitution fines and orders those
individuals receive not less than $125 per day credit in
custody. This bill would apply those custody credits to the
base fine, rather than the total of the base fine with added
fees and assessments. Because fees and assessments are
calculated proportionally to the base fine, these amendments
would reduce the total of the fines imposed on defendants by
reducing the base fine.
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2)Support. According to the Conference of California Bar
Associations, "AB 2839 would restore the "normal" calculation
method in place for the forty years before the passage of AB
1375, thereby ensuring that the Legislature's intent in
enacting the bill is given effect, jail overcrowding is
reduced, and local costs are kept low."
3)Prior Legislation:
a) AB 1375 (Thurmond), Chapter 209, Statutes of 2015,
increased the rates to be applied, when a criminal
defendant is ordered imprisoned for non-payment of a
non-restitution criminal fine, from a credit of not less
than $30 to not less than $125 per day for each day served
pursuant to a judgment for non-payment of a criminal fine.
b) AB 1819 (Robert Pacheco), Chapter 62, Statutes of 2002,
authorizes any county or court that implements a
comprehensive program to identify and collect delinquent
fines and forfeitures, with or without a warrant having
been issued against the alleged violator, if the base fines
and forfeitures are delinquent.
Analysis Prepared by:Pedro Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
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