BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2839|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2839
Author: Thurmond (D)
Amended: 4/13/16 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/28/16
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/11/16
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/12/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Criminal penalties: nonpayment of fines
SOURCE: Conference of California Bar Associations
DIGEST: This bill clarifies that when a criminal defendant is
ordered imprisoned for non-payment of a non-restitution criminal
fine, only the base fine is used when determining the term of
imprisonment.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Authorizes the court to incarcerate a defendant until an
imposed criminal fine is satisfied, but limits such
imprisonment to the maximum term permitted for the particular
offense of conviction. (Penal Code § 1205 (a).)
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2)Requires that the time of imprisonment for failure to pay a
fine be calculated as no more than one day for every $125 of
the fine. (Penal Code § 1205 (a).)
3)States that this provision applies to any violation of any of
the codes or statutes of the state which are punishable by a
fine or by a fine and imprisonment, but that it does not apply
to restitution fines or restitution orders. (Penal Code § 1205
(c) & (f).)
4)Provides that all days spent in custody by the defendant must
first be applied to the term of imprisonment and then to any
fine including, but not limited to, base fines at the rate of
not less than $125 per day, or more, in the discretion of the
trial court. (Penal Code § 2900.5. (a).)
This bill
1)Prohibits the term of imprisonment for nonpayment of a fine
from exceeding one day for each $125 of the base fine or the
term for which the defendant may be sentenced.
2)Specifies that all days that a defendant is in custody shall
be credited upon the defendant's term of imprisonment or
credited proportionally to any criminal base fine, excluding
restitution or restitution orders, at a rate of not less than
$125 per day.
3)States that any fees and assessments imposed on the base fine
shall be reduced proportionally to the reduction of the base
fine awarded as a result of custody credits.
Background
The Conference of California Bar Associations, the sponsor
of this bill, states:
AB 2839 is follow-up legislation to AB 1375 (Thurmond)
of 2015, reaffirming that bill's intent and
invalidating its mis-implementation by at least one
court. AB 1375, which was approved unanimously by both
houses, amended Penal Code §§1205 and §2900.5 to
increase the minimum credit for incarceration towards
paying off a criminal fine from $30.00 per day to
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$125.00 per day. The intent of the bill was to make it
easier for poor defendants charged with minor offenses
to ease the burden of paying off ever-increasing fines
by converting those fines to jail time at a more
reasonable rate, and to ease jail overcrowding by
enabling low-income defendants to satisfy their debt
more quickly. The bill was also intended to reduce
incarceration costs, since counties end up paying
significant amounts of money to incarcerate
non-violent, poor defendants, jailed only for
non-payment of debt.
For forty years, California courts have calculated jail
credits against the base fine, with penalties and
assessments reduced proportionately. Unfortunately, in
response to the change made by AB 1375, some courts
have changed their method of calculating the fines
against which the jail time is applied by applying
credits only after penalties and assessments have been
added. In these courts, indigent defendants now face
more jail time for the same minor fine than they did
before AB 1375, despite the legislation's clear intent.
This also increases jail overcrowding for minor
offenses, and costs counties more money in
incarceration costs.
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.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis:
County jails: Potentially significant reduction in local
incarceration costs (Local Funds) due to shorter lengths of
stay required for persons incarcerated for the nonpayment of
fines.
Penalty assessment/surcharge revenue: Potentially significant
reduction in local penalty assessment, state penalty
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assessment, special fund assessment, and state surcharge
revenues (Local Fund/General Fund/Special Funds) due to the
mandated proportional reduction in penalties and assessments
applied against the amount of base fines that have been served
through time served. The magnitude of foregone revenue would
be dependent on numerous factors, including but not limited to
the number of defendants electing to serve time in lieu of
payment of fines, and the ability to collect the penalties and
assessments had they been imposed on the defendant in the
absence of this measure.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/12/16)
Conference of California Bar Associations (source)
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
California Public Defenders Association
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/12/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/12/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Calderon,
Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines,
Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,
Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen,
Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Burke, Jones-Sawyer
Prepared by:Mary Kennedy / PUB. S. /
8/15/16 19:40:00
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