Amended in Assembly June 24, 2015

Amended in Senate June 1, 2015

Amended in Senate April 6, 2015

Senate Bill No. 405

Introduced by Senator Hertzberg

(Principal coauthor: Senator Leno)

(Coauthors: Senators Beall and Wieckowski)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Atkins, Chiu, Cooley, Dodd, Gonzalez, and Jones-Sawyer)

February 25, 2015

begin delete An act to add and repeal Section 42008.8 of the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles. end delete begin insert An act to amend Section 1214.1 of the Penal Code, relating to crimes. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 405, as amended, Hertzberg. begin delete Vehicles: infraction and misdemeanor violations: amnesty. end delete begin insert Failure to appear in court: fines. end insert

begin insert

Existing law authorizes the court, in addition to any other penalty in an infraction, misdemeanor, or felony case, to impose a civil assessment of up to $300 against any defendant who fails, after notice and without good cause, to appear in court for any proceeding authorized by law, or who fails to pay all or any portion of a fine ordered by the court or to pay an installment of bail, as specified. Existing law provides that the assessment shall not become effective until at least 10 calendar days after the court mails a warning notice to the defendant, and requires the court, if the defendant appears within the time specified in the notice and shows good cause for the failure to appear or for the failure to pay a fine or installment of bail, to vacate the assessment.

end insert begin insert

The bill would provide that ability to post bail or to pay the fine or civil assessment is not a prerequisite to filing a request that the court vacate the assessment. The bill would also provide that the imposition or collection of bail or a civil assessment does not preclude a defendant from scheduling a court hearing on the underlying charge.

end insert begin delete

Existing law requires a county to establish a one-time amnesty program for fines and bail due on or before January 1, 2009, for certain infraction or misdemeanor violations of the Vehicle Code and the Penal Code. Existing law allows a person owing a fine or bail that was eligible for amnesty under this program to pay 50% of the total fine or bail, as defined, which is required to be accepted by the court in full satisfaction of the delinquent fine or bail. Under existing law, the amnesty program was operative from January 1, 2012, until June 30, 2012.

end delete begin delete

This bill would, until January 1, 2018, provide that a county that establishes an amnesty program to allow a person owing a fine or bail that was due on or before January 1, 2013, to pay either 20% of the delinquent amount owed, in full satisfaction of the fine or bail, if the person has income that does not exceed 125% of the federal poverty level or he or she is a recipient of any state or federal need-based assistance program, as specified, or 50% of the delinquent amount owed if he or she does not meet the above-described criteria. The bill would require a participant eligible to pay only 20% of the delinquent amount owed to declare, under penalty of perjury, that either his or her income does not exceed 125% of the federal poverty level or that he or she is a recipient of public assistance. The bill would also require a county that establishes an amnesty program to comply with guidelines promulgated by the Judicial Council. The bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to restore the driving privilege of a participant in the amnesty program whose driver’s license was suspended for failure to appear in court or failure to pay a fine or bail, as specified. The bill would direct the Judicial Council to adopt guidelines for the amnesty program by March 1, 2016. The bill would require the Judicial Council to reimburse all costs, including personnel costs, incurred by the Department of Motor Vehicles associated with specified tasks, including posting on the department’s Internet Web site information regarding the amnesty program. The bill would also require counties to file a report with the Judicial Council, for submission to the Legislature, regarding the number of cases resolved, the amount of money collected, and the operating costs of the amnesty program. The bill would state findings and declarations by the Legislature relative to these matters. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

end delete begin delete

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.

end delete begin delete

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

end delete

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete yes end delete begin insert no end insert . State-mandated local program:  begin delete yes end delete begin insert no end insert .

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

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 1214.1 of the end insert begin insert Penal Code end insert begin insert is amended to
read: end insert

1214.1.  

(a) In addition to any other penalty in infraction,
misdemeanor, or felony cases, the court may impose a civil
assessment of up to three hundred dollars ($300) against begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert
defendant who fails, after notice and without good cause, to appear
in court for begin delete any end delete begin insert a end insert proceeding authorized by law or who fails to
pay all or any portion of a fine ordered by the court or to pay an
installment of bail as agreed to under Section 40510.5 of the
Vehicle Code. This assessment shall be deposited in the Trial Court
Trust Fund, as provided in Section 68085.1 of the Government
Code.

(b)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert The assessment begin insert imposed pursuant to subdivision (a) end insert
shall not become effective until at least 10 calendar days after the
court mails a warning notice to the defendant by first-class mail
to the address shown on the notice to appear or to the defendant’s
last known address. If the defendant appears within the time
specified in the notice and shows good cause for the failure to
appear or for the failure to pay a fine or installment of bail, the
court shall vacate the assessment.

begin insert

(2) Ability to post bail or to pay the civil assessment shall not
be a prerequisite to filing a request that the court vacate the
assessment. Imposition or collection of bail or a civil assessment
shall not preclude a defendant from scheduling a court hearing
on the underlying charge.

end insert

(c) If a civil assessment is imposed begin delete under this section, end delete begin insert pursuant
to subdivision (a), end insert no bench warrant or warrant of arrest shall be
issued with respect to the failure to appear at the proceeding for
which the assessment is imposed or the failure to pay the fine or
installment of bail. An outstanding, unserved bench warrant or
warrant of arrest for a failure to appear or for a failure to pay a
fine or installment of bail shall be recalled prior to the subsequent
imposition of a civil assessment.

(d) The assessment imposed begin delete under end delete begin insert pursuant to end insert subdivision (a)
shall be subject to the due process requirements governing defense
and collection of civil money judgments generally.

(e) Each court and county shall maintain the collection program
that was in effect on July 1, 2005, unless otherwise agreed to by
the court and county. If a court and a county do not agree on a plan
for the collection of civil assessments imposed pursuant to this
section, or any other collections under Section 1463.010, after the
implementation of Sections 68085.6 and 68085.7 of the
Government Code, the court or the county may request arbitration
by a third party mutually agreed upon by the Administrative
Director of the Courts and the California State Association of
Counties.

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) Driving in California is often described as a privilege, but
for millions of Californians it is an economic necessity. Each day
millions of Californians take to the road to go to work, drop off
their children at school and activities, go shopping, and visit family.
Without the ability to drive, millions of families cannot afford to
pay the cost of housing, pay utilities, put food on the table, afford
clothing for their children, or be able to save for retirement. In
short, driving is a fundamental need of virtually every person in
the state.

(b) Unfortunately, millions of Californians have lost the ability
to drive legally. Their driver’s licenses have been suspended, not
because they are a danger to public safety, but because they could
not pay fines associated with minor traffic tickets and other related
fees and assessments. In the past five years, the Department of
Motor Vehicles has suspended more than 2.7 million driver’s
licenses for drivers’ failure to appear in court or failure to make
payments ordered by a court. The Legislative Analyst’s Office
reports that there is currently more than $10 billion in
court-ordered, uncollected debt in California and $8 billion of this
amount is for unpaid traffic violations.

(c) For many families, a driver’s license suspension is the
beginning of a descent into abject poverty for which there is no
escape. Legal services advocates report that once a person gets his
or her driver’s license suspended in California, it is virtually
impossible for the driver’s license to be restored until all the unpaid
fees, fines, and assessments are completely paid. Many people
with a suspended driver’s license are low income and can only
pay the debt off a little at a time. Others are unemployed or on
public assistance and cannot afford to make any payments. The
State of New Jersey did a study of persons with suspended driver’s
licenses and found that 42 percent lost their jobs after their driver’s
licenses were suspended and less than one-half of them were able
to find new jobs; 88 percent experienced a loss of income.

(d) The original rationale for suspending driver’s licenses was
to compel a person who had committed a serious public safety
violation to correct his or her behavior. This rationale over time
has been extended to hundreds of nonpublic safety violations. As
a report by the American Association of Motor Vehicle
Administrators (AAMVA), “Best Practices Guide to Reducing
Suspended Drivers” notes, all 50 states now suspend driver’s
licenses for nonhighway safety reasons. The AAMVA report
recommends that states repeal laws that lead to driver’s license
suspensions for nonpublic safety reasons and replace those
suspensions with payment plans and wage garnishments to collect
court-ordered debt.

SEC. 2.  

Section 42008.8 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:

42008.8.  

(a) A county that establishes a one-time amnesty
program for fines and bail shall conduct the program in accordance
with guidelines provided by the Judicial Council. The guidelines
shall be adopted by March 1, 2016. Until the guidelines are adopted
by the Judicial Council, each program shall initially be conducted
in accordance with the Judicial Council’s guidelines adopted
pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 42008.7.

(b) Unless agreed otherwise by the court and the county in
writing, the government entities that are responsible for the
collection of delinquent court-ordered debt shall be responsible
for implementation of the amnesty program as to that debt,
maintaining the same division of responsibility in place with
respect to the collection of court-ordered debt under subdivision
(b) of Section 1463.010 of the Penal Code.

(c) Commencing January 1, 2016, until January 1, 2018, each
amnesty program shall accept, in full satisfaction of any eligible
fine or bail, of which the due date for payment was on or before
January 1, 2013, the following amounts:

(1) (A) Twenty percent of the fine or bail if the person has
income that does not exceed 125 percent of the federal poverty
level, or the person is a recipient of any of the state or federal
need-based assistance programs described in subdivision (a) of
Section 68632 of the Government Code.

(B) Each participant under this paragraph shall declare, under
penalty of perjury, that either his or her income does not exceed
125 percent of the federal poverty level or that he or she is a
recipient of public assistance under one or more of the programs
described in subdivision (a) of Section 68632 of the Government
Code.

(2) Fifty percent of the fine or bail if the person is not described
in paragraph (1).

(d) Nothing in this section shall limit the court’s ability to issue
an earning withholdings order as described in Chapter 5
(commencing with Section 706.101) of Division 2 of Title 9 of
Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure or to order the person to
perform community services in lieu of paying the amounts
specified in subdivision (c).

(e) The department shall restore the driving privilege of a
participant in the amnesty program whose driver’s license was
suspended pursuant to Section 13365.

(f) The Judicial Council shall reimburse all costs, including
personnel costs, incurred by the department associated with both
of the following:

(1) Providing on a separate insert with each motor vehicle
registration renewal notice a summary of the amnesty program
established pursuant to this section.

(2) Posting on the department’s Internet Web site information
regarding the amnesty program.

(g) No criminal action shall be brought against a person for a
delinquent fine or bail paid under the amnesty program.

(h) Each court or county implementing an amnesty program
shall file, not later than one year after establishing the program, a
written report with the Judicial Council, on a form approved by
the Judicial Council. The report shall include information about
the number of cases resolved, the amount of money collected, and
the operating costs of the amnesty program. The Judicial Council
shall submit a report to the Legislature summarizing the
information provided by each court or county. The report shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
Code.

(i) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2018,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends that date.

SEC. 3.  

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.

end delete