BILL NUMBER: SB 405 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 24, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 1, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 6, 2015
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
An act to add and repeal Section 42008.8 of the Vehicle
Code, relating to vehicles. An act to amend Section
1214.1 of the Penal Code, relating to crimes.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 405, as amended, Hertzberg. Vehicles: infraction and
misdemeanor violations: amnesty. Failure to appear in
court: fines.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
no . State-mandated local program: yes
no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1214.1 of the Penal
Code is amended to read:
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 any
a defendant who fails, after notice and without good
cause, to appear in court for any a
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) (1) The assessment imposed pursuant
to subdivision (a) 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.
(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.
(c) If a civil assessment is imposed under this section,
pursuant to subdivision (a), 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 under pursuant
to 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.
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.