BILL NUMBER: SB 1616 CHAPTERED 06/29/00 CHAPTER 50 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JUNE 29, 2000 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR JUNE 28, 2000 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY JUNE 22, 2000 PASSED THE SENATE MAY 24, 2000 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 9, 2000 AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 29, 2000 INTRODUCED BY Senator Monteith FEBRUARY 22, 2000 An act to amend Section 594 of the Penal Code, relating to vandalism. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1616, Monteith. Vandalism: graffiti abatement. Existing law provides that every person who maliciously defaces with graffiti or other inscribed material, damages, or destroys any real or personal property not his or her own is guilty of vandalism. Existing law prohibits additional specified acts of vandalism involving graffiti. Existing law also authorizes the court to order a defendant to perform community service upon conviction of certain of these offenses, or as a condition of probation, as specified, or in a jurisdiction that has adopted a graffiti abatement program, authorize the court to order, upon the conviction of a person for any of these offenses, or as a condition of probation, the person, and his or her parents or guardians if the defendant is a minor, to keep the damaged property or another property free of graffiti for a specified period of time. This bill would delete the adoption of a graffiti abatement program as a condition for the court to order a person, convicted pursuant to these provisions, to keep the damaged property or another property free of graffiti. Since these provisions are contained in a statute affected by Proposition 21, an initiative act, the amendment of these provisions by the Legislature would require a 2/3 vote of the Legislature as provided by the initiative act. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 594 of the Penal Code, as amended by Section 12 of Proposition 21, March 7, 2000, is amended to read: 594. (a) Every person who maliciously commits any of the following acts with respect to any real or personal property not his or her own, in cases other than those specified by state law, is guilty of vandalism: (1) Defaces with graffiti or other inscribed material. (2) Damages. (3) Destroys. Whenever a person violates this subdivision with respect to real property, vehicles, signs, fixtures, furnishings, or property belonging to any public entity, as defined by Section 811.2 of the Government Code, or the federal government, it shall be a permissive inference that the person neither owned the property nor had the permission of the owner to deface, damage, or destroy the property. (b) (1) If the amount of defacement, damage, or destruction is four hundred dollars ($400) or more, vandalism is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison or in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or if the amount of defacement, damage, or destruction is ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or more, by a fine of not more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment. (2) (A) If the amount of defacement, damage, or destruction is less than four hundred dollars ($400), vandalism is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment. (B) If the amount of defacement, damage, or destruction is less than four hundred dollars ($400), and the defendant has been previously convicted of vandalism or affixing graffiti or other inscribed material under Section 594, 594.3, 594.4, 640.5, 640.6, or 640.7, vandalism is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment. (c) (1) Upon conviction of any person under this section for acts of vandalism consisting of defacing property with graffiti or other inscribed materials, the court may, in addition to any punishment imposed under subdivision (b), order the defendant to clean up, repair, or replace the damaged property himself or herself, or order the defendant, and his or her parents or guardians if the defendant is a minor, to keep the damaged property or another specified property in the community free of graffiti for up to one year. Participation of a parent or guardian is not required under this subdivision if the court deems this participation to be detrimental to the defendant, or if the parent or guardian is a single parent who must care for young children. (2) Any city, county, or city and county may enact an ordinance that provides for all of the following: (A) That upon conviction of any person pursuant to this section for acts of vandalism, the court may, in addition to any punishment imposed under subdivision (b), provided that the court determines that the defendant has the ability to pay any law enforcement costs not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250), order the defendant to pay all or part of the costs not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250) incurred by a law enforcement agency in identifying and apprehending the defendant. The law enforcement agency shall provide evidence of, and bear the burden of establishing, the reasonable costs that it incurred in identifying and apprehending the defendant. (B) The law enforcement costs authorized to be paid pursuant to this subdivision are in addition to any other costs incurred or recovered by the law enforcement agency, and payment of these costs does not in any way limit, preclude, or restrict any other right, remedy, or action otherwise available to the law enforcement agency. (d) If a minor is personally unable to pay a fine levied for acts prohibited by this section, the parent of that minor shall be liable for payment of the fine. A court may waive payment of the fine, or any part thereof, by the parent upon a finding of good cause. (e) As used in this section, the term "graffiti or other inscribed material" includes any unauthorized inscription, word, figure, mark, or design, that is written, marked, etched, scratched, drawn, or painted on real or personal property. (f) The court may order any person ordered to perform community service or graffiti removal pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) to undergo counseling. (g) No amount paid by a defendant in satisfaction of a criminal matter shall be applied in satisfaction of the law enforcement costs that may be imposed pursuant to this section until all outstanding base fines, state and local penalty assessments, restitution orders, and restitution fines have been paid. (h) This section shall remain in effect until January 1, 2002, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute that is enacted before January 1, 2002, deletes or extends that date. SEC. 2. Section 594 of the Penal Code, as amended by Section 12.5 of Proposition 21, March 7, 2000, is amended to read: 594. (a) Every person who maliciously commits any of the following acts with respect to any real or personal property not his or her own, in cases other than those specified by state law, is guilty of vandalism: (1) Defaces with graffiti or other inscribed material. (2) Damages. (3) Destroys. Whenever a person violates this subdivision with respect to real property, vehicles, signs, fixtures, furnishings, or property belonging to any public entity, as defined by Section 811.2 of the Government Code, or the federal government, it shall be a permissive inference that the person neither owned the property nor had the permission of the owner to deface, damage, or destroy the property. (b) (1) If the amount of defacement, damage, or destruction is four hundred dollars ($400) or more, vandalism is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison or in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or if the amount of defacement, damage, or destruction is ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or more, by a fine of not more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment. (2) (A) If the amount of defacement, damage, or destruction is less than four hundred dollars ($400), vandalism is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment. (B) If the amount of defacement, damage, or destruction is less than four hundred dollars ($400), and the defendant has been previously convicted of vandalism or affixing graffiti or other inscribed material under Section 594, 594.3, 594.4, 640.5, 640.6, or 640.7, vandalism is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment. (c) Upon conviction of any person under this section for acts of vandalism consisting of defacing property with graffiti or other inscribed materials, the court may, in addition to any punishment imposed under subdivision (b), order the defendant to clean up, repair, or replace the damaged property himself or herself, or order the defendant, and his or her parents or guardians if the defendant is a minor, to keep the damaged property or another specified property in the community free of graffiti for up to one year. Participation of a parent or guardian is not required under this subdivision if the court deems this participation to be detrimental to the defendant, or if the parent or guardian is a single parent who must care for young children. (d) If a minor is personally unable to pay a fine levied for acts prohibited by this section, the parent of that minor shall be liable for payment of the fine. A court may waive payment of the fine, or any part thereof, by the parent upon a finding of good cause. (e) As used in this section, the term "graffiti or other inscribed material" includes any unauthorized inscription, word, figure, mark, or design, that is written, marked, etched, scratched, drawn, or painted on real or personal property. (f) The court may order any person ordered to perform community service or graffiti removal pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) to undergo counseling. (g) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2002.