BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 676|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 676
Author: Wolk (D)
Amended: 9/4/09
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 5-2, 4/21/09
AYES: Leno, Cedillo, Hancock, Steinberg, Wright
NOES: Benoit, Huff
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE : 3-1, 5/6/09
AYES: Wiggins, Kehoe, Wolk
NOES: Cox
NO VOTE RECORDED: Aanestad
SENATE FLOOR : 22-15, 6/1/09
AYES: Alquist, Calderon, Cedillo, Corbett, DeSaulnier,
Florez, Hancock, Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete
McLeod, Oropeza, Padilla, Pavley, Romero, Simitian,
Steinberg, Wiggins, Wolk, Wright, Yee
NOES: Aanestad, Ashburn, Benoit, Cogdill, Correa, Cox,
Denham, Dutton, Harman, Hollingsworth, Huff, Maldonado,
Strickland, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ducheny, Runner, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 49-29, 9/8/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Local fees
SOURCE : Yolo County
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DIGEST : This bill increases and/or eliminates the
maximum for various fees a county, city or court may charge
for specified services.
Assembly Amendments
1,Deleted $75 fees collected by the Department of Fish and
Game to defray costs associated with wildlife trust
resources.
2.Deleted provisions authorizing the county clerk to charge
additional fees for recordation services.
3.Increases the maximum fee for changing a plea or setting
aside a verdict.
ANALYSIS :
Federal Lien Certificates. Existing law allows county
recorders to impose fees up to $15 to cover the costs of
furnishing a copy of any notice of federal lien, or notice
or certificate affecting a federal lien. The $15 maximum
has not changed since 1983. This bill deletes the $15
limit, allowing county recorders to set the fee in an
amount that covers actual costs.
Recorded Documents . Existing law allows county recorders
to charge a filing fee for recording and indexing every
instrument, paper, or notice required or permitted by law
to be recorded. The maximum charge is $4 for the recording
of the first page and $3 for each additional page, with the
ability to charge additional fees as specified. The $4
maximum has not changed since 1985. This bill increases
the maximum charge for the recording of the first page of a
document from $4 to $10.
Court-Appointed Counsel . Existing law allows a county
board of supervisors to assess a registration fee of up to
$25 on every defendant represented by appointed counsel.
No fee is required of any defendant who is financially
unable to pay. The $25 maximum has not changed since 1997.
This bill increases the maximum amount of the fee from $25
to $50.
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Restitution . If a court orders restitution to be made to a
crime victim, a county board of supervisors may add a fee
to cover the actual administrative cost of collecting
restitution not to exceed 10 percent of the total amount
ordered to be paid. The fees are paid into the county
general fund. The 10 percent maximum has not changed since
1986. This bill increases the maximum fee to cover the
costs of collecting restitution from 10 percent to $15
percent of the total amount ordered to be paid. This bill
also authorizes a court to add a fee to cover the actual
administrative costs of collecting restitution not to
exceed 15 percent of the total amount ordered with the fees
paid into the Trial Court Operations Fund or an account
established for the use and benefit of the court pursuant
to state law.
County Probation Department Payments . Existing law
requires some defendants to pay for the reasonable cost of
any probation supervision or a conditional sentence, of
conducting any pre-plea investigation and preparing of any
pre-plea report, of conducting any pre-sentence
investigation and preparing any pre-sentence report, and of
processing a jurisdictional transfer or of processing a
request for interstate compact supervision. A county board
of supervisors may establish a fee up to $50 to cover the
administrative and clerical costs of collecting the
defendants' payments. The $50 maximum has not changed
since 1996. This bill increases the $50 maximum to $75.
Change of Plea, Setting Aside of a Verdict . Under existing
law, a person who petitions for a change of plea or setting
aside of a verdict may be required to reimburse the court,
the county, and the city for the actual costs of services
rendered, whether or not the petition is granted and the
records are sealed or expunged. The court, the county
board of supervisors, and the city may determine a rate of
up to $120 to reimburse the actual costs. The $120 maximum
has not been changed since 1995. This bill increases the
$120 maximum to $150.
Sealing of Records . Under existing law, a person who was
convicted of a misdemeanor when he or she was a minor at
the time of the offense and who petitions for an order
sealing his or her record may be required to reimburse the
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court, the county, and the city for the actual costs of
services rendered whether or not the petition is granted
and the records are sealed or expunged. The court, the
county board of supervisors, and the city may determine a
rate of up to $120 to reimburse the actual costs. The $120
maximum has not changed since 1995. This bill increases
the $120 maximum to $150.
Installment Payments . Under existing law, a person who is
convicted of a misdemeanor and required to pay a fine may
pay the fine in specified installments. A board of
supervisors may require defendants to pay to the clerk of
the court or the collecting agency a fee of up to $35 to
pay for the administrative and clerical costs of processing
installment accounts. The $35 maximum has not changed
since 1993. This bill deletes the $35 maximum, allowing a
board of supervisors, or a court, depending on which entity
administers the account, to require a fee sufficient to pay
for the administrative and clerical costs of processing
installment accounts.
Under existing law, a person who is convicted of a
misdemeanor and required to pay a fine may pay the fine in
a lump sum. A board of supervisors may require defendants
to pay to the clerk of the court or the collecting agency a
fee of up to $30 for the processing of accounts that are
not paid in installments. This bill authorizes a county
board of supervisors or a court, depending on which entity
administers the account, to assess a fee equal to the
administrative and clerical costs, not to exceed $30,
associated with processing the non-installment-payments
account for a person who is convicted of a misdemeanor and
is required to pay a fine.
Fingerprinting . Existing law allows a local agency taking
fingerprints of a person who is an applicant for licensing,
employment, or certification to charge up to $10 to cover
the cost of taking the fingerprints and processing the
required documents. The $10 maximum has not changed since
1987. This bill deletes the $10 maximum, allowing local
agencies to charge a fee sufficient to cover the cost of
taking the fingerprints and processing the required
documents.
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Support of a Minor . Existing law requires that the father,
mother, spouse, or other person liable for the support of a
minor be liable for the reasonable costs of support of the
minor while the minor is placed, detained in, or committed
to any institution because of delinquency or truancy.
Costs of support mean only actual costs incurred by the
county for food and food preparation, clothing, personal
supplies, and medical expenses, not to exceed a combined
maximum of costs of $15 per day except that the maximum
cost of $15 per ay must be adjusted every third year
beginning January 1, 1998, to reflect the percentage change
in the calendar year annual average of the California
Consumer Price Index, All Urban Consumers, published by the
Department of Industrial Relations, for the three-year
period. The $15 maximum has not changed since 1985. This
bill increases the maximum costs from $15 per day to $30
per day adjusted every third year beginning January 1,
2012.
Sealing of Juvenile Records . Existing law allows counties
and courts to require specified people to reimburse them up
to $120 for the costs of services rendered for any
investigation related to the sealing and for the sealing of
any juvenile court or arrest records whether or not the
petition is granted and the records are sealed or expunged.
The $120 maximum has not changed since 1995. This bill
increases the $120 maximum to $150.
This bill deletes statutory cross-references to statutes in
which the bill proposes to delete limits on fees, thereby
allowing the fees to be set pursuant to the general
authorization for counties to recover the cost of providing
any product or service or the cost of enforcing any
regulation for which a fee or charged is levied.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/9/09)
Yolo County (source)
California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
California State Association of Counties
California State Sheriff's Association
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Chief Probation Officers of California
Contra Costa County
Humboldt County Board of Supervisors
Los Angeles County District Attorney
Placer County Sheriff
Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs' Association
San Joaquin County
San Mateo County Sheriff
Santa Barbara County Sheriff
Santa Clara County
Solano County
State Coalition for Probation Organizations
Yolo County Sheriff
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
"Government Code Section 54986 describes the procedures
that counties must follow to change fees otherwise
authorized by law. If state law does not prescribe an
amount or otherwise limit a fee, GC Section 54985 allows a
board of supervisors to 'increase or decrease a fee or
charge?in the amount reasonably necessary to recover the
cost' of providing a good or service or enforcing a
regulation. GC Section 5498 also excludes a large number
of fees from this provision. These fees are set by the
state and include, among others, civil fees, county
recorder fees and all fees charged by agricultural
commissioners.
"The fees by state law, including vital records fees,
recording fees and civil fees charge by the sheriff's
department, appear to be the most inflexible and costly for
counties. Many county fees set by the state do not cover
the cost of providing the service. The process to increase
these fees is cumbersome and the Legislature does not
regularly review these fees to address changes in cost.
Some have not been updated in 20-30 years. Some of these
fees predate the reimbursable mandate provisions and thus
are not eligible for state reimbursement.
"When a fee based service does not recover sufficient funds
to cover the cost of providing the service, the difference
comes out the county's general fund. The cost of these
services is supposed to be borne by only those using the
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services, but ends up being subsidized by all taxpayers -
including those who never use a particular service. This
in turn puts pressure on other services that are funded by
the county general fund, such as indigent health care,
libraries, and law enforcement."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans,
Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, John A.
Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner,
Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Yamada,
Bass
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Conway,
Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Fletcher, Fuller, Gaines,
Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Jeffries, Knight,
Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, V. Manuel
Perez, Silva, Smyth, Audra Strickland, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bill Berryhill, Vacancy
RJG:cm 9/9/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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