HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 02261985 - 1.22 A;�
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
FROM: Phil Batchelor, County Administrator Contra
Costa
DATE: February 21 , 1985 County
SUBJECT: Legislation: Assembly Bill 738
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt a position in support of AB 738 (Baker) which increases the discretion of the
District Attorney in prosecuting specified offenses as either infractions or misdemeanors.
BACKGROUND:
When a relatively minor offense must be charged as a misdemeanor, the defendant has the
right to a jury trial , the appointment of a public defender, and the involvement of a
judge. The ironic part is that, characteristically, the cases are continued over and
over for the purpose of allowing .the defendant an opportunity to clear all of his
failures to appear and have his license reinstated. Allowing the District Attorney to
charge these types of suspensions as infractions will take away the need for judge
participation as court commissioners can process the infraction through to the similar
purpose and disposition without public defender involvement. The net result is the
same; the defendant clears up his failures to appear and has his license .reinstated, but
without the full scale procedures required of misdemeanors.
In addition, PC Section 19e provides for a higher fine limit on those offenses which can
be charged as either misdemeanors or infractions ($250) than on those offenses which
are only infractions. The additional discretion allowed to the District Attorney gives
him the ability to distinguish serious offenses and charge them as misdemeanors, but
save time and money by charging minor offenses as infractions.
Current law which authorized specified offenses to be charged as infractions contains an
automatic January 1 , 1986 repeal . If the repeal goes into effect, there will no longer
be any authority to charge the currently specified offenses as infractions and they
will again have to be charged as misdemeanors. AB 738 repeals this January 1 , 1986
sunset provision and, therefore, leaves the authority to charge the specified offenses
as either infractions or misdemeanors in effect indefinitely.
All offenses involving driving on a suspended license are presently misdemeanors. The
courts have recently experienced a great influx in the filing of complaints as the
Department of Motor Vehicles has started suspending driving privileges because of
failures to appear. AB 738 authorizes the District Attorney to charge as either an
infraction or a misdemeanor instances where the suspension of the driver's license is
based solely upon the failure to appear in court on a traffic citation.
The Business and Professions Code specifies that possession of an alcoholic beverage
by a person under the age of 21 is a misdemeanor. The Penal Code makes it unlawful to
trespass upon posted property without the written permission of the owner. The Penal
Code also specifies a wide variety of trespasses which are misdemefa7nors. AB738would
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT:—�(—YES SIGNATURE: ( 1 �"
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEyyvE
—�APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE(S) U �
ACTION OF BOARD ON February 26. 198q APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
UNANIMOUS (ABSENT ) I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
AYES: NOES: AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
County Administrator OF SUPERVISORS ON T E DATE SHOWN.
CC: District Attorney ATTESTED �y�s
Clerk--Administrator Muni Courts
Legis. Delegation (via CAO) PHIL BATCHELOR, CLERK THE BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
M382/7-88 BY DEPUTY
. r
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authorize the District Attorney in each of these instances to charge the offense
as an infraction rather than a misdemeanor.
AB 738 has been introduced by Assemblyman Baker at the request of Contra Costa
County. This bill is a part of the Board' s legislative package for 1985 and,
therefore, deserves specific support from the Board now that a bill has been
introduced for this purpose.
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