HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 06191990 - 1.46 ,f
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TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra
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FROM: Costa
Phil Batchelor, County Administrator _ s
County
DATE: June 11, 1990 COSTA EpUN�
SUBJECT: LEGISLATION: AB 3549 (Norman Waters)
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a position of SUPPORT IF AMENDED for AB 3549 by Assemblyman
Norman Waters which would authorize police departments to dispose
of mechanical ( fix-it) tickets which they have issued without the
need for the ticket to be returned to court to dispose of the
citation.
BACKGROUND:
Under current law when a mechanical violation is issued by a law
enforcement officer, commonly referred to as a "fix-it" ticket,
the owner of the vehicle must have the issuing law enforcement
agency sign-off on the correction, indicating that the defect
which caused the citation to be issued has been properly
corrected. The owner then must present the citation, signed-off
by the law enforcement agency, to the Municipal Court having
jurisdiction over the location where the citation was issued.
The court is then required to dismiss the citation, upon being
satisfied that the basis of the citation has been corrected.
AB 3549 has been introduced by Assemblyman Norman Waters to
eliminate the need for the Municipal Court to be involved in such
citations, as long as the owner has the defect corrected in a
timely manner. The owner would present proof of correction to
the law enforcement agency which issued the citation. Upon being
convinced that the defect has been corrected, the law enforcement
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT:YeS YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATUREM: ' �7a�LY.f'
ACTION OF BOARD ON June 19, 1990 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED 1L OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. ,y
CC: ATTESTED % y0
n PHIL BtACHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
I Please see Page 2. SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
M382 (10/88)
BY ,DEPUTY
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agency could dispose of the citation without any further
involvement by the Municipal Court. Of course, if the owner
fails to dispose of the citation in a proper and timely manner,
the citation would be referred to the Municipal Court by the law
enforcement agency for further processing.
The Contra Costa County Municipal Court Administrator supports AB
3549 and recommends that the Board of Supervisors support the
bill as well. We would, however, like to suggest an amendment
which we believe would strengthen the bill and go a long way in
convincing local law enforcement agencies to voluntarily accept
the responsibility to dispose of such citations.
The proposed amendment would authorize the law enforcement agency
to assess an administrative fee of perhaps $10 for processing the
disposition of the citation. This would assist in convincing the
police or Sheriff ' s department to process the notice to correct
rather than a notice to appear in court and would relieve a
substantial and, we believe, largely unnecessary workload on the
courts by eliminating their involvement in the disposition of
notices to correct mechanical violations.
We would, therefore, recommend that the Board of Supervisors
indicate their willingness to support AB 3549 if it is amended to
provide for an administrative fee for the law enforcement agency
which processes the notice to correct.
AB 3549 passed the Assembly Transportation Committee on April 23 ,
1990 by a vote of 14: 0. The bill has been heard in the Assembly
Ways and Means Committee and has been placed on the Committee' s
Suspense File.
cc: Assemblyman Norman Waters
County Administrator
Municipal Court Administrator
Sheriff-Coroner
Director, Justice Systems Programs
Les Spahnn, SRJ. Jackson, Barish & Associates