On September 17, 2019, the Board of Supervisors adopted Resolution No. 2019/522 to place a moratorium on the assessment and collection of certain criminal justice fees. The moratorium has remained in effect since adoption by the Board and staff has been tracking relevant legislation.
On September 18, 2020, the Governor approved Assembly Bill (AB) 1869 (Criminal Fees). This bill by the Assembly Committee on Budget repeals the authority to collect various criminal justice administrative fees upon conviction or arrest rendering the unpaid balance of these court-imposed costs unenforceable and uncollectible, and would require any portion of a judgment imposing those costs to be vacated. The bill also appropriated $65 million annually for five years to counties to backfill associated revenue losses. The bill expressed the intent of the Legislature to pursue legislation with the Budget Act of 2021 to finalize the funding allocation methodology for distribution to counties. This bill repealed the following administrative fees, effective July 1, 2021:
1) Government Codes 27712 (public defense fee), 27753 (cost of counsel), 29550(c) (criminal justice administration fee), 29550(f) (administrative screening fee and citation processing fee), 29550.1 (criminal justice administration fee), 29550.2 (county booking fee), 29550.3 (city booking fee), and
2) Penal Codes 1203 (interstate compact supervision), 1203.016(g) (adult home detention administrative fee), 1203.018(j)(electronic monitoring administrative fee), 1203.1b (probation department investigation/progress report fee), 1203.1e (parole supervision fee), 1208.2(b) (program administrative fee), 1210.15 (continuous electronic monitoring fee), 3010.8 (parole continuous electronic monitoring fee), 4024.2(e)(work furlough administrative fee), 6266 (work furlough program fee), 987.4 (minor public defense fee), 987.5 (public defense registration fee), and 987.8 (public defense fee).
The administrative fees related to the public defense, probation, criminal justice administration fee, and alternative custody included in the bill were also included in the County's moratorium.
During the April 2021 meeting, the PPC received an update on the County fee moratorium. With AB 1869 being effective July 1, 2021, the Superior Court was required to take action on many of these same fines and fees that were included in the moratorium. The public defender fee, probation fees, the sheriff booking fee will be discharged from the Court's accounting system pursuant to AB 1869. The Superior Court had requested direction from the County on the discharge of the outstanding balance of drug diversion fees and victim restitution admin fees, fees affected by the County’s moratorium but not by AB 1869. The PPC was also updated on new legislation that was introduced during 2021, Senate Bill 586 (Criminal Fees), which would eliminate a number of other criminal fees, including the drug diversion fee and victim restitution administrative fee. The PPC recommended to the full Board of Supervisor for the Victim Restitution Administrative Fee and the Drug Diversion Fee to be discharged.
During the October 2021 meeting, the PPC was updated on Assembly Bill 177. This bill by the Budget Committee transitioned from SB 586 by Senator Steve Bradford and effective January 1, 2022, eliminates 17 administrative criminal fees; makes past debt for these fees uncollectible; and allocates backfill funding to counties for the associated loss of revenue from these fee repeals. In 2021-22, the backfill will total $25 million for counties. In 2022-23 and ongoing, the backfill will increase to $50 million for counties. AB 177 also indicates the Legislature’s intent to pursue additional legislation by March 1, 2022, to finalize the funding allocation methodology for distribution. California State Association of Counties (CSAC) will continue conversations with stakeholders and share further information as it is available. AB 177 was signed by the Governor on September 23rd. |
This item informational and has no direct fiscal impact. However, through AB 1869 the County will be receiving $1,497,266 in backfill funding. In comparision, the County had a revenue reduction of approximately $1.6 million from the elimination of the various alternatives to incarceration, public defender, and probation fees.
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