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HomeMy WebLinkAbout13,14,15- Facilities Manager CITY OF SAN BERM ,RDINO - REQUEST r 1R COUNCIL ACTION From: Bert Murphy Subject: Agreement with cities of Redlands Facilities Manager and Loma Linda relative to Dept: City of San Bernardino' s hearing officer services . Date: June 8 , 1993 Synopsis of Previous Council action: Recommended motion: Adopt resolutions. 'Signa Contact person: Murphy Phone: 5244 Supporting data attached:_ yes Ward: FUNDING REQUIREMENTS: Amount: Source: (Acct. No.) JAcct. Description) Finance: Council Notes: STAFF REPORT RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the Mayor and Council appoint the Director of Risk Management or his designee as hearing examiner for parking citation cases in the City of San Bernardino. Recent legislation, AB 4081 allows cities to hear parking citation cases and collect revenue for that service. Because training is minimal and the position will generate revenue, appointing a hearing examiner would be in the best interest for the City. It is also recommended that the Mayor and Council authorize the execution of an agreement with the cities of Redlands and Loma Linda to contract for the City of San Bernardino' s hearing examiner services. The City has already been approached by other cities who would like to pay for hearing examiner services. The City can expect to earn approximately $28, 000 annually in additional revenue from a state trust fund and reimbursement from cities that are contracting our services. SUMMARY t The Governor recently signed into law Assembly Bill 408 , which decriminalizes parking citations, removes parking citations processing from the courts, and establishes a system of administrative adjudication for those offenses. Decriminalization of the citations was the final step in removing them from the criminal justice system. Administrative adjudication will replace the complex criminal court process by requiring the parking agency to hold a no-charge administrative review of citations, offer a mail-in or personal conference with a hearing examiner, and permit a final review by a civil court. According the law, the Mayor and Council must designate the hearing examiner, who does not need any special qualification. While other cities designate employees from the parking control division, it is recommended that Risk Management provide the service for San Bernardino. The City's parking control division employees often participate in the administrative review process; Risk Management is removed from initial involvement and would provide a fair and impartial judgment at the hearing stage. Assembly Bill 408 will become effective July 1, 1993 . By January 1, 1994 the agencies must assume responsibility for parking citation processing and fully implement a parking citation hearing examiner program. The Facilities Management Division desires to implement AB 408 July 1, 1993 . -2- REVENUE With the impending implementation of AB 408 , several cities have discussed the possibility of joint use of the City of San Bernardino ' s hearing examiner' s service. At this time, Redlands and Loma Linda have made a formal request to contract for this service. Estimated number of hearings requested annually are as follows: Redlands. . . . . . 175 Loma Linda. . . . . 50 Estimated time averages 10 minutes per case. Compensation will be at the rate of $25. 00 per case for a total estimated revenue of $5, 600 per year. This cost covers the salaries and benefits of the hearing examiner, administrative support, and overhead. PROCEDURES Currently, the Facilities Management staff investigates any requests to review a citation and determines whether the violation actually occurred or the citation was issued in error. For valid citations, the contestant must post bail with the San Bernardino Municipal Court and request an arraignment. The Facilities Management Division will continue to perform the no- charge administrative review process, but the contestant will now have a different recourse for correcting a citation. Under the new law, if the contestant is not satisfied with the results of the investigation, he may deposit the amount of the citation with the Facilities Management Division and request a review before a hearing examiner instead of going through the court system. The request must be made within 15 days of the administrative review decision mailing, must be accompanied by a written explanation of the reason for contesting the violation, and must include full payment of the parking penalty. The bill also allows a mail-in or in-person review of the citation by a hearing examiner. The hearing examiner will act much the same as a judge in the criminal justice system. The hearing examiner may cross examine the respondent and any witnesses to determine the credibility of the defense or documents presented. The hearing officer should review the citation for defects or errors made by the issuing officer, must listen to testimony, weigh the evidence, and render a decision based on the facts of the case and applicable laws. The hearing examiner will be provided with case files for each hearing and the necessary Municipal Code and California Vehicle Codes to support the violation. -3- III Within 20 days after the mailing of the hearing examiner' s final decision, the contestant may seek an appeal to the Justice of Municipal Court. The case shall be heard trial de novo. The filing fee will be paid to the court by the contestant for filing the "Notice of Appeal. " If the contestant prevails in court, the City must refund any parking penalty paid, plus the filing fee. If the notice of appeal is not filed within 20 days, the City' s decision is deemed final . The annual revenue which is generated in parking citation revenues is estimated at approximately $450, 000. Adoption of the form motion is recommended. i i -4- EXHIBIT A PROCEDURE FOR SCHEDULING HEARING Hearings will be scheduled Friday mornings, between the hours of 8:00 A.M. and 11:30 A.M. 1. Place telephone call to Hearing Office, 384-5366; to schedule date and time of hearing. 2. Prepare hearing folder and deliver to Hearing Office, 300 No. "D" Street, Basement, San Bernardino, CA, not later than five (5) working days prior to scheduled hearing. i I i 1 RESOLUTION NO. 2 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO AUTHORIZING THE RISK MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT TO PROVIDE AN IMPARTIAL HEARING 3 OFFICER FOR THE REVIEW OF CONTESTED PARKING VIOLATIONS, IN ACCORDANCE WITH AB 408. 4 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL OF THE 5 CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO AS FOLLOWS: 6 SECTION 1. The Risk Management Department is authorized to 7 provide an impartial Hearing Officer for the review of contested parking 8 violations, in accordance with AB 408, a copy of which is attached hereto, 9 marked Exhibit "A" and incorporated herein by referenced as fully as 10 though set forth at length. 11 SECTION 2. Assembly Bill 408 will become effective July 01, 1993. 12 By January 01, 1994 the agencies must assume responsibility for parking 13 citation processing and fully implement a parking citation hearing examiner 14 program. The Facilities Management Division desires to implement AB 408 15 July 01, 1993. 16 I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing resolution was duly adopted 17 by the Mayor and Common Council of the City of San Bernardino at a 18 meeting thereof, held on the day of ,1993, by the 19 following vote, to wit: 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 0 1 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO AUTHORIZING THE RISK MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT TO PROVIDE AN IMPARTIAL HEARING 2 OFFICER FOR THE REVIEW OF CONTESTED PARKING VIOLATIONS, IN ACCORDANCE WITH AB 408. 3 4 COUNCILMEMBERS AYES NAYS ABSTAIN ABSENT 5 NEGRETE 6 CURLIN 7 HERNANDEZ 8 OBERHELMAN 9 OFFICE VACANT 10 POPE-LUDLAId1 11 MILLER 12 13 City Clerk 14 The foregoing resolution is hereby approved this day of , 15 1993. 16 17 Tom Minor, Mayor 18 City of San Bernardino Approved as to form 19 and legal content: 20 JAMES F. PENMAN 21 City Attorney 22 By. 23 24 25 26 27 28 -2- California State Assembly Bill 408 1992 Legislative Session SUMNL1A? ` The Governor recently signed into law Assembly Bill 408 which decriminalizes parking citations, removes parking citation processing from the courts, and establishes a system of administrative adjudication for these offenses. Decriminalization of parking citations will complete the departure of parking citations from the criminal justice system. It will replace the present costly and ineffective threats of criminal prosecution for unpaid parking citations with a combination of DMV registration collections and a streamlined civil judgements process. Administrative adjudication will replace the complex criminal court process with procedures that require a no-charge review of citations by the parking agency, offer a mail-in or personal conference with a hearing examiner, and permit a final review by a civil court. Under this system, parking enforcement officers will not have to appear for hearings on contested citations. AB 408 will become effective ul 1 1993. The legislation requires that by January 1, 1994 most park ng agencies shall assume responsibility for parking citation processing and that all parking agencies fully implement a parking citation hearing examiner program. Between July 1, 1993 and implementation of the hearing examiner program, but not later than January 1, 1994, the court is required to provide the hearing examiner reviews. The legislation includes revisions in the mandated distribution of parking citation revenue. ' POSSIBLE ORG=17.LTION PLAN Establishing the parking citation hearing program will be a complex effort that, as mandated by state law, must be completed by January 1, 1994. A highly qualified and experienced administrative staff will be needed to lead the implementation effort. A preliminary list of implementation tasks is as follows: If parking citations are being processed by a court, develop plans to transfer responsibility for citation processing from the court to the processing agency; Develop detailed organizational and budget plans for this new program. It is anticipated that the hearing examiner program will require *** (to be determined by the parking agency) new positions; Prepare detailed policies and procedures for the hearing examiners to follow when conducting hearings; 1 Develop and implement plans to locate hearing offices in ********* (location(@) ; Prepare detailed plans to coordinate the hearing examiner program with the `administrative review• procedure that must be provided for parking citation complaints before a hearing examiner review is permitted; Work clobely with parking citation processor, to develop and implement the computer systems and organizational and policy changes required to support the hearing examiner program. Implementation of the hearing examiner program in the department responsible for citation issuance would retain within that department the necessary coordination of effort between the citation processing, the required administrative review, and the new hearing examiner program. However, the organizational approach may vary by jurisdiction in order to reflect the policies goals of each organization. HEVDtIIB AND OPBxATIONS To provide the financial resources to support the hearing examiner program, many parking agencies will be able to retain a portion of the parking citation revenue that they previously paid to a Count ursuant to Section 1463.009 of the Penal Code. 408 re Bale S ct on 3. The increased revenue will begin accru ng to parking agencies on July 1, 1993 even if their hearing examiner program is not yet operational. AB 408 also modified Penal Code Section 1463.28. This section permits certain named counties to retain parking penalty increases if a county opted into the program and increased parking penalties after September, 1988. AB 408 does not repeal this section. However, it does place a July 1, 1992 cap on the dollar amounts paid to a county. This change is discussed in more detail under Section 10.2 of the bill which is explained later in this paper. There are other revenue benefits that will likely accrue to parking agencies as a result of .AB 408. Because parking enforcement officers,-11 no lon er have to api>eaz in court, additional productive hours rill available for parking enforcement. It is anticipated that enhanced collection procedures permitted by 'the civil judgement process may further improve the citation collection rate. Also, the parking penalties, fees, and charges are all set by the governing body of the jurisdiction. This increased control could lead to increased revenue. AS 4 0 8 DETAILS AB 408 was authored by Assemblyman Bob Bpple and sponsored by the California Public Parking Association. It was actively supported 2 f by the City of Lou Angeles, the State Judicial Council, Los Angeles County Municipal Court, the Automobile Club, and most cities and counties throughout the state. AB 408 extensively revises most of the California Vehicle Code provisions that relate to the issuing, processing and collection of parking citations. A detailed review of the changes, organized by the sections of the legislation, follows: Section 1 Legislative Findings and Declarations Section 2 Repealed Penal Code Section 1462.3 which pertained to parking citation revenue distributions for state colleges and universities. Section 3 Repealed Penal Code Section 1463.009 which mandated by statute parking citation revenue distributions throughout the state. Section 4 Amended Penal Code Section 1463.28, which pertains to the distribution of "bail increases* in certain listed counties. The amendment states that PC 1463.28 does not apply to the collection of parking fines .$RCBPT as provided in CVC 40200.3 and 40200.4. These sections are discussed in detail below. Section 5 and 6 Incompletely revises the hearing process for booted and towed scofflaw vehicles. At the present time, CVC 22651 (1) requires that a hearing on a vehicle towed for unpaid parking citations be held before a judge. However, CVC 226, 5_1.7 requires that the hearing for a booted vehicle be held before a hearing examiner. It was the intent that all parking hearings would be held before hearing examiners. CPPA and Judicial Council are already working on legislation to correct this problem. Section 7 CVC 40200 (a) provides that any violation of any regulation governing the standing or parking of a vehicle is subject to a civil penalty and that the enforcement of the penalties shall be governed by the administrative procedures set forth in Article 3 of the Vehicle Code. As civil matters, the parking agency does not have to meet the very high burden of proof requirements necessary for criminal violations. Civil matters do not have to deal with the complex legal issues that are part of any criminal case. CVC 40200(b) provides that, except as provided in Section 40209, the registered owner and the driver, rentee or lessee, of a vehicle cited for a�Yre iolatio of any regulation governing the parking of a vehicle oi ntl liable for the parking penalty unless the owner can shay t t the vehicle was used without the consent of 3 .�, 0 a that person, express or implied. An owner who pays the parking penalty has the right to recover the money paid from the driver, rentee or lessee. CVC 40200(c) provides that the driver of a vehicle who is not the owner and who uses the vehicle with the express or implied permission of the owner is considered the agent of the owner to receive notices of parking violations and may contest the violation. Section 8 Repealed CVC 40200.1 Filing of Complaint Section 9 Repealed CVC 40200.2 Processing of Notices: Courts Section 10 Repealed CVC 40200.3 Allocation of Parking Penalties: Court Process Section 10.2 CVC 40200.3 (a) provides that all parking penalties collected, including those from parking citations issued by the Highway Patrol within the jurisdiction of the parking agency, are retained by the parking agency WITH THE EXCEPTION of state and local parking penalty surcharges and that portion of the parking penalty distributed to counties pursuant to PC 1463.28 attributable to bail increase effective between September 16, 1988 and July 1, 1992, For only those counties identified in PC 1463.28, this distribution of *bail increases• is capped at the July 1, 1992 level. Any increases in parking penalties approved by a court after July 1, 1992 are to accrue to the parking agency beginning on July 1, 1993, the effective date of AB 408. CVC 40200.3 (b) requires the processing agency to prepare an audited report at the end of each fiscal year detailing the activities of the agency. Section 11 CVC 40200.4 (a) requires the processing agency to deposit sums due the county not later than 15 days after the last day of the month in which the parking penalty was received. CVC 40200.4 (b) requires that the processing of parking citations be transferred from courts to issuing agencies not later than January 10- 1994. CEP issued citations are to be processed and the money collected retained by the parking agency responsible for the geographic area in which the citations were issued. CVC 40200.4 (c) provides an exception that permits Contra Costa and San Mateo Counties until June 30, 1996 to transfer the processing functions if the county or a court was processing parking citations under contracts with issuing agencies that were in effect on 4 1 Aftk t January 1, 1992. CVC 40200.4 (d) requires that San Francisco Municipal Court employees be transferred to other equivalent civil service positions with the transfer of parking citation processing from the court. CVC 40200.4 (e) protects court employees from termination as a result of the transfer of function. CVC 40200.4 (f) provides that a 'parking penalty' includes, but is not limited to, any late payment penalty, administrative fee, assessment, and cost of collection as provided by law. Section 12 CVC 40200.5 (a) Permits an issuing agency to contract with the county, a private vendor, or with any other city or county issuing agency, other than the Highway Patrol, for the processing of parking citations. Issuing agencies that contract with a private vendor shall give special consideration to minority business enterprise participation. CVC 40200.5 (b) Requires any contracts entered into pursuant to section (a) , above, to provide for monthly distribution of revenues. Section 13 Repeals Section CVC 40200.7 Contest of Parking Violation Notice Section 14 CVC 40200.7 Details the '�rocedures for the g citation review process that replaces the cr na court system. The details are as follows: *Establishes an administrative review process that permits a review of the citation by the processing agency or, at the discretion of the processing agency, an issuing agency. This review must be requested by telephone, mail, or in-person within 21 da s of citation issuance or 10 da s of the mailing o the Notice of Delinquent arc ng Violation; *If requested within 15 days of the mailing of the administrative review decision and accompanied by a Niten lanation of the reason for contesting the ola on an the fu amount of the parking penalty, permits a m--all--in-or n-person rev ew of the citation by a hearing examiner employed by the parking agency. *The processing agency shall provide an administrative policy and procedure for contesting notices for persons 5 who eanp provide verif iable an -substantial proof of their inability- nability to eposit t e ull amount due. *If a vehicle has been seized for unpaid parking citations and remains under the control of the agency, permits the registered owner to contest the citations without requiring the deposit of the parking penalties. Section 15 CVC 40202 (a) , (b) , and (c) continue the existing citation issuance procedures, the currently required contents of notice of parking violation, and restrictions on changes to citation after issuance. CVC 40202 (d) provides a new procedure for issuing citations during a drive-a-way situation. The new procedure requires the issuing officer to file the citation with the processing agency. The processing agency is to mail a copy of the citation to the registered owne h days of issuance of the citation. CVC 40202 (e) Provides that the issuing officer may recommend in writing to the processing agency the cancellation of a citation in the interest of justice. The recommendation must cite the reasons for the cancellation. CVC 40202 (f) the processing agency must make a finding that there are grounds for cancellation, enter the finding on the record, and then may cancel the citation. CVC 40202 (g) provides that personal relationships may not be grounds for cancellation. Section 16 CVC 40203.5 (a) the schedule of parking penalties, late fees, administrative fees, and other related charges are established by the governing body of the issuing agency. To the extent possible, issuing agencies within the county shall standardize parking penalties. ' . CVC 40203.5 (b) provides that parking penalties shall be collected as civil penalties. Section 17 CVC 40204 provides that when the parking penalty is paid, the proceedings terminate. Section 18 -'CVC 40205 requires that citations shall be contested pursuant to CVC 40215. Section 19 CVC 40206 (a) provides that if the payment of the parking penalty is not received by the date fixed on the notice of parking 6 violation, the notice of delinquent violation is to be sent to the registered owner. CVC 40206 (b) permits the delivery of the notice of delinquent parking violation by personal service or first-class mail addressed to the registered owner, as shown on records of the Department of Motor Vehicles. Section 20 CVC 40206.5 (a) requires that a copy of parking citation be provided to any person who has received a notice of delinquent parking violation, or his or her agent, within 15 days of receiving the request. Continued collection efforts for the citation pursuant to CVC 22651 (1) , 22651.7, and 40220 are temporarily suspended until the copy is mailed or otherwise provided. CVC 40206.5 (b) provides that if the description of the vehicle cited does not substantially match the registration information, the citation shall be cancelled upon written request of the person. CVC 40206.5 (c) states that a copy of the citation may be photostatic or an electronically produced facsimile. Section 21 CVC 40207 provides that the Notice of Delinquent parking violation continue to provide the currently required information and include a statement that payment made to the processing agency within 10 days of the mailing of the notice shall be * the amount of the original parking penalty without any additional fees or charges. Section 22 CVC 40209 provides that rental and leasing companies may transfer responsibility for citations to their customers if the processing agency is provided within 30 days of the mailing of the notice of delinquent parking violation proof of a written lease or rental agreement between a bona fide rental or leasing company and its customer which identifies the name, address and driver's license number of the customer. The processing agency may serve or mail a notice of delinquent parking violation to the rentee or lessee identified. If payment is not received within 15 days of the mailing, the processing agency may proceed against the rentee or lessee pursuant to CVC 40220. Section 23 CVC 40210 (a) provides that if an affidavit of non liability is returned with evidence that the registered owner made a bona fide sale or transfer of the vehicle and has delivered possession of the vehicle to the purchaser prior to the date of the alleged violation, the processing agency shall obtain verification from the DMV the registered owner has complied with CVC 5602. CVC 40210 (b) provides that if the registered owner complied with a 7 CVC 5602, the processing agency shall cancel the notice of delinquent parking violation with respect to the registered owner. CVC 40210 (c) provides that if the registered owner has not complied with CVC 5602, the processing agency shall inform the registered owner that the citation shall be paid in full or contested pursuant to Section 40200.7. If the registered owner does not comply, the processing agency shall proceed pursuant to CVC 40220. Section 24 CVC 40211 (a) provides that the processing agency is to follow the below detailed procedure when payment for a citation is received by a person authorized to receive the payment: 1. Deliver a copy of the notice of delinquent parking violation or an electronically reproduced copy of the citation information to the person and record the nave, address and driver's license number of the person actually given the copy; 2. Determine whether the notice of delinquent parking violation has been filed with the DW or if a civil judgement has been entered. If full payment is received, proceedings under CVC Article 3 shall terminate. If full payment is received, no further collection effort is permitted. The processing agency is required to recall any DMV hold or halt any civil judgement collection for any citation that is paid in full. Section 25 Section 40215 of the Vehicle Code {e rpn =led. This section had co a ne a criminal cour procedures for contesting citations. Section 26 CVC 40215 provides detailed procedures for the processing of contested parking citations. This includes an investigation by the issuing or the processing agency, administrative review by a hearing examiner after the payment of the parking penalty, and finally, a civil court hearing. The details of this section are as follows: (a) 1. The processing agency shall either investigate with its own records and staff or request that the issuing agency investigate the circumstances of the citation with respect to the contestant's explanation of reasons for contesting the parking violation. If, based upon the results of the investigation, the processing agency is satisfied that the violation did not occur or that the registered owner was not responsible for the violation, the processing agency shall cancel the notice of parking violation and make an adequate record of the reasons for canceling the notice. The processing agency shall mail the results of the investigation to the person who contested the notice of parking violation or 8 0 the notice of delinquent parking violation. 2. If the person contesting a notice of parking violation or a notice of delinquent parking violation is not satisfied with the results of the investigation provided for in paragraph (1) , the person may, within 15 days of the mailing of the results of the investigation, deposit the amount of the parking penalty and request an administrative review. (b) The administrative review procedure described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) shall consist of the following: 1. The person requesting an administrative review shall indicate to the processing agency his or her election for a review by mail or personal conference. 2. Permits a minor to appear at a hearing or admit responsibility for a parking violation without the appointment of a guardian. It permits the processing agency to proceed against that person in the same manner as if that person were an adult. 3. The administrative review shall be conducted before an examiner designated to conduct the review by the issuing agency's _governing body or chief executive officer. In addition to any other requirements of employment, an examiner shall demonstrate those qualifications, training, and objectivity prescribed by the issuing agency's governing body or chief executive as are necessary and which are consistent with the duties and responsibilities set forth in this article. The examiner's continued employment, performance evaluation, compensation, and benefits shall not be directly or indirectly linked to the amount of fines collected by the examiner. 4. The officer or person authorized to issue a notice of parking violation shall pot be required to participate in an administrative review. The issuing agency shall not be required to produce any evidence other than_ _ the notice of parking violation or copy -thereof. and information rece-Tved from tree Departmen of o or Vehicles identifying the registered owner of the vehicle. The documentation in proper form shall be considered prima facie evidence of the violation. S. The review shall be conducted in accordance with the written procedures established by the posing or processing agency which shall ensure fair and impartial review of contested parking violations. The agency's final decision may be delivered personally to the person by the examiner or to 9 the person by first-class mail. Section 27 CVC 40220 provides for collection of unpaid citations by the DMV or through the civil judgement process detailed in the section. The processing agency may only follow one of the below detailed collection options at a time for an unpaid citation: a. Pile an itemization of unpaid parking penalties and administrative and service fees with the DMV for collection with the registration of the vehicle pursuant to CVC 4760. b. If more than $400 dollars in unpaid penalties and fees have been accrued, proof thereof may be filed with the court with the same effect as a civil judgement. Judgements may be collected as are authorized for the collection of an unpaid civil judgement entered against a defendant in an action on a debtor. The court may assess costs against the debtor. The processing agency must send a notice by first-class mail informing the person or registered owner that a judgement for unpaid citations, fees, and costs will be entered after 30 days from the mailing of the notice. The notice must advise that execution may be levied against assets, liens may be placed against property, wages may be garnisheed, and other steps may be taken to satisfy the judgement. An agency may contract with a licensed collection agency to collect the judgement. The processing agency is required to pay the established first paper civil filing fee at the time an entry of civil judgment is requested. C. If the registration of the vehicle has not been renewed for 60 days beyond the renewal date, and the citation has not been collected by the DMv, the processing agency may file proof of the unpaid penalties and fees with the court with the same effect as a civil judgment as provided in subdivision (b) . ` Section 28 CVC 40221 permits filing of a civil judgement, without removing the DMV hold, if a vehicle registration which lists the outstanding citations has not been renewed for 60 days beyond the expiration date of the vehicle registration. Section 29 CVC 40224 permits the tolling of time limitations for filing civil judgements during the time a citation is placed with DMV for collection. Section 30 CVC 40225 continues past practice of permitting the issuance of equipment and CVC 5204 registration tabs violations on parking citation forms and establishes several new procedures for 10 f processing these violations. The civil penalty for equipment violations is $30. Upon proof of correction, the penalty is reduced to $10. The civil penalty for CVC 5204 is $60. There is no provision in this section for a proof of correction. Fifty percent of the penalties collected for these violations goes to the state and SO% is retained by the issuing agency. Section 31 CVC 40226 is * repealed. This section concerned the deposit of parking penalties. Section 32 CVC 40230 is repealed. This section concerned the filing of criminal complaints with a court. Section 33 CVC 40230 details the civil court appeal process to be followed if the person wishes to contest the citation beyond the hearing examiner level. a. Within 20 days after the mailing of the final decision of the hearing examiner, the person may seek review of the decision by filing an appeal to the Justice or Municipal court. The case shall be heard de novo (starting from the beginning) except that the contents of the processing agency's file in the case shall be received in evidence. A copy of the notice of parking violation shall be admitted into evidence as prima facie evidence of the facts stated in the citation. A copy of the notice of appeal shall be served upon the processing agency in person or by first class mail by the contestant. b. A fee of $25 will be paid to the court by the contestant for filing the notice of appeal with the court. If the contestant prevails in court, the processing agency must reimburse to the contestant $25 for the filing fee and refund any parking penalty paid in accordance with the court's decision. C. Provides that the appeal is a subordinate judicial duty which may be performed by traffic trial commissioners and other subordinate judicial officials at the direction of the presiding judge of the court. d. If a notice of appeal of the processing agency's decision is not filed within the 20 day requirement, the processing agency's decision is deemed final. Sections 34, 35, and 36 Deletes all references to parking penalty and parking bail from CVC 40510, 40519, and 40521. 11 Section 37 Repealed CVC 41102. Section 38 Provides that the provisions of AB 408 become effective July 1, 1993. The transfer of the processing function from a court to a parking agency must be completed by January 1, 1994. The implementation of the hearing examiner program may occur at any time between bruly 1, 1993 and January 1, 1994. During the time between these dates, if an agency has not set up the hearing examiner program and a person wishes to contest a citation, the court will provide a "hearing examiner" review of the citation. After July 1, 1993, the criminal court's involvement with parking citations ends and no parking citations, regardless of when they were issued, may be contested in criminal court. Section 39 Provides that AB 408 becomes effective July 1, 1993 Section 40 Provides that no reimbursements from the State Mandates Claim Fund are authorized pursuant to the Government Code. 12 0 1 RESOLUTION NO. 2 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF AN AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF LOMA LINDA RELATING TO 3 THE JOINT USE OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO'S HEARING OFFICER SERVICES, IN ACCORDANCE WITH ASSEMBLY BILL 408. 4 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF 5 SAN BERNARDINO AS FOLLOWS: 6 SECTION 1. The Mayor of the City of San Bernardino is 7 authorized and directed to execute on behalf of said City an 8 agreement with the City of Loma Linda relating to the use of the 9 City of San Bernardino's hearing officer services, in accordance 10 with Assembly Bill 408, a copy of which is attached hereto, marked 11 Exhibit "A" and incorporated herein by reference as fully as though 12 set forth at length. 13 SECTION 2 . The authorization to execute the above referenced 14 agreement is rescinded if the parties to the agreement fail to 15 execute it within sixty (60) days of the passage of this 16 resolution. 17 I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing resolution was duly 18 adopted by the Mayor and Common Council of the City of San 19 Bernardino at a meeting thereof, held on the day 20 of 1993 , by the following vote, to wit: 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 / / / / RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF AN AGREEMENT WI THE CITY OF LOMA LINDA RELATIN '0 THE JOINT USE OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO'S HEARING OFFICER SERVICES, LN ACCORDANCE WITH ASSEMBLY BILL 408. 1 2 Councilmembers AYES NAYS ABSTAIN ABSENT 3 NEGRETE 4 CURLIN 5 HERNANDEZ 6 OBERHELMAN 7 OFFICE VACANT 8 POPE-LUDLAM 9 MILLER 10 11 City Clerk 12 13 The foregoing resolution is hereby approved this day of 14 , 1993 . 15 16 Tom Minor, Mayor 17 City of San Bernardino 18 Approved as to form and legal content: 19 JAMES F. PENMAN 20 City At orney 21 By: 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -2- 1 A G R E E M E N T 2 3 THIS AGREEMENT made and entered into this day of 4 ,1993, by and between the City of Loma Linda and the City of 5 San Bernardino, a municipal corporation of the State of California, 6 (City) : 7 The parties hereto agree as follows: 8 WHEREAS, Assembly Bill 408, California Vehicle Code Section 40200 9 et. seq. has decriminalized parking violations and; 10 WHEREAS, Assembly Bill 408, California Vehicle Code Section 40215 11 requires that each agency, when requested, provide a review of contested 12 parking violations by a hearing officer and; 13 WHEREAS, The City of San Bernardino has set in place a procedure 14 for such review of contested parking violations by a hearing officer and; 15 WHEREAS, the City of Loma Linda would like to contract with the 16 City of San Bernardino to conduct such review by a hearing officer for 17 its contested parking violations. 18 NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS AGREED AS FOLLOWS: 19 1. The City of San Bernardino will provide the review of contested 20 parking violations by a hearing officer for the City of Loma Linda. 21 2. The City of Loma Linda shall compensate the City of San 22 Bernardino the amount of Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00), for each hearing 23 conducted by the City of San Bernardino hearing officer on behalf of said 24 city. The City of San Bernrdino will provide semi-annual invoices to said 25 city and said city agrees to pay invoices within ten (10) days of receipt. 26 3. Said city agrees to adhere to the scheduling procedure as set 27 forth in Exhibit "A" attached hereto. 28 / / / / 1 AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF LOMA LINDA RELATING TO 2 HEARING OFFICER SERVICE. 3 4. The City of San Bernardino agrees to provide an impartial 4 hearing officer and agrees to ensure an impartial review of contested 5 parking violations by said hearing officer in accordance with Vehicle Code 6 Section 40215. 7 5. This agreement may be terminated upon a thirty (30) day written 8 notice by either party. 9 10 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this agreement 11 on the date first above shown. 12 13 by: — City of Loma Linda 14 15 by. Mayor, City of San Bernardino 16 Approved as to form 17 and legal content: s F. Penman 19 Ci Attorney 24, 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -2- i California state Assembly bill 408 1992 Legislative session SUD�SAR? The Governor recently signed into law Assembly Bill 408 which decriminalizes parking citations, removes parking citation processing from the courts, and establishes a system of administrative adjudication for these offenses. Decriminalization of parking citations will complete the departure of parking citations from the criminal justice system. It will replace the present costly and ineffective threats of criminal prosecution for unpaid parking citations with a combination of DMV registration collections and a streamlined civil judgements process. Administrative adjudication will replace the complex criminal court process with procedures that require a no-charge review of citations by the parking agency, offer a mail-in or personal conference with a hearing examiner, and permit a final review by a civil court. Under this system, parking enforcement officers will not have to appear for hearings on contested citations. AB 408 will become effective-July 1 1993. The legislation requires that by January 1, 1994 most park ng agencies shall assume responsibility for parking citation processing and that all parking agencies fully implement a parking citation hearing examiner program. Between July 1, . 1993 and implementation of the hearing examiner program, but not later than January 1, 1994, the court is required to provide the hearing examiner reviews. The legislation includes revisions in the mandated distribution of parking citation revenue. POSSIBLE OAGAITIY.ATION PLRT Establishing the parking citation hearing program will be a complex effort that, as mandated by state law,' must be completed by January 1, 1994. A highly qualified and experienced administrative staff will be needed to lead the implementation effort. A preliminary list of implementation tasks is as follows: If parking citations are being processed by a court, develop plans to transfer responsibility for citation processing from the court to the processing agency; Develop detailed organizational and budget plans for this new program. It is anticipated that the hearing examiner program will require *** (to be determined by the parking agency) new positions; Prepare detailed policies and procedures for the hearing examiners to follow when conducting hearings; 1 Oft Develop and Implement plans to locate hearing offices in ********* (location(s) ; Prepare detailed plans to coordinate the hearing examiner program with the 'administrative review* procedure that must be provided for parking citation complaints before a hearing examiner review is permitted; Work clo0ely with parking citation processor, to develop and implement the computer systems and organizational and policy changes required to support the hearing examiner program. Implementation of the hearing examiner program in the department responsible for citation issuance would retain within that department the necessary coordination of effort between the citation processing, the required administrative review, and the new hearing examiner program. However, the organizational approach may vary by jurisdiction in order to reflect the policies goals of each organisation. RSVRNOR MM OPERATIONS To provide the financial resources to support the hearing examiner program, many parking agencies will be able to retain a portion of the parking citation revenue that they previously paid to a Count ursuant to Section 1463.009 of the Penal Code. 408 repeal S ct on 3. The increased revenue will begin accru ng to parking agencies on July 1, 1993 even if their hearing examiner program is not yet operational. AB 408 also modified Penal Code Section 1463.28. This section permits certain named counties to retain parking penalty increases if a county opted into the program and increased parking penalties after September, 1988. AB 408 does not repeal this section. However, it does place a July 1, 1992 cap on the dollar amounts paid to a county. This change is discussed in more detail under Section 10.2 of the bill which is explained later in this paper. There are other revenue benefits that will likely accrue to parking agencies as a result of .AB 408. Because parking enforcement officers'� 11 no loner have to appeal in court;' additional productive hours will be available for parking enforcement. It is anticipated that enhanced collection procedures permitted by 'the civil judgement process may further improve the citation collection rate. Also, the parking penalties, fees, and charges are all set by the governing body of the jurisdiction. This increased control could lead to increased revenue. AB 408 D$TA= AB 408 was authored by Assemblyman Bob Bpple and sponsored by the California Public Parking Association. It was actively supported 2 by the City of Los Angeles, the State Judicial Council, Los Angeles County Municipal Court, the Automobile Club, and most cities and counties throughout the state. AB 408 extensively revises most of the California Vehicle Code provisions that relate to the issuing, processing and collection of parking citations. A detailed review of the changes, organized by the sections of the legislation, follows: Section 1 Legislative Findings and Declarations Section 2 Repealed Penal Code Section 1462.3 which pertained to parking citation revenue distributions for state colleges and universities. Section 3 Repealed Penal Code Section 1463.009 which mandated by statute parking citation revenue distributions throughout the state. Section 4 Amended Penal Code Section 1463.28, which pertains to the distribution of 'bail increases• in certain listed counties. The amendment states that PC 1463.28 does not apply to the collection of parking fines .BXCBPT as provided in CVC 40200.3 and 40200.4. These sections are discussed in detail below. Section 5 and 6 Incompletely revises the hearing process for booted and towed scofflaw vehicles. At the present time, CVC 22651 (1) requires that a hearing on a vehicle towed for unpaid parking citations be held before a judge. However, CVC 22651.7 requires that the hearing for a booted vehicle be held before a hearing examiner. It was the intent that all parking hearings would be held before hearing examiners. CPPA and Judicial Council are already working on legislation to correct this problem. Section 7 CVC 40200(a) provides that any violation of any regulation governing the standing or parking of a vehicle is subject to a civil penalty and that the enforcement of the penalties shall be governed by the administrative procedures set forth in Article 3 of the Vehicle Code. As civil matters, the parking agency does not have to meet the very high burden of proof requirements necessary for criminal violations. Civil matters do not have to deal with the complex legal issues that are part of any criminal case. CVC 40200(b) provides that, except as provided in Section 40209, the registered owner and the driver, rentee or lessee, of a vehicle cited for a�Yre iolatio, of any regulation governing the parking of a vehicle oi ntl liable for the parking penalty unless the owner can show t t the vehicle was used without the consent of 3 S that person, express or implied. An owner who pays the parking penalty has the right to recover the money paid from the driver, rentee or lessee. CVC 40200(c) provides that the driver of a vehicle who is not the owner and who uses the vehicle with the express or implied permission of the owner is considered the agent of the owner to receive notices of parking violations and may contest the violation. Section 8 Repealed CVC 40200.1 Filing of Complaint Section 9 Repealed CVC 40200.2 Processing of Notices: Courts Section 10 Repealed CVC 40200.3 Allocation of Parking Penalties: Court Process Section 10.2 CVC 40200.3 (a) provides that all parking penalties collected, including those from parking citations issued by the Highway Patrol within the jurisdiction of the parking agency, are retained by the parking agency WITH THE EXCEPTION of state and local parking penalty surcharges and that portion of the parking penalty distributed to counties pursuant to PC 1463.28 attributable to bail increase effective between September 16, 1988 and July 1, 1992, For only those counties identified in PC 1463.28, this distribution of •bail increases• is capped at the July 1, 3.992 level. Any increases in parking penalties approved by a court after July 1, 1992 are to accrue to the parking agency beginning on July 1, 1993, the effective date of AB 408. CVC 40200.3 (b) requires the processing agency to prepare an audited report at the end of each fiscal year detailing the activities of 1 the agency. Section 11 CVC 40200.4 (a) requires the processing agency to deposit sums due the county not later than 415 days after the last day of the month in which the parking penalty was received. CVC 40200.4 (b) requires that the processing of parking citations be transferred from courts to issuing agencies not later than January 1 - 1994. CEP issued citations are to be processed and the money collected -retained by the parking agency responsible for the geographic area in which the citations were issued. CVC 40200.4(c) provides an exception that permits Contra Costa and San Mateo Counties until June 30, 1996 to transfer the processing functions if the county or a court was processing parking citations under contracts with issuing agencies that were in effect on 4 1 January 1, 1992. CVC 40200.4 (d) requires that San Francisco Municipal Court employees be transferred to other equivalent civil service positions with the transfer of parking citation processing from the court. CVC 40200.4 (e) protects court employees from termination as a result of the transfer of function. CVC 40200.4 (f) provides that a "parking penalty" includes, but is not limited to, any late payment penalty, administrative fee, assessment, and cost of collection as provided by law. Section 12 CVC 40200.5 (a) Permits an issuing agency to contract with the county, a private vendor, or with any other city or county issuing agency, other than the Highway Patrol, for the processing of parking citations. Issuing agencies that contract with a private vendor shall give special consideration to minority business enterprise participation. CVC 40200.5 (b) Requires any contracts entered into pursuant to section (a) , above, to provide for monthly distribution of revenues. Section 13 Repeals Section CVC 40200.7 Contest of Parking Violation Notice Section 14 CVC 40200.7 Details the procedures for the narking citation review process that replaces the cr nal court system. The details are as follows: *Establishes an administrative review process that permits a review of the citation by the processing agency or, at the discretion of the processing agency, an issuing agency. This review must be requested by telephone, mail, or in-person within 21 da s of citation issuance or 10 da s of the mailing o the Notice of Delinquent arc ng Violation; *If requested within 15 days of the nailing of the administrative review decision and accompanied by a i _r lanation of�=the�rea�so�n for contesting the vio a on and the fu the parking penalty, permits a ma-il3n or -person review of the citation by a hearing examiner employed by the parking agency.. *The processing agency shall provide an administrative policy and procedure for contesting notices for persons 5 - Y who can provide verifiable and substantial proof of their inability to eposit t e ull amount ue. *If a vehicle has been seized for unpaid parking citations and remains under the control of the agency, permits the registered owner to contest the citations without requiring the deposit of the parking penalties. Section 15 CVC 40202 (a) , (b) , and (c) continue the existing citation issuance procedures, the currently required contents of notice of parking violation, and restrictions on changes to citation after issuance. CVC 40202 (d) provides a new procedure for issuing citations during a drive-a-way situation. The new procedure requires the issuing officer to file the citation with the processing agency. The processing agency is to mail a copy of the citation to the registered owne h days of issuance of the citation. CVC 40202 (e) Provides that the issuing officer may recommend in writing to the processing agency the cancellation of a citation in the interest of justice. The recommendation must cite the reasons for the cancellation. CVC 40202 (f) the processing agency must make a finding that there are grounds for cancellation, enter the finding on the record, and then may cancel the citation. CVC 40202 (g) provides that personal relationships may not be grounds for cancellation. Section 16 CVC 40203.5 (a) the schedule of parking penalties, late fees, administrative fees, and other related charges are established by the governing body of the issuing agency. To the extent possible, issuing agencies within the county shall standardize parking penalties. CVC 40203.5 (b) provides that parking penalties shall be collected as civil penalties. ." Section 17 CVC 40204 provides that when the parking penalty is paid, the proceedings terminate. Section 18 -'CVC 40205 requires that citations shall be contested pursuant to CVC 40215. Section 19 CVC 40206 (a) provides that if the payment of the parking penalty is not received .by the date fixed on the notice of parking 6 violation, the notice of delinquent violation is to be sent to the registered owner. CVC 40206 (b) permits the delivery of the notice of delinquent parking violation by personal service or first-class mail addressed to the registered owner, as shown on records of the Department of Motor Vehicles. Section 20 CVC 40206.5 (a) requires that a copy of parking citation be provided to any person who has received a notice of delinquent parking violation, or his or her agent, within 15 days of receiving the request. Continued collection efforts for the citation pursuant to CVC 22651 (1) , 22651.7, and 40220 are temporarily suspended until the copy is mailed or otherwise provided. CVC 40206.5 (b) provides that if the description of the vehicle cited does not substantially match the registration information, the citation shall be cancelled upon written request of the person. CVC 40206.5 (c) states that a copy of the citation may be photostatic or an electronically produced facsimile. Section 21 CVC 40207 provides that the Notice of Delinquent parking violation continue to provide the currently required information and include a statement that payment made to the processing agency within 10 days of the mailing of the notice shall be ' the amount of the original parking penalty without any additional fees or charges. Section 22 CVC 40209 provides that rental and leasing companies may transfer responsibility for citations to their customers if the processing agency is provided within 30 days of the mailing of the notice of delinquent parking violation proof of a written lease or rental agreement between a bona fide rental or leasing company and its customer which identifies the name, address and driver's license number of the customer. The processing agency may serve or mail a notice of delinquent parking violation to the rentee or lessee identified. If payment is not received within 15 days of the mailing, the processing agency may proceed against the rentee or lessee pursuant to CVC 40220. Section 23 CVC 40210 (a) provides that if an affidavit of non liability is returned with evidence that the registered owner made a bona fide sale or transfer of the vehicle and has delivered possession of the vehicle to the purchaser prior to the date of the alleged violation, the processing agency shall obtain verification from the DMV the registered owner has complied with CVC 5602. CVC 40210 (b) provides that if the registered owner complied with 7 CVC 5602, the processing agency shall cancel the notice of delinquent parking violation with respect to the registered owner. CVC 40210 (c) provides that if the registered owner has not complied with CVC 5602, the processing agency shall inform the registered owner that the citation shall be paid in full or contested pursuant to Section 40200.7. If the registered owner does not comply, the processing agency shall proceed pursuant to CVC 40220. Section 24 CVC 40211 (a) provides that the processing agency is to follow the below detailed procedure when payment for a citation is received by a person authorized to receive the payment: 1. Deliver a copy of the notice of delinquent parking violation or an electronically reproduced copy of the citation information to the person and record the name, address and driver's license number of the person actually given the copy; 2. Determine whether the notice of delinquent parking violation has been filed with the DMV or if a civil judgement has been entered. If full payment is received, proceedings under CVC Article 3 shall terminate. If full payment is received, no further collection effort is permitted. The processing agency is required to recall any DMV hold or halt any civil judgement collection for any citation that is paid in full. Section 25 Section 40215 of the Vehicle Code —rmmaled. This section had coMaTn--e-a the criminal courE procedures for contesting citations. Section 26 CVC 40215 provides detailed procedures for the processing of contested parking citations. This includes an investigation by the issuing or the processing agency, administrative review by a hearing examiner after the payment of the parking penalty, and finally, a civil court hearing. The details of this section are as follows: (a) 1. The processing agency shall either investigate with its own records and staff or request that the issuing agency investigate the circumstances of the citation with respect to the contestant I a-mr AltaxLexplanation of reasons for contesting the parking vlolation. If, based upon the results of the investigation, the processing agency is satisfied that the violation did not occur or that the registered owner was not responsible for the violation, the processing agency shall cancel the notice of parking violation and make an adequate record of the reasons for canceling the notice. The processing agency shall mail the results of the investigation to the person who contested the notice of parking violation or 8 ' the notice of delinquent parking violation. 2. If the person contesting a notice of parking violation or a notice of delinquent parking violation is not satisfied with the results of the investigation provided for in paragraph (1) , the person may, within 15 days of the mailing of the results of the investigation, deposit the amount of the parking penalty and request an administrative review. (b) The administrative review procedure described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) shall consist of the following: 1. The person requesting an administrative review shall indicate to the processing agency his or her election for a review by mail or personal conference. 2. Permits a minor to appear at a hearing or admit responsibility for a parking violation without the appointment of a guardian. It permits the processing agency to proceed against that person in the same manner as if that person were an adult. 3 . The administrative review shall be conducted before an examiner designated to conduct the review by the ism ing agency's -governing body or chief executive officer. In addition to any other requirements of employment, an examiner shall demonstrate those qualifications, training, and objectivity prescribed by the issuing agency's governing body or chief executive as are necessary and which are consistent with the duties and responsibilities set forth in this article. The examiner's continued employment, performance evaluation, compensation, and benefits shall not be directly or indirectly linked to the amount of fines collected by the examiner. 4. The officer or person authorized to issue a notice of parking violation shall not be required to participate in an administrative review. The issuing agency shall not be required to produce any evidence other than_ _ the notice of _parking violation or copy-thereof. and information rece-Eved from Me Departmen of —o of Vesicles identifying the registered owner of the vehicle. The documentation in proper form shall be considered prim facie evidence of the violation. S. The review shall be conducted in accordance with the written procedures established by the posing or processing agency which shall ensure fair and impartial review of contested parking violations. The agency's final decision may be delivered personally to the person by the examiner or to 9 the person by first-class mail. Section 27 CVC 40220 provides for collection of unpaid citations by the DMV or through the civil judgement process detailed in the section. The processing agency may only follow one of the below detailed collection options at a time for an unpaid citation: a. File an itemization of unpaid parking penalties and administrative and service fees with the DMV for collection with the registration of the vehicle pursuant to CVC 4760. b. If more than $400 dollars in unpaid penalties and fees have been accrued, proof thereof may be filed with the court with the same effect as a civil judgement. Judgements may be collected as are authorized for the collection of an unpaid civil judgement entered against a defendant in an action on a debtor. The court may assess costs against the debtor. The processing agency must send a notice by first-class mail informing the person or registered owner that a judgement for unpaid citations, fees, and costs will be entered after 30 days from the mailing of the notice. The notice must advise that execution may be levied against assets, liens may be placed against property, wages may be garnisheed, and other steps may be taken to satisfy the judgement. An agency may contract with a licensed collection agency to collect the judgement. The processing agency is required to pay the established first paper civil filing fee at the time an entry of civil judgment is requested. c. If the registration of the vehicle has not been renewed for 60 days beyond the renewal date, and the citation has not j been collected by the DMV, the processing agency may file proof of the unpaid penalties and fees with the court with the same effect as a civil judgment as provided in subdivision (b) . ` Section 28 CVC 40221 permits filing of a civil judgement, without removing the DMV hold, if a vehicle registration which lists the outstanding citations has not been renewed for 60 days beyond the expiration date of the vehicle registration. Section 29 CVC 40224 permits the tolling of time limitations for filing civil judgements during the time a citation is placed with DMV for collection. Section 30 CVC 40225 continues past practice of permitting the issuance of equipment and CVC 5204 registration tabs violations on parking citation forms and establishes several new procedures for 10 processing these violations. The civil penalty for equipment violations is $30. Upon proof of correction, the penalty is reduced to $10. The civil penalty for CVC 5204 is $60. There is no provision in this section for a proof of correction. Fifty percent of the penalties collected for these violations goes to the state and 50t is retained by the issuing agency. Section 31 CVC 40226 is * repealed. This section concerned the deposit of parking penalties. Section 32 CVC 40230 is repealed. This section concerned the filing of criminal complaints with a court. Section 33 CVC 40230 details the civil court appeal process to be followed if the person wishes to contest the citation beyond the hearing examiner level. : a. Within 20 days after the mailing of the final decision of the hearing examiner, the person may seek review of the decision by filing an appeal to the Justice or Municipal court. The case shall be heard de novo (starting from the beginning) except that the contents of the processing agency's file in the case shall be received in evidence. A copy of the notice of parking violation shall be admitted into evidence as prima facie evidence of the facts stated in the citation. A copy of the notice of appeal shall be served upon the processing agency in person or by first class mail by the contestant. b. A fee of $25 will be paid to the court by the contestant for filing the notice of appeal with the court. If the contestant prevails in court, the processing agency must reimburse to the contestant $25 for the filing fee and refund any parking penalty paid in accordance with the court's decision. C. Provides that the appeal is a subordinate judicial duty which may be performed by traffic trial commissioners and other subordinate judicial officials at the direction of the presiding judge of the court. d. If a notice of appeal of the processing agency's decision is not filed within the 20 day requirement, the processing agency's decision is deemed final. Sections 34, 35, and 36 Deletes all references to parking penalty and parking bail from CVC 40510, 40519, and 40521. 11 i Section 37 Repealed CVC 41102. Section 38 Provides that the provisions of AB 408 become effective July 1, 1993. The transfer of the processing function from a court to a parking agency must be completed by January 1, 1994. The implementation of the hearing examiner program may occur at any time between bruly 1, 1993 and January 1, 1994. During the time between these dates, if an agency has not set up the hearing examiner program and a person wishes to contest a citation, the court will provide a 'hearing examiner' review of the citation. After July 1, 1993, the criminal court's involvement with parking citations ends and no parking citations, regardless of when they were issued, may be contested in criminal court. Section 39 Provides that AB 408 becomes effective July 1, 1993 Section 40 Provides that no reimbursements from the State Mandates Claim Fund are authorized pursuant to the Government Code. 12 I RESOLUTION NO. 2 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF AN AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF REDLANDS RELATING TO THE 3 JOINT USE OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO'S HEARING OFFICER SERVICES, IN ACCORDANCE WITH ASSEMBLY BILL 408. 4 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF 5 SAN BERNARDINO AS FOLLOWS: 6 SECTION 1. The Mayor of the City of San Bernardino is 7 authorized and directed to execute on behalf of said City an 8 agreement with the City of Redlands relating to the use of the City 9 of San Bernardino's hearing officer services, in accordance with 10 Assembly Bill 408 , a copy of which is attached hereto, marked 11 Exhibit "A" and incorporated herein by reference as fully as though 12 set forth at length. 13 SECTION 2. The authorization to execute the above referenced 14 agreement is rescinded if the parties to the agreement fail to 15 execute it within sixty (60) days of the passage of this 16 resolution. 17 I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing resolution was duly 18 adopted by the Mayor and Common Council of the City of San 19 Bernardino at a meeting thereof, held on the day 20 of 1993 , by the following vote, to wit: 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 / / / / RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION Ur AN AGREEMENT WI- THE CITY OF REDLANDS RELATING T" THE JOINT USE OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDIi. S HEARING OFFICER SERVICES, IN CORDANCE WITH ASSEMBLY BILL 408. 1 2 Councilmembers AYES NAYS ABSTAIN ABSENT 3 NEGRETE 4 CURLIN 5 HERNANDEZ 6 OBERHELMAN 7 OFFICE VACANT 8 POPE-LUDLAM 9 MILLER 10 11 City Clerk 12 13 The foregoing resolution is hereby approved this day of 14 , 1993 . 15 16 Tom Minor, Mayor 17 City of San Bernardino 18 Approved as to form and legal content: 19 JAMES F. PENMAN 20 City A orney 21 By: 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -2- 0 1 A G R E E M E N T 2 3 THIS AGREEMENT made and entered into this day of 4 , 1993, by and between the City of Redlands and the City of San 5 Bernardino, a municipal corporation of the State of California, 6 (City) : 7 The parties hereto agree as follows: 8 WHEREAS, Assembly Bill 408, California Vehicle Code Section 40200 9 et. seq. has decriminalized parking violations and; 10 WHEREAS, Assembly Bill 408, California Vehicle Code Section 40215 11 requires that each agency, when requested, provide a review of contested 12 parking violations by a hearing officer and; 13 WHEREAS, the City of San Bernardino has set in place a procedure 14 for such review of contested parking violations by a hearing officer and; 15 WHEREAS, the City of Redlands would like to contract with the City 16 of San Bernardino to conduct such review by a hearing officer for its 17 contested parking violations. 18 NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS AGREED AS FOLLOWS: 19 1. The City of San Bernardino will provide the review of contested 20 parking violations by a hearing officer for the city of Redlands. 21 2. The city of Redlands shall compensate the City of San 22 Bernardino the amount of Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00), for each hearing 23 conducted by the City of San Bernardino hearing officer on behalf of said 24 cities. The City of San Bernardino will provide semi-annual invoices to 25 said city and said city agrees to pay invoices within ten (10) days of 26 receipt. 27 3. Said city agrees to adhere to the scheduling procedure as set 28 forth in Exhibit "A" attached hereto. j AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF REDLANDS RELATING TO HEARING OFFICER SERVICES. 2 3 4. The City of San Bernardino agrees to provide an impartial 4 hearing officer and agrees to ensure an impartial review of contested 5 parking violations by said hearing officer in accordance with Vehicle Code 6 Section 40215. 7 5. This agreement may be terminated upon a thirty (30) day written 8 notice by either party. 9 10 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this agreement on 11 the date first above shown. 12 13 by: City of Redlands 14 15 By: _ Mayor, City of San Bernardino 16 Approved as to form 17 and legal content: 18 j d es F. Penman 20 ' /1�y Attorney 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -2- e ` u Glilornia State Assembly Dili 408 1992 LogLelatin Session SuMny ' The Governor recently signed into law Assembly Bill 408 which decriminalizes parking citations, removes parking citation processing from the courts, and establishes a system of administrative adjudication for these offenses. Decriminalization of parking citations will complete the departure of parking citations from the criminal justice system. It will replace the present costly and ineffective threats of criminal prosecution for unpaid parking citations with a combination of DMV registration collections and a streamlined civil judgements process. Administrative adjudication will replace the complex criminal court process with procedures that require a no-charge review of citations by the parking agency, offer a mail-in or personal conference with a hearing examiner, and permit a final review by a civil court. Under this system, parking enforcement officers will not have to appear for hearings on contested citations. AB 408 will become effective__qu 1 1993. The legislation requires that by January 1, 1994 most parking agencies shall assume responsibility for parking citation processing and that all parking agencies fully implement a parking citation hearing examiner program. Between July 1, 1993 and implementation of the hearing examiner program, but not later than January 1, 1994, the court is required to provide the hearing examiner reviews. The legislation includes revisions in the mandated distribution of parking citation revenue. POSSIBLE ORC"I&KTION PLAN Establishing the parking citation hearing program will be a complex effort that, as mandated by state law, must be completed by January 1, 1994. A highly qualified and experienced administrative staff will be needed to lead the implementation effort. A preliminary list of implementation tasks is as follows: If parking citations are being processed by a court, develop plane to transfer responsibility for citation processing from the court to the processing agency; Develop detailed organizational and budget plans for this new program. It is anticipated that the hearing examiner program will require *** (to be determined by the parking agency) new positions; Prepare detailed policies and procedures for the hearing examiners to follow when conducting hearings; 1 Develop and implement plans to locate hearing offices in ********* (location(@) ; Prepare detailed plans to coordinate the hearing examiner program with the •administrative review' procedure that must be provided for parking citation complaints before a hearing examiner review is permitted; Work clobely with parking citation processor, to develop and implement the computer systems and organizational and policy changes required to support the hearing examiner program. Implementation of the hearing examiner program in the department responsible for citation issuance would retain within that department the necessary coordination of effort between the citation processing, the required administrative review, and the new hearing examiner program. However, the organizational approach may vary by jurisdiction in order to reflect the policies goals of each organization. R VENUE AND OPHRATIONS To provide the financial resources to support the hearing examiner program, many parking agencies will be able to retain a portion of the parking citation revenue that they previously paid to a Count JMM�9Section 1463.009 of the Penal Code. 408 re Vglet�o P 3. The increased revenue will begin accru parking agencies on July 1, 1993 even if their hearing examiner program is not yet operational. AB 408 also modified Penal Code Section 1463.28. This section permits certain named counties to retain parking penalty increases if a county opted into the program and increased parking penalties after September, 1988. AB 408 does not repeal this section. However, it does place a July 1, 1992 cap on the dollar amounts paid to a county. This change is discussed in more detail under Section 10.2 of the bill which is explained later in this paper. There are other revenue benefits that will likely accrue to parking agencies ,_" a result of .AB 408. Because parking enforcement officers will no lon er have to a ar in court additional productive hours rill available for parking enforcement. It is anticipated that enhanced collection procedures permitted by 'the civil judgement process may further improve the citation collection rate. Also, the parking penalties, fees, and charges are all set by the governing body of the jurisdiction. This increased control could lead to increased revenue. AB 408 DSTjkn AB 408 was authored by Assemblyman Bob $pple and sponsored by the California Public Parking Association. It was actively supported 2 J I ' by the City of Los Angeles, the State Judicial Council, Los Angeles County Municipal Court, the Automobile Club, and most cities and counties throughout the state. AB 408 extensively revises most of the California Vehicle Code provisions that relate to the issuing, processing and collection of parking citations. A detailed review of the changes, organized by the sections of the legislation, follows: Section 1 Legislative Findings and Declarations Section 2 Repealed Penal Code Section 1462.3 which pertained to parking citation revenue distributions for state colleges and universities. Section 3 Repealed Penal Code Section 1463.009 which mandated by statute parking citation revenue distributions throughout the state. Section 4 Amended Penal Code Section 1463.28, which pertains to the distribution of "bail increases* in certain listed counties. The amendment states that PC 1463.28 does not apply to the collection of parking fines .SXCBPT as provided in CVC 40200.3 and 40200.4. These sections are discussed in detail below. Section 5 and 6 Incompletely revises the hearing process for booted and towed scofflaw vehicles. At the present time, CVC 22651 (1) requires that a hearing on a vehicle towed for unpaid parking citations be held before a judge. However, CVC 22651.7 requires that the hearing for a booted vehicle be held before a hearing examiner. It was the intent that all parking hearings would be held before hearing examiners. _ CPPA and Judicial Council are already working on legislation to correct this problem. Section 7 CVC 40200 (a) provides that any violation of any regulation governing the standing or parking of a vehicle is subject to a civil penalty and that the enforcement of the penalties shall be governed by the administrative procedures set forth in Article 3 of the Vehicle Code. As civil matters, the parking agency does not have to meet the very high burden of proof requirements necessary for criminal violations. Civil matters do not have to deal with the complex legal issues that are part of any criminal case. CVC 40200(b) provides that, except as provided in Section 40209, the registered owner and the driver, rentee or lessee, of a vehicle cited for any yyiolatio� of any regulation governing the parking of a vehicle arer" ointl liable for the parking penalty unless the owner can show chi t the vehicle was used without the consent of 3 e that person, egress or implied. An owner who pays the parking penalty has the right to recover the money paid from the driver, rentee or lessee. CVC 40200(c) provides that the driver of a vehicle who is not the owner and who uses the vehicle with the express or implied permission of the owner is considered the agent of the owner to receive notices of parking violations and may contest the violation. Section 6 Repealed CVC 40200.1 Filing of Complaint Section 9 Repealed CVC 40200.2 Processing of Notices: Courts Section 10 Repealed CVC 40200.3 Allocation of Parking Penalties: Court Process Section 10.2 CVC 40200.3 (a) provides that all parking penalties collected, including those from parking citations issued by the Highway Patrol within the jurisdiction of the parking agency, are retained by the parking agency WITH THE EXCEPTION of state and local parking penalty surcharges and that portion of the parking penalty distributed to counties pursuant to PC 1463.28 attributable to bail increase effective between September 16, 1988 and July 1, 1992, For only those counties identified in PC 1463.28, this distribution of `bail increases' is capped at the July 1, 1992 level. Any increases in parking penalties approved by a court after July 1, 1992 are to accrue to the parking agency beginning on July 1, 1993, the effective date of AB 408. CVC 40200.3 (b) requires the processing agency to prepare an audited report at the end of each fiscal year detailing the activities of the agency. Section 11 CVC 40200.4 (a) requires the processing agency to deposit sums due the county not later than 45 days after the last day of the month in which the parking penalty was received. CVC 40200.4 (b) requires that the processing of parking citations be transferred from courts to issuing agencies not later than January 1, 1994. CEP issued citations are to be processed and the money collected retained by the parking agency responsible for the geographic area in which the citations were issued. CVC 40200.4 (c) provides an exception that permits Contra Costa and San Mateo Counties until June 30, 1996 to transfer the processing functions if the county or a court was processing parking citations under contracts with issuing agencies that were in effect on 4 January 1, 1992. CVC 40200.4 (d) requires that San Francisco Municipal Court employees be transferred to other equivalent civil service positions with the transfer of parking citation processing from the court. CVC 40200.4 (e) protects court employees from termination as a result of the" transfer of function. CVC 40200.4 (f) provides that a •parking penalty• includes, but is not limited to, any late payment penalty, administrative fee, assessment, and cost of collection as provided by law. Section 12 CVC 40200.5 (a) Permits an issuing agency to contract with the county, a private vendor, or with any other city or county issuing agency, other than the Highway Patrol, for the processing of parking citations. Issuing agencies that contract with a private vendor shall give special consideration to minority business enterprise participation. CVC 40200.5 (b) Requires any contracts entered into pursuant to section (a) , above, to provide for monthly distribution of revenues. Section 13 Repeals Section CVC 40200.7 Contest of Parking Violation Notice Section 14 CVC 40200.7 Details the procedures for the Harking citation review process that replaces the cr na court system. The details are as follows: *Establishes an administrative review process that permits a review of the citation by the processing agency or, at the discretion of the processing agency, an issuing agency. This review must be requested by telephone, mail, or in-person within 21 da s of citation issuance or 10 days of the mailing of the Notice of Delinquent arc ng Violation; *If requested within 15 days of the mailing of the administrative review decision and accompanied by a itten lanation of the reason for contesting the vio a on and the fu amount of the parking penalty, permits a mail 3n or -person review of the citation by a hearing examiner employed by the parking agency. *The processing agency shall provide an administrative policy and procedure for contesting notices for persons 5 who can provide verifiable and substantial proof of their inability to eposit t e u11 amount ue. *If a vehicle has been seized for unpaid parking citations and remains under the control of the agency, permits the registered owner to contest the citations without requiring the deposit of the parking penalties. Section 15 CVC 40202 (a) , (b) , and (c) continue the existing citation issuance procedures, the currently required contents of notice of parking violation, and restrictions on changes to citation after issuance. CVC 40202 (d) provides a new procedure for issuing citations during a drive-a-way situation. The new procedure requires the issuing officer to file the citation with the processing agency. The processing agency is to mail a copy of the citation to the registered owns h days of issuance of the citation. CVC 40202 (e) Provides that the issuing officer may recommend in writing to the processing agency the cancellation of a citation in the interest of justice. The recommendation must cite the reasons for the cancellation. CVC 40202 (f) the processing agency must make a finding that there are grounds for cancellation, enter the finding on the record, and then may cancel the citation. CVC 40202 (g) provides that personal relationships may not be grounds for cancellation. Section 16 CVC 40203.5 (a) the schedule of parking penalties, late fees, administrative fees, and other related charges are established by the governing body of the issuing agency. To the extent possible, issuing agencies within the county shall standardize parking penalties. ' . CVC 40203.5 (b) provides that parking penalties shall be collected as civil penalties. Section 17 CVC 40204 provides that when the parking penalty is paid, the proceedings terminate. Section 18 -CVC 40205 requires that citations shall be contested pursuant to CVC 40215. Section 19 CVC 40206 (a) provides that if the payment of the parking penalty is not received -by the date fixed on the notice of parking 6 violation, the notice of delinquent violation is to be sent to the registered owner. CVC 40206 (b) permits the delivery of the notice of delinquent parking violation by personal service or first-class mail addressed to the registered owner, as shown on records of the Department of Motor Vehicles. Section 20 CVC 40206.5 (a) requires that a copy of parking citation be provided to any person who has received a notice of delinquent parking violation, or his or her agent, within 15 days of receiving the request. Continued collection efforts for the citation pursuant to CVC 22651 (1) , 22651.7, and 40220 are temporarily suspended until the copy is mailed or otherwise provided. CVC 40206.5 (b) provides that if the description of the vehicle cited does not substantially match the registration information, the citation shall be cancelled upon written request of the person. CVC 40206.5 (c) states that a copy of the citation may be photostatic or an electronically produced facsimile. Section 21 CVC 40207 provides that the Notice of Delinquent parking violation continue to provide the currently required information and include a statement that payment made to the processing agency within 10 days of the mailing of the notice shall be , the amount of the original parking penalty without any additional fees or charges. Section 22 CVC 40209 provides that rental and leasing companies may transfer responsibility for citations to their customers if the processing agency is provided within 30 days of the mailing of the notice of delinquent parking violation proof of a written lease or rental agreement between a bona fide rental or leasing company and its customer which identifies the name, address and driver's license number of the customer. The processing agency may serve or mail a notice of delinquent parking violation to the rentee or lessee identified. If payment is not received within 15 days of the mailing, the processing agency may proceed against the rentee or lessee pursuant to CVC 40220. Section 23 CVC 40210 (a) provides that if an affidavit of non liability is returned with evidence that the registered owner made a bona fide sale or transfer of the vehicle and has delivered possession of the vehicle to the purchaser prior to the date of the alleged violation, the processing agency shall obtain verification from the DMV the registered owner has complied with CVC 5602. CVC 40210 (b) provides that if the registered owner complied with 7 CVC 5602, the processing agency shall cancel the notice of delinquent parking violation with respect to the registered owner. CVC 40210 (c) provides that if the registered owner has not complied with CVC 5602, the processing agency shall inform the registered owner that the citation shall be paid in full or contested pursuant to Section 40200.7. If the registered owner does not comply, the processing agency shall proceed pursuant to CVC 40220. Section 24 CVC 40211 (a) provides that the processing agency is to follow the below detailed procedure when payment for a citation is received by a person authorized to receive the payment: 1. Deliver a copy of the notice of delinquent parking violation or an electronically reproduced copy of the citation information to the person and record the name, address and driver's license number of the person actually given the copy; 2. Determine whether the notice of delinquent parking violation has been filed with the DMV or if a civil judgement has been entered. If full payment is received, proceedings under CVC Article 3 shall terminate. If full payment is received, no further collection effort is permitted. The processing agency is required to recall any DMV hold or halt any civil judgement collection for any citation that is paid in full. Section 25 Section 40215 of the Vehicle Code i repealed. This section had co a ne a criminal cour procedures for contesting citations. Section 26 CVC 40215 provides detailed procedures for the processing of contested parking citations. This includes an investigation by the issuing or the processing agency, administrative review by a hearing examiner after the payment of the parking penalty, and finally, a civil court hearing. The details of this section are as follows: (a) 1. The processing agency shall either investigate with its own records and staff or request that the issuing agency investigate the circumstances of the citation with respect to -the contestant I a-wr1ltraLexpli,nation of reasons for contesting the parking v olation. If, based upon the results of the investigation, the processing agency is satisfied that the violation did not occur or that the registered owner was not responsible for the violation, the processing agency shall cancel the notice of parking violation and make an adequate record of the reasons for canceling the notice. The processing agency shall mail the results of the investigation to the person who contested the notice of parking violation or 8 ! the notice of delinquent parking violation. 2. If the person contesting a notice of parking violation or a notice of delinquent parking violation is not satisfied with the results of the investigation provided for in paragraph (1) , the person may, within 15 days of the mailing of the results of the investigation, deposit the amount of the parking penalty and request an administrative review. (b) The administrative review procedure described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) shall consist of the following: 1. The person requesting an administrative review shall indicate to the processing agency his or her election for a review by mail or personal conference. 2. Permits a minor to appear at a hearing or admit responsibility for a parking violation without the appointment of a guardian. It permits the processing agency to proceed against that person in the same manner as if that person were an adult. 3 . The administrative review shall be conducted before an examiner designated to conduct the review by the imsuing agency's -governing body or chief executive officer. In addition to any other requirements of employment, an examiner shall demonstrate those qualifications, training, and objectivity prescribed by the issuing agency's governing body or chief executive as are necessary and which are consistent with the duties and responsibilities set forth in this article. The examiner's continued employment, performance evaluation, compensation, and benefits shall not be directly or indirectly linked to the amount of fines collected by the examiner. 4. The officer or person authorized to issue a notice of parking violation shall not be required to participate in an administrative review. The issuing agency shall not be required to produce any evidence other thar _ thg notice of parking violation or copy thereof. and information rece-Tved from the Departmen —o or Vehicles identifying the registered owner of the vehicle. The documentation in proper form shall be considered prim facie evidence of the violation. S. The review shall be conducted in accordance with the written procedures established by the posing or processing agency which shall ensure fair and impartial review of contested parking violations. The agency's final decision may be delivered personally to the person by the examiner or to 9 1 the person by first-class mail. Section 27 CVC 40220 provides for collection of unpaid citations by the DMV or through the civil judgement process detailed in the section. The processing agency may only follow one of the below detailed collection options at a time for an unpaid citation: a. File an itemization of unpaid parking penalties and administrative and service fees with the DMV for collection with the registration of the vehicle pursuant to CVC 4760. b. If more than $400 dollars in unpaid penalties and fees have been accrued, proof thereof may be filed with the court with the same effect as a civil judgement. Judgements may be collected as are authorized for the collection of an unpaid civil judgement entered against a defendant in an action on a debtor. The court may assess costs against the debtor. The processing agency must send a notice by first-class mail informing the person or registered owner that a judgement for unpaid citations, fees, and costs will be entered after 30 days from the mailing of the notice. The notice must advise that execution may be levied against assets, liens may be placed against property, wages may be garnisheed, and other steps may be taken to satisfy the judgement. An agency may contract with a licensed collection agency to collect the judgement. The processing agency is required to pay the established first paper civil filing fee at the time an entry of civil judgment is requested. c. If the registration of the vehicle has not been renewed for 60 days beyond the renewal date, and the citation has not been collected by the DMV, the processing agency may file proof of the unpaid penalties and fees with the court with the same effect as a civil judgment as provided in subdivision (b) . ` Section 28 CVC 40221 permits filing of a civil judgement, without removing the DMV hold, if a vehicle registration which lists the outstanding citations has not been renewed for 60 days beyond the expiration date of the vehicle registration. Section 29 CVC 40224 permits the tolling of time limitations for filing civil Judgements during the time a citation is placed with DMV for collection. Section 30 CVC 40225 continues past practice of permitting the issuance of equipment and CVC 5204 registration tabs violations on parking citation forms and establishes several new procedures for 10 w., processing these violations. The civil penalty for equipment violations is $30. Upon proof of correction, the penalty is Y reduced to $10. The civil penalty for CVC 5204 is $60. There is no provision in this section for a proof of correction. Fifty percent of the penalties collected for these violations goes to the state and 50% is retained by the issuing agency. Section 31 CVC 40226 is * repealed. This section concerned the deposit of parking penalties. Section 32 CVC 40230 is repealed. This section concerned the filing of criminal complaints with a court. Section 33 CVC 40230 details the civil court appeal process to be followed if the person wishes to contest the citation beyond the hearing examiner level. a. Within 20 days after the mailing of the final decision of the hearing examiner, the person may seek review of the decision by filing an appeal to the Justice or Municipal court. The case shall be heard de novo (starting from the beginning) except that the contents of the processing agency's file in the case shall be received in evidence. A copy of the notice of parking violation shall be admitted into evidence as prima facie evidence of the facts stated in the citation. A copy of the notice of appeal shall be served upon the processing agency in person or by first class mail by the contestant. b. A fee of $25 will be paid to the court by the contestant for filing the notice of appeal with the court. If the contestant prevails in court, the processing agency must reimburse to the contestant $25 for the filing fee and refund any parking penalty paid in accordance with the court's decision. C. Provides that the appeal is a subordinate judicial duty which may be performed by traffic trial commissioners and other subordinate judicial officials at the direction of the presiding judge of the court. d. If a notice of appeal of the processing agency's decision is not filed within the 20 day requirement, the processing agency's decision is deemed final. Sections 34, 35, and 36 Deletes all references to parking penalty and parking bail from CVC 40510, 40519, and 40521. 11 0 Section 37 Repealed CVC 41102. Section 38 Provides that the provisions of AB 408 become effective July 1, 1993. The transfer of the processing function from a court to a parking agency must be completed by January 1, 1994. The implementation of the hearing examiner program may occur at any time between bruly 1, 1993 and January 1, 1994. During the time between these dates, if an agency has not set up the hearing examiner program and a person wishes to contest a citation, the court will provide a •hearing examiner' review of the citation. After July 1, 1993, the criminal court's involvement with parking citations ends and no parking citations, regardless of when they were issued, may be contested in criminal court. Section 39 Provides that AB 408 becomes effective July 1, 1993 Section 40 Provides that no reimbursements frown the State Mandates Claim Fund are authorized pursuant to the Government Code. 12 CITY OF SAN BERN '%RDINO - REQUEST rf)R COUNCIL ACTION From: Bert Murphy Subject: Agreement with cities of Redlands Facilities Manager and Loma Linda relative to Dept: City of San Bernardino' s hearing officer services . Date: June 8 , 1993 Synopsis of Previous Council action: Recommended motion: Adopt resolutions. igna Contact person: Bert Murphy Phone: 5244 Supporting data attached: yes Ward: FUNDING REQUIREMENTS: Amount: Source: (Acct. No.) (Acct. Description) Finance: Council Notes: 75-0262 Agenda Item No. STAFF REPORT RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the Mayor and Council appoint the Director of Risk Management or his designee as hearing examiner for parking citation cases in the City of San Bernardino. Recent legislation, AB 408, allows cities to hear parking citation cases and collect revenue for that service. Because training is minimal and the position will generate revenue, appointing a hearing examiner would be in the best interest for the City. It is also recommended that the Mayor and Council authorize the execution of an agreement with the cities of Redlands and Loma Linda to contract for the City of San Bernardino Is hearing examiner services. The City has already been approached by other cities who would like to pay for hearing examiner services. The City can expect to earn approximately $28 , 000 annually in additional revenue from a state trust fund and reimbursement from cities that are contracting our services. SUMMARY The Governor recently signed into law Assembly Bill 408 , which decriminalizes parking citations, removes parking citations processing from the courts, and establishes a system of administrative adjudication for those offenses. Decriminalization of the citations was the final step in removing them from the criminal justice system. Administrative adjudication will replace the complex criminal court process by requiring the parking agency to hold a no-charge administrative review of citations, offer a mail-in or personal conference with a hearing examiner, and permit a final review by a civil court. According the law, the Mayor and Council must designate the hearing examiner, who does not need any special qualification. While other cities designate employees from the parking control division, it is recommended that Risk Management provide the service for San Bernardino. The City ' s parking control division employees often participate in the administrative review process; Risk Management is removed from initial involvement and would provide a fair and impartial judgment at the hearing stage. Assembly Bill 408 will become effective July 1, 1993 . By January 1, 1994 the agencies must assume responsibility for parking citation processing and fully implement a parking citation hearing examiner program. The Facilities Management Division desires to implement AB 408 July 1, 1993 . -2- REVENUE With the impending implementation of AB 408, several cities have discussed the possibility of joint use of the City of San Bernardino' s hearing examiner' s service. At this time, Redlands and Loma Linda have made a formal request to contract for this service. Estimated number of hearings requested annually are as follows: Redlands. . . . . . 175 Loma Linda. . . . . 50 Estimated time averages 10 minutes per case. Compensation will be at the rate of $25. 00 per case for a total estimated revenue of $5 , 600 per year. This cost covers the salaries and benefits of the hearing examiner, administrative support, and overhead. PROCEDURES Currently, the Facilities Management staff investigates any requests to review a citation and determines whether the violation actually occurred or the citation was issued in error. For valid citations, the contestant must post bail with the San Bernardino Municipal Court and request an arraignment. The Facilities Management Division will continue to perform the no- charge administrative review process, but the contestant will now have a different recourse for correcting a citation. Under the new law, if the contestant is not satisfied with the results of the investigation, he may deposit the amount of the citation with the Facilities Management Division and request a review before a hearing examiner instead of going through the court system. The request must be made within 15 days of the administrative review decision mailing, must be accompanied by a written explanation of the reason for contesting the violation, and must include full payment of the parking penalty. The bill also allows a mail-in or in-person review of the citation by a hearing examiner. The hearing examiner will act much the same as a judge in the criminal justice system. The hearing examiner may cross examine the respondent and any witnesses to determine the credibility of the defense or documents presented. The hearing officer should review the citation for defects or errors made by the issuing officer, must listen to testimony, weigh the evidence, and render a decision based on the facts of the case and applicable laws. The hearing examiner will be provided with case files for each hearing and the necessary Municipal Code and California Vehicle Codes to support the violation. -3- Within 20 days after the mailing of the hearing examiner' s final decision, the contestant may seek an appeal to the Justice of Municipal Court. The case shall be heard trial de novo. The filing fee will be paid to the court by the contestant for filing the "Notice of Appeal. " If the contestant prevails in court, the City must refund any parking penalty paid, plus the filing fee. If the notice of appeal is not filed within 20 days, the City' s decision is deemed final. The annual revenue which is generated in parking citation revenues is estimated at approximately $450, 000. Adoption of the form motion is recommended. -4- EXHIBIT A PROCEDURE FOR SCHEDULING HEARING Hearings will be scheduled Friday mornings, between the hours of 8:00 A.M. and 11:30 A.M. 1. Place telephone call to Hearing Office, 384-5366; to schedule date and time of hearing. 2. Prepare hearing folder and deliver to Hearing Office, 300 No. "D" Street, Basement, San Bernardino, CA, not later than five (5) working days prior to scheduled hearing.