California
California speeding tickets. Who keeps the fine money? Friday, December 11th, 2009
Typically, when a traffic ticket is adjudicated in court, the fine and surcharge money is split to some extent between the state, county, municipality and court. The split makes sense because it’s generally a state law that is violated on a local road and adjudicated in a local court.
Some cities in California are now attempting to cut the state out of the picture by issuing California speeding tickets under local administrative codes. With no state statute involved, there is no longer a link to the state.
One such city is Newman (Modesto, Stanislaus County) California. Under a new procedure, $150 speeding citations will be issued under a city ordinance related to obeying a speed limit sign and not the State California Vehicle Code.
This means the citations will not carry license points since they will not go through the state Department of Motor Vehicles. This arguably creates a “win-win” situation for motorists and the city. The losers? The state and insurance companies who may have raised rates had there been convictions and points placed on a driving record.
Riverbank speeding tickets and Alameda County speeding tickets have been handled in a similar fashion. Others considering this may be scared away by some legitimate legal concerns.
In a 1994 decision Morehart v. County of Santa Barbara, the California Court of Appeal expressly prohibited local jurisdictions from using ordinances to escape the requirements of state law. “Local legislation in conflict with general law is void,” the court ruled. “Conflicts exist if the ordinance duplicates, contradicts, or enters an area fully occupied by general [state] law, either expressly or by legislative implication.”
Another concern is that the procedure could violate the equal protection clause of the state constitution because the administrative procedures give police officers the ability to treat different classes of drivers with greater or lesser punishments.
While it’s true that some motorists may never have the opportunity to take advantage of this or perhaps this practice will eventually end after state legal challenges, it’s a win of sorts for some motorists in the short term.
Submitted by Scott Feifer
NY Traffic Ticket Lawyer
Feifer & Greenberg, LLP
NYTicketHELP.com
