Littering cases requiring litter pick-up or graffiti removal
Background: California Vehicle Code section 42001.7 requires that a defendant convicted of VC sections 23111, 23112, or 23113(a) be sentenced to pay a fine of no less than $100 and, “… to pick up litter or clean up graffiti for not less than eight hours” for a first offense. This increases to $500 and 16 hours, and $750 and 24 hours for second and subsequent offenses, respectively.
VC section 42001.7(c) further provides that “[t]he court may not suspendthe order to pick up litter or clean up graffiti required by thissubdivision or subdivision (b) except in unusual cases where the interest of justice would best be served by suspension of that order.” (emphasis added.)
VC section 42001.7(a) also provides that “[i]n no case may the court order imprisonment in the county jail for a violation punishable under this subdivision, unless imprisonment is order pursuant to Section 166 of the Penal Code.”
Issue: What can the court do to enforce a sentence when a defendant found guilty on a littering ticket and sentenced to Community Labor, fails to complete the required 8 hours of Community Labor?
Discussion: If the defendant fails to pay a normal monetary traffic fine by the deadline, the sentence can be enforced by sending the ticket to collections. However,when the Court orders Community Labor, because this is not money-based,the case cannot be sent to collections (regardless of whether the other portion of the sentence—the fine—has been paid). Further, as noted above, the Vehicle Code is explicit that the 8 hours of labor may not be suspended, “except in unusual cases where the interest of justice would best be served by suspension.” Accordingly, it is not an option to “suspend” the labor obligation in order to send the remainingfine to collections.
The issue, then, is how to otherwise enforce the uncompleted community labor portion of the sentence. This best practice memorandum will discuss the Court’s options.
While it is an option for the bench officer to issue a bench warrant in the situation where the defendant fails to obey the court’s order to perform the Court’s order to perform 8 hours of labor by a specified date, this is a time consuming and potentially problematic approach if the defendant is picked up on the warrant and is placed in custody for failure to perform the labor. This best practice memorandum does not recommend this approach.
While the Vehicle Code prevents the Court from suspending the labor component of the sentence, nothing in the code prevents the Court from converting the labor to an additional fine plus penalty assessments. VC section 42001.7 provides a conversion rate of $100 per 8 hours of service. Accordingly, if the defendant fails to perform the 8 hours of labor, the Court may convert the 8 hours to an additional fine of $100 plus penalty assessments. However, before making the conversion, the Court should make sure that the defendant had notice at the time of accepting the plea (or, alternatively, in the opening remarks to all defendants) that advised the defendant that this conversion was a possible consequence if the labor was not completed within the time limits.
If the Court gives this notice, and the defendant fails to perform the labor by the deadline set by the court or cashier, then the labor portion of the sentence may be converted to a fine, and the outstanding balance of the fine, fees, and penalty assessments can be sent to collections.