Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California

Re: Recover of administrative costs

I'm not a criminal attorney but I agree with you that you should not be charged the fee. Here's the statute in full:

� 29550.3. City; criminal justice administration fee

(a) A city which books or processes persons to a jail administered by it and which does not otherwise incur an administrative fee from the county, may establish and collect an administrative fee for an arrested person pursuant to the same standards and procedures set forth in Section 29550.1.

(b) Any city whose officer or agent arrests a person is entitled to recover from the arrested person a criminal justice administration fee for administrative costs it incurs in conjunction with the arrest if the person is convicted of any criminal offense related to the arrest, whether or not it is the offense for which the person was originally booked.

(c) Any booking fee imposed pursuant to this section shall be charged to the person booked and not to the arresting entity.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the ability of any city to enter into agreements with other local arresting agencies authorizing the imposition of a criminal justice administration fee by that city upon those local arresting agencies for reimbursement of expenses incurred with respect to the booking or other processing of persons into a jail facility operated by that city.

I would send them a certified, return-receipt letter (keep a copy for your files) stating that you were never "arrested" but only received a summons. (Maybe your car was arrested?) This sounds like a way the city regularly makes money and no one contests it. Good luck.

Re: Recover of administrative costs

pursuant to the code at issue, if an actual arrest was not made, then there can be no legal liability for the fine that the city is trying to impose now. you should successfully defeat this erroneous citation with the proper defense presentation. if you would like further assistance, contact us today.

Re: Recover of administrative costs

I disagree with the prior responses. You were cited for driving without a license. A misdemeanor citation is the same thing as an arrest, but the officer cut you some slack by not taking you into custody.

But here is the big question: was it a misdemeanor citation or was it written up as an infraction? If it was charged as a misdemeanor, then you do owe the money even if you did plead down to an infraction. You should see a local attorney before before you take any further action.