Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Hello - I recently had a situation and I'm wondering if I have any legal recourse against San Mateo County. I had a prior misdemeanor conviction from 1990 that required restitution. I was on a payment plan for a while, then I paid off the balance in full over 3 years ago. What I did not know was that a long time ago, County Revenue Services had requested a bench warrant for me for failure to comply with the payment plan (this was in something like 1997). That bench warrant had been out there all along. Revenue Services received my payment in full, but never notified the court and never ask for the bench warrant to be cleared. A few nights ago I was pulled in on this old warrant and kept almost a full day in San Mateo County jail. It took a big effort on my part to get through to County Revenue Services to get them to confirm with the court that I had paid off the restitution. In fact, the judge was going to simply let me sit in jail for 9 days or more pending a hearing (I could not afford the bail). This was an unbelievable ordeal for me. In addition I am currently unemployed, looking for work, and now I have a brand new arrest on my record if a potential employer does a background check. This should never have happened, in my opinion and it was only because Revenue Services never updated my payment record with the court. Do I have any recourse against the County for this?


Asked on 5/22/10, 11:47 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

You probably have a 42 U.S.C. ss 1983 claim. Your problem will be proving actuall damages. Bear in mind that claims against public entities in California have EXTREMELY short time limits. If you want to pursue this you need to retain an attorney right away.

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Answered on 5/25/10, 12:16 pm


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