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7.9 - i3 AB1248from pagel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Background. Existing law authorizes a county relief.Specificallv, bookinq fees would provide a to impose a booking fee upon other local agen- disincentive to local agencies bookinq low-level cies, including colleges and universities, for county offenders into countv iail. costs incurred in processing or booking persons who are arrested by employees of those entities As currently implemented, however, counties and brought to county facilities for booking or are requiring booking fees from city police depart- detention. AB 1248, removes felonies, DUI's, ments for booking people who commit serious batteries and serious sex crimes (those that give crimes and who should be incarcerated to rise to a registration requirement)from the list of protect the community. AB 1248 helps begin to crimes for which booking fees can be charged. rectify this imbalance by limiting the categories of arrests for which booking fees can be charged. Currently, booking fees are levied every time a city police o�cer makes an arrest and delivers that Eliminates "Double Tax". Counties cur- suspect to county facilities for booking or detention. rently receive property taxes from all Califomians It doesn't matter how serious the crime, the book- —regardless of whether they reside in cities or in ing fee must be paid by the city police department the unincorporated areas of counties—some of to the counties. AB 1248 would still allow counties which supports their overall booking and deten- to charge booking fees for most misdemeanors tion operations. For residents of cities, paying and municipal code violations, but city police would booking fees in addition to their property taxes no longer have to pay fees to ensure fundamental amounts to a"second"taxation to support the community protection. basic community protection. Local officials have the responsibility of ensuring that their In budget action last year,the Legislature communities are safe, but there is no reason that maintained reimbursement to cities for booking city residents should have to pay more for their fees for fiscal year 2004-05. At the same time,they safety. eliminated this subvention for future budget years, and limited the amount counties could charge for Saves Public Dollars Needed for Law booking fees to one-half of administrative costs Enforcement. Over the years, cities have paid beginning FY 2005-06. millions in booking fees while struggling in recent years to balance their budgets during the eco- Withouf the subvention from the state, nomic downtum. This has resulted in diminish- cities will be required to pay fhe entire booking ing resources available for city police,who are fee costs incurred. 369 cities and four special responsible for protecting more than 70 percent districts receive portions of the$38.2 billion in of Californians. booking fee reimbursements. Afull list of repay- ment amounts, by jurisdiction through 2002, is CALL TO ACfION• available at www.sco.ca.qov. (See also "Recent � History Regarding Booking Fees".) All cities in support of AB 1248 are encour- Arguments in Support of AB 1248 aged to send letters from the mayor and/or the council as a whole, and from the police chiefs,to yourAssembly Representatives. Please be sure Restores Original Legislative Intent. When to also send a copy to the bill's author,Assembly- booking fees were first enacted in the early 1990's, man Tom Umberg, and the League of Califomia the stated policy was to discourage city police Cities. A sample letter is available in the departments from filling county jails with persons League's Advocacy Center at www.cacities.orq/ who were arrested in "sweepsT for minor crimes. advocacycenter. Addresses for legislators and This suggests that the Legislature intended booking fees to serve purposes beyond simple county fiscal ContinuedonPageT PAGE 6/PRIORITY FOCUS Visit the League's Official Web Site--www.cacities.org