How a $20 ticket becomes a $142 ticket

[lili22]

May 24th, 2010 06:00am
How a $20 ticket becomes a $142 ticket (https://roadwarrior.blogs.pressdemocrat.com/10145/how-a-20-ticket-becomes-a-142-ticket/)

by Road.Warrior (https://roadwarrior.blogs.pressdemocrat.com/author/teenlife/)
You’re cruising along chatting on your cell phone when you get busted. You get a ticket for using that cell phone, and the cop says it’s going to cost $20 plus fees. Cool, only $20 plus fees. How much could fees be? A lot, it turns out.

Christine Gentry, court operations manager for the Sonoma County court system, gave this breakdown:

–$20 is the base fine for using that cell phone illegally.

Then there are the fees, all approved by the Legislature:

–A 20 percent surcharge: Add $4.
–State and county penalty assessments at $17 for every $10 of the base fine
($10 for the state, $7 for the county). Add $34.
–Court facilities construction fund at $3 for every $10 of the base fine. Add $6.
–State court construction penalty at $2 for every $10. Add $4.
–State DNA program assessment at $1 for every $10. Add $2.
–Additional DNA assessment at $1 for every $10. Add $2.
–Night court fee at $1 per ticket. Add $1.
–Emergency medical services assessment at $2 for every $10. Add $4.
–Courthouse security fee at $30 per ticket. Add $30.
–Criminal conviction assessment of $30 for a felony or misdemeanor and $35 for an infraction, which the cell phone violation is. Add $35.
Total cost of your ticket: $142

Now, if you get ticketed a second time for cell phone use, the base fine is $50 and the total cost, after all of the fees and assessments, is $256.

There’s legislation, SB1475, pending in the state Senate that would double the cell phone base fines to $50 for the first violation and $100 for subsequent violations. That $100 would cost you $446 after all of the fees and such are added.

So how much of the ticket cost goes to the Sonoma County city where you got the ticket? Gentry said 85 percent of the base fine goes to the city and 15 percent goes to the county. (If you get ticketed by the CHP, 100 percent of the base fine goes to the county. The CHP gets nothing.) So for that $20 base fine, a city would get $17 and the county $3.

The county court system website’s traffic division (https://www.sonomasuperiorcourt.com/index.php?v=traffic_div) lists the fines and penalties (click here) (https://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/reference/documents/2010_jcbail.pdf) if you want more details.

The good news is that the court system takes credit cards and e-checks and you can pay online.

[TDDixon]

May 24th, 2010 06:00am
How a $20 ticket becomes a $142 ticket (https://roadwarrior.blogs.pressdemocrat.com/10145/how-a-20-ticket-becomes-a-142-ticket/)
...

Mahalo Road Warrior & Christine!
However if you show up on time to get an appearance in court you might be able to convince the Traffic Commissioner of an economic condition that exists and get your fines and fees somewhat reduced or even waived at the sole discretion of the officer of the court. Have a Blessed Day! Aloha

[decterlove]

May 24th, 2010 06:00am
How a $20 ticket becomes a $142 ticket (https://roadwarrior.blogs.pressdemocrat.com/10145/how-a-20-ticket-becomes-a-142-ticket/)
.

I just had the privelege of going to Traffic Court in Santa Rosa last monday morning. Learned a lot! They are really cracking down on cell phone and texting. You can't even have a phone in your hand regardless of whether you are on a call or not! (I use mine to check the time alot) Other thing alot of people were also there for was car pool lane. Those and seat belt violations....very popular items now.

I was sooooooooo lucky! Got a very lenient and very nice female judge who came out of retirement to help out with cases and she was like letting everyone off easy with either one ticket waived, reduced fines, community service options, and lots and lots of time to pay off/volunteer time.

I had a speeding ticket....going over to Sonoma and late for a gig. Clocked me at 70 in a 55 and I expected the worst. Was hoping just to get reduced fee of 220. and traffic school online. (btw...have tips for online school if interested...). I got the ticket waived altogether with 6 months probation. Just shows that the system is not monolithic.....and sometimes your Angels are watching out for you....lol.

[Shandi]

I think these cell phone (talking or texting) and seat belt laws are made to
protect us and others. It's hard when we have to pay the penalties, but
we've been forewarned, and if we choose to ignore those laws, we get to
pay the price......which is hopefully a lot cheaper than paying with our lives or our loved ones....or an innocent person who just happened to cross our path.

Your ticket may have saved lives. Losing financially seems to get our
attention better than anything else, and serves as a reminder that if we must talk on our cell phones while driving, to do it more responsibly.

Some laws don't make sense, but these do....




May 24th, 2010 06:00am
How a $20 ticket becomes a $142 ticket (https://roadwarrior.blogs.pressdemocrat.com/10145/how-a-20-ticket-becomes-a-142-ticket/)

by Road.Warrior (https://roadwarrior.blogs.pressdemocrat.com/author/teenlife/)
You’re cruising along chatting on your cell phone when you get busted. You get a ticket for using that cell phone, and the cop says it’s going to cost $20 plus fees. Cool, only $20 plus fees. How much could fees be? A lot, it turns out.

Christine Gentry, court operations manager for the Sonoma County court system, gave this breakdown:
–$20 is the base fine for using that cell phone illegally.

Then there are the fees, all approved by the Legislature:
–A 20 percent surcharge: Add $4.
–State and county penalty assessments at $17 for every $10 of the base fine
($10 for the state, $7 for the county). Add $34.
–Court facilities construction fund at $3 for every $10 of the base fine. Add $6.
–State court construction penalty at $2 for every $10. Add $4.
–State DNA program assessment at $1 for every $10. Add $2.
–Additional DNA assessment at $1 for every $10. Add $2.
–Night court fee at $1 per ticket. Add $1.
–Emergency medical services assessment at $2 for every $10. Add $4.
–Courthouse security fee at $30 per ticket. Add $30.
–Criminal conviction assessment of $30 for a felony or misdemeanor and $35 for an infraction, which the cell phone violation is. Add $35.
Total cost of your ticket: $142

Now, if you get ticketed a second time for cell phone use, the base fine is $50 and the total cost, after all of the fees and assessments, is $256.

There’s legislation, SB1475, pending in the state Senate that would double the cell phone base fines to $50 for the first violation and $100 for subsequent violations. That $100 would cost you $446 after all of the fees and such are added.

So how much of the ticket cost goes to the Sonoma County city where you got the ticket? Gentry said 85 percent of the base fine goes to the city and 15 percent goes to the county. (If you get ticketed by the CHP, 100 percent of the base fine goes to the county. The CHP gets nothing.) So for that $20 base fine, a city would get $17 and the county $3.

The county court system website’s traffic division (https://www.sonomasuperiorcourt.com/index.php?v=traffic_div) lists the fines and penalties (click here) (https://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/reference/documents/2010_jcbail.pdf) if you want more details.

The good news is that the court system takes credit cards and e-checks and you can pay online.