Assigned to TPS & JUD                                                                                                         FOR COMMITTEE

 

 

 

 


ARIZONA STATE SENATE

Fifty-Fourth Legislature, Second Regular Session

 

FACT SHEET FOR H.B. 2055

 

civil traffic violations; community restitution

(NOW: penalties; civil traffic violation)

Purpose

            Allows an offender of a civil traffic violation to perform community restitution in lieu of payment of a civil traffic penalty at a rate of $10 per hour.

Background

            A judge may mitigate any civil penalty pursuant to a civil traffic violation if the person who is ordered to pay the penalty demonstrates that the payment would be a hardship on their life or immediate family. The court may consider any relevant information in determining whether to mitigate a civil penalty, including: 1) the civil penalty's impact on the person's ability to pay restitution; 2) whether the civil penalty would constitute a financial hardship to the person or their immediate family; 3) whether the person receives Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or Supplemental Nutritional Assistance; 4) whether the person receives benefits pursuant to the Supplemental Security Income Program; and 5) whether the person is legally authorized to be employed and is seeking, obtaining or maintaining employment or is attending school (A.R.S.
§ 28-1603).

            Under Arizona's Criminal Code, a court may order a defendant to perform community restitution in lieu of payment for all or part of a monetary obligation if the court finds that the defendant is unable to pay all or part of the monetary obligation. The amount of community restitution must be equivalent to the amount of the monetary obligation by crediting any service performed at a rate of $10 per hour. Community restitution is not applicable to certain assessments specified in statute that are imposed by the Arizona Supreme Court nor to the surcharge imposed and collected pursuant to the Citizens Clean Elections Act (A.R.S. § 13-824).

            Civil penalties may be required for: 1) traffic and vehicle regulation violations; 2) vehicle violations; 3) certificate of title and registration violations; and 4) vehicle insurance and financial responsibility violations (A.R.S. § 28-1603). Unless otherwise stated, a civil penalty for vehicle violations must not exceed $250 (A.R.S. § 28-1598).

            There may be a fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation because some of the monies collected pursuant to the Medical Services Enhancement Fund surcharge are deposited into the state General Fund. The exact amount of monies collected is dependent upon the number of civil traffic violation offenders who perform community restitution in lieu of a monetary obligation.

Provisions

1.      Allows the court to order an offender of a civil traffic violation to perform community restitution in lieu of the payment of a monetary obligation.

2.      Requires the court to determine the location where the community restitution is performed and credit any community restitution performed at a rate of $10 per hour.

3.      Allows a judge to mitigate a civil penalty for a motor vehicle driver license violation.

4.      Defines monetary obligation as a civil penalty, a surcharge, an assessment or a fee, not including a time payment fee.

5.      Makes conforming changes.

6.      Becomes effective on the general effective date.

House Action

JUD                 2/5/20       DPA/SE      6-4-0-0

3rd Read          2/17/20                        33-27-0

Prepared by Senate Research

March 2, 2020

ZD/ML/kja