Part 2 of 2
I get my information from Court Clerks in Los Angeles County (that is YOUR County) that give that information in the courtroom prior to the Judge coming in to the courtroom as well as by the Judge each and every time a person asks for an extension to pay the imposed fine. As for it being county specific, I think it goes deeper than that; I think it is more court specific because in one court, East L A Court, we were told that a 60 day extension is the max; yet a week later, we were told in West Covina Court that initially, you will receive a 60 day extension... If you need more time you can contact the Clerk's office and you may receive an additional 30 days. The "may receive" part depends on whether you have made regular payments during the 60 day extension period. If you haven't, don't even ask because you will not get it.That's why if the judge orders you to pay a fine and you request an extension, the court will give you 60 days but they'll add $35 on top of the fine. (So that $97 fine becomes $132(that's an APR of 216%)... That $170 becomes $205 (an APR of 123%)).
Still, I think you might have misread/misunderstood that part... Maybe I was not clear enough so let me clarify...
February 1st, 2008: (East L A Court) I went to my arraignment & I plead guilty ...
Judge said something to the effect of: " based on your guilty plea I order you to pay a fine in the amount of $201". (please don't say that the Judge only states the "Base Fine" amount and that the "Full Fine" is later calculated by the Clerk.... This Judge gave the "Full Fine" amount). Then he followed it u with "Can you pay that today?" I reply "No Your Honor, I'd like an extension". He gave me until 04/01/08 and stated that the amount I must pay will be $236 ($201 + $35).
A week later (02/08/08) in Pomona (North) court, I was ordered to pay $582; I asked for an extension and was given until 04/08/08 & ended up paying $617 ($582 + $35).
Those are just 2 example but I have personally seen, heard or experienced this happening in numerous courthouses including Santa Clarita, Antelope Valley, West Covina, Pomona, Santa Monica, Van Nuys, East L A, ...
Honestly, I never thought it was a fine + an assessment. I had always thought it was an assessment that totaled $500. But now that you clarified it, I guess that total should be (($75 fine + penalties = $302) PLUS. $300 PA) = $602 instead of $500. So its more than "too much"!!!The civil assessment is currently not at $500, it is $300 last I checked. It becomes larger because the failure to appear carries a $75 base fine + PA's.That's why if you fail to appear on a ticket and regardless of the reason, they will add another fine of $500. (So that $25 base fine which became $97 which later became $132, can now get up to $632... That $50 base fine which became $170, which later became $205 can now get up to $705.
What good is a grace period if no one knows about it! And even if I knew about it, what good is it if I go in 3 days prior to the end of the grace period and I am told "sorry, this was referred to collections yesterday". Had to get a supervisor to take my payment and give me a receipt.A day late does not warrant a trip to the collection agency. Courts have grace periods.That's why if you make a promise to pay, and you are a day late, they will send your case to a collection agency which will in turn, add an additional $300 (thereby possibly turning a $25 base fine into a debt of $932.... or a $50 base fine into a debt of $1005.
In all honesty, I can see why the county would rather hire an outside agency to handle their collections. But do you seriously believe that GC Services deserves to receive $300 per citation that they collect on? What do they do to earn that? They have a single employee that works at the courthouse & a few lying, belligerent & abusive A-holes who answer their phones. They don't even have a functional website! Yeah, they do offer a $50 discount if you pay on the website but I dare anyone to figure out how the heck to get that done.
Nor do they "actively" try to collect. They sit back and wait for me to call them and say "my license is suspended what do I do?"
Response: "Pay the full amount TODAY".
I say "Anyway to get it reduced?"
Response: "Nope! If you ever want your license back the you gotta pay the full amount".... Bulldung!!!
Oh, and as far as record keeping... A "drivers license" search that I did on there shows that I still owe $862 on the citation that I paid on 04/01/08, still owe $765 on the citation that I paid on 04/08/08, and I still owe $1200+ on a citation that I received in 2002 which never went to collection because I won the case when the officer did not show up to trial.
What do you think they'll do if I called them today and asked them what do I do about my license being suspended? They will try to collect $2800+ on citations that should not even be in their system.
"This" is part of the legal justice system in "our" county .... the Los Angeles County Superior Court system is referring defendants to?
Knowing that they ONLY do collections for L A County Superior Court (they actually do the same for San Diego County but under a different name) I'd like to know how they won that contract... Or should I say "how it was handed to them".
WWWWWOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOO!!!!YesAfter that (or at any time during that process) you have 2 options: Option 1: Pay the fine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I GOT ONE RIGHT!!!!!
YES!!!!!!!!!Depending on the court, the charge, the circumstance, this is quite true.Option 2: Schedule a court appearance to see the judge... (dont get too excited about this one because chances are that the soonest you'd be able to see the judge is 3 to 4 months from now.
NOW I'M ON A ROLL....
Well, I do feel lucky...... Ooops, I mean "he" feels lucky... VERY LUCKY... The only problem "he" has with this is that "he" was also told that the "hold on "his" license can only be released by the Judge" but since "he" will be unable to see the Judge until 08/14/08, that is a little over 2 months of no driving,... approximately 9 weeks, ... exactly 67 days before "his" license is released!And I worked in the largest traffic court in LA county for a number of years. Your friend was lucky. Had he been in my old court, it would be quite possible that right now, he'd be looking at a December date.Example: A "friend" of mine went in to a court in Los Angeles County yesterday 05/22/2008... first available date: 08/14/2008.
And what might those circumstances be? Would my near death & then my inability (or not caring) to pay after dying qualify?however, under certain circumstances, they can get you into court in less than a month.
Just kidding you... I realize that your job is not easy; and you've proven it well here in a single post. My replying here is not in any way an indication of any disrespect towards you or to the legal justice system/profession as a whole. Quite the opposite. I just have had a bit of bad luck in that I trusted someone to handle a few simple court matters for me and ended up having to redo everything on my own 2 & 3 years later but at multiples of what the original $ amounts were.
Lastly, I, as I am sure many others do, really appreciate your input, knowledge & expertise. You are an asset to this website as I am sure you are to the Court that you work at. Thank you!
My apologies to the OP for the threadjack!