Title
Title
Report to the Legislature | Online Infraction Adjudication and Ability-to-Pay Determinations
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Summary
Summary
The Online Infraction Adjudication and Ability-to-Pay Determinations report to the Legislature describes actions taken to expand online ability-to-pay determination requests for infraction violations statewide as authorized by Assembly Bill 143 (Stats. 2021, ch. 79).
The report fulfills the requirements set forth in Government Code section 68645.5
and is the third of four required annual reports. It describes: (1) the system’s users,
(2) explains how the MyCitations tool is being implemented, (3) presents data on the impact of the system related to the reduction of court-ordered debt, and
(4) documents actions taken for the statewide expansion of the program.
• As of December 31, 2023, 40 of California’s 58 superior courts have made online ability-to-pay determination requests available through the MyCitations tool, with the remaining 18 courts scheduled to implement the tool in 2024.
• Between the program’s launch in April 2019 and December 2023, approximately 128,000 ability-to-pay requests were submitted through the MyCitations tool by 91,000 defendants. These cases accounted for over $71 million in outstanding infraction fines and fees that, after judicial review, were reduced by more than $36.7 million. Consistent with research findings presented in last year’s report, case-level analysis of debts collected from requests made through MyCitations demonstrates that defendants are more likely to pay when offered a reduced amount.
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