Why is my traffic ticket so high? Cost of a ticket defined.

Ever wonder why that vehicle violation ticket lets say, running a stop sign. The fine is $250, then you get to court and the fine is now over $400. Over 50% increase. Thanks to the  Penalty Assessment fee, the Surcharge fee, and if your don't pay by due date, add $300 late fee. Now you have a $700 fine for a stop sign ticket. 

Well thanks to the State and Government who put you in jail for stealing money, but think it's alright to rob you of your money thru late fees, taxes, penalties, and assessment fees. The state should have county workers point a gun to our heads when they accept the money, because that's what it is, straight up armed robbery. 

Here is the short version of how a single violation ( "ONE" violation) is put together. It may have more codes and pages then our tax code has, that's over 50,000 pages for tax code. 

Each violation is assigned a "Base Fine" set by the Judicial Council pursuant to State Vehicle Code which adds Additional Fees called Penalty Assessments by State Penal Code Section, which authorized to add Surcharges from Health and Safety Code Section established by Government Code Section, Don't forget the Late Fee, all calculated to make up the "Total Bail" amount to be paid to the court. 



A SMALL FRACTION LIST OF ALL CODES CONNECTED TO ONLY ONE VEHICLE VIOLATION: 


California Penal Code Section 1464, 1465.7. Government Code Sections 11503, 13967, 1465.7, 70372, 70402, 76000, 76000.5, 76104.6. and 76104.7, State Vehicle Code Sections 40310, 27315,  Welfare and Institutions Code Sections 4358, 5564 

LIST OF STATE FUNDS THE FINES GET SPLIT UP AND USED FOR:

State Penalty Fund, County General Fund, City General Fund, State Court Construction, Fish and Game, County Treasury, State Treasury, District Board, Restitution Fund, Peace Officer's Training Fund, Driver Training Fund, Corrections Training Fund, Local Public Prosecutors and Public Defenders Training, Victim-Witness Assistance Fund, Traumatic Brain Injury Fund, Welfare and Institutions Fund, 

THE MONEY FROM ALL FINES GET DEPOSITED ONCE A MONTH IN THE STATE PENALTY FUND DURING THE PRECEDING MONTH, SHALL BE DISTRIBUTED AS FOLLOWS:

• Restitution Fund an amount equal to 32.02 percent of the state penalty funds 
• Peace Officers Training Fund an amount equal to 23.99 percent of the state penalty funds
• Fish and Game Preservation Fund an amount equal to 0.33 percent of the state penalty funds
• Driver Training Penalty Assessment Fund an amount equal to 25.70 percent of the state......
• Corrections Training Fund an amount equal to 7.88 percent of the state penalty funds
• Public Prosecutors and Public Defenders Training Fund an amount equal to 0.78 percent of...
• Victim-Witness Assistance Fund an amount equal to 8.64 percent of the state penalty funds
• Traumatic Brain Injury Fund an amount equal to 0.66 percent of the state penalty funds

JUST A FEW CODES EXPLAINED:

Government Code Section 13967 > A district board may require any employee of the district to be bonded. The district shall pay the cost of the bonds. 

Section 70402 > The amount each county shall charge as an additional penalty under this section shall be as follows:   Los Angeles $5.00

Section 76000 >  (a) (1) Except as otherwise provided elsewhere in this section, in each county there shall be levied an additional penalty in the amount of seven dollars ($7) for every ten dollars ($10), or part of ten dollars ($10), upon every fine, penalty, to all offenses involving a violation of the Vehicle Code. 

Section 70372 > (a)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this article, there shall be levied a state court construction penalty, in the amount of five dollars ($5) for every ten dollars ($10), or part of ten dollars ($10), upon every fine, penalty, or forfeiture imposed and collected by the courts for all criminal offenses, including, but not limited to, all offenses involving a violation of a section of the Fish and Game Code, the Health and Safety Code, or the Vehicle Code or any local ordinance adopted pursuant to the Vehicle Code.

(e) After a determination by the court of the amount due, the clerk of the court shall collect the penalty and transmit it to the county treasury. The portion shall be deposited in the appropriate county fund and 70 percent of the balance shall then be transmitted to the State Treasury, to be deposited in the State Penalty Fund, which is hereby created, and 30 percent to remain on deposit in the county general fund.  The transmission to the State Treasury shall be carried out in the same manner as fines collected for the state by a county. 

Wherever the word “assessment” appears in any reference to Section 1464 in any law or regulation with regard to a fine, penalty, or bail forfeiture, it shall be deemed to refer to the penalty, state penalty, or additional penalty required by Section 1464.