This bill is part of the 2023 Cannabis Bills section of our ongoing update on California Cannabis Legislation – see the full California Cannabis Law Legislative Update which includes information on cannabis bills from other years.
AB 491 (Kalra D) Local government: fines and penalties.
Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a local agency, as defined, to make, by ordinance, a violation of an ordinance subject to an administrative fine or penalty, as specified. Existing law requires the local agency to set forth by ordinance the administrative procedures that govern the imposition, enforcement, collection, and administrative review by the local agency of those administrative fines or penalties. Existing law authorizes a person contesting a final administrative order or decision to seek review by filing an appeal to be heard by the superior court, as specified.
This bill would authorize a local agency to establish, by ordinance, a procedure to collect those administrative fines or penalties by lien upon the parcel of land on which the violation occurred, as specified.
This bill would authorize a local agency, after the exhaustion of the administrative and appeal procedures referenced above, to file with the clerk of the superior court of any county a certified copy of a final decision of the local agency that directs the payment of an administrative fine or penalty and, if applicable, a copy of an order of the superior court rendered on an appeal from the local agency’s decision. The bill would require the clerk to enter the judgment immediately and prohibit the clerk from charging fees related to that requirement.
This bill would make the above-described appeal the exclusive means of judicial review for an administrative fine or penalty that does not exceed a specified amount and that is imposed for violation of a local law regulating or prohibiting commercial cannabis activity, as specified.
This bill would make the remedies and penalties provided by the above-described provisions governing the imposition, enforcement, collection, administrative review, and appeal of administrative fines and penalties cumulative to the remedies or penalties available under other law.
Read more about California Cannabis Legislation – see the full California Cannabis Law Legislative Update.
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