§ 68645.3 — California Government Code

(a) A court may allow the online tool to electronically verify through encrypted transmittal whether the defendant receives public benefits, defined as any of the public benefits listed in subdivision (a) of Section 68632, by accessing a statewide, county, or other political subdivision of the state database, including the State Department of Social Services.

(b) The court shall obtain the defendant’s consent before the online application may electronically verify benefits.

(1) A defendant has the burden of establishing the defendant’s inability to pay.

(2) The online verification is one of the possible means of substantiating the inability to pay.

(3) Other accepted means of verifying inability to pay.

(4) A defendant may upload other evidence in addition to or in lieu of the verification results.

(d) If the court is unable to verify that a defendant receives benefits as described in this section, the defendant may submit other evidence of an inability to pay to the court.

(e) Each court, by adopting a local rule, may authorize the clerk of the court to make ability-to-pay determinations. If a court authorizes the clerk of the court to make those determinations, both of the following apply:

(1) The determinations shall be based on specified criteria as established by the court and posted on its internet website. The criteria may include whether the defendant is receiving public benefits, including those listed in subdivision (a) of Section 68632. The court may establish criteria that waive or reduce the sum of the base fine, penalty assessments, civil assessments, and fees, including mandatory fees, owed by the defendant, by a specified amount, by a specified percentage, or by other specified criteria.

(2) If the clerk of the court denies the reduction, the defendant has the right to a review of the decision by a judicial officer in the trial court.

(Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 79, Sec. 8. (AB 143) Effective July 16, 2021.)