Inyo County Municipal Code Ch. 3.90 Juvenile Wardship Fees and Costs

The purpose of the ordinance codified in this chapter is to enact portions of the Welfare and Institutions Code permitting the county to recover those costs incurred in connection with the support of juveniles who have been made wards of the court pursuant to Section 600 et seq., of the Welfare and Institutions Code. It is the intention of the board of supervisors to begin collecting fees including, but not limited to, the costs associated with the provision of legal services, the detention of juvenile wards in Inyo County juvenile facility, the costs associated with the supervision of juvenile wards and the costs incurred by the county in connection with the sealing of juvenile court records.

(Ord. 1025 § 1, 2000)

This chapter is enacted pursuant to the authority given this board of supervisors by Welfare and Institutions Code Section 900 et seq., which permits a county to adopt fees to recover its costs to provide various services and support to juvenile wards. Specifically, Section 903 of the Welfare and Institutions Code provides that the county may charge the parents of a juvenile ward for the support incurred by the county in connection with the minor's placement in a facility or other place which is outside the minor's home. Additionally, Section 903.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code authorizes the court to recover the cost of legal services provided to the minor from the minor's parents; Section 903.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code permits the county to recover its costs for probation supervision of juvenile wards; and Section 903.3 authorizes the county to recover its costs in connection with the sealing of the juvenile court records.

(Ord. 1025 § 1, 2000)

Pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code Section 903, the father, mother, spouse or other person liable for the support of a minor, estate of that person, and the estate of the minor, shall be liable for the reasonable cost to the county of support of the minor while the minor is placed, or detained in, or committed to, any institution or other place pursuant to Section 625 of the Welfare and Institutions Code or pursuant to an order of the juvenile court. Such liability, however, shall not exceed fifteen dollars per day, or as that amount shall be adjusted every third year beginning January 1, 1988, to reflect the percentage change in the calendar year annual average of the California Consumer Price Index, All Urban Consumers published by the Department of Industrial Relations, for the three-year period, as provided and set forth in Welfare and Institutions Code Section 903(c)(2).

(Ord. 1025 § 1, 2000)

Pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code Section 903.1, the father, mother, spouse or other person liable for the support of a minor, the estate of that person, and the estate of the minor, shall be liable for the cost to the county of legal services rendered to the minor by the public defender or other public attorney pursuant to an order of the juvenile court, or for the cost to the county for legal services rendered to the minor by an attorney in private practice appointed pursuant to an order of the juvenile court. Such costs shall be based on an hourly rate of thirty-six dollars and fifty cents per hour based on the attorney's actual time.

(Ord. 1025 § 1, 2000)

Pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code Section 903.2, the father, mother, spouse or other person liable for the support of a minor, the estate of that person, and the estate of the minor, shall be liable for the cost to the county of the probation supervision, home supervision or electronic surveillance of the minor, pursuant to the order of the juvenile court, by the probation officer. The costs associated with this shall be at the deputy probation officer's hourly rate, as determined by the Inyo County Auditor; however, such amount shall not exceed eighteen dollars and eighty-two cents per hour based on the actual hours by that probation officer.

(Ord. 1025 § 1, 2000)

Pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code Section 903.3, the father, mother, spouse, or other person liable for the support of a minor, the person himself or herself if he or she is an adult, or the estates of those persons, shall, unless indigent, be liable for the costs to the county for any investigation relating to the sealing and for the sealing of any juvenile court or arrest records pursuant to Section 781 of the Welfare and Institutions Code pertaining to that person, which amount shall not exceed twenty-one dollars and eighty-six cents.

(Ord. 1025 § 1, 2000)