Santa Clara County Municipal Code Ch. II Criminal Penalties and Enforcement

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Editor's note— Sec. 19 of Ord. No. NS-300.967, adopted November 15, 2022, amended Ch. II in its entirety to read as herein set out. Former Ch. II pertained to penalties and enforcement, and derived from Ord. No. NS-300.735, adopted October 19, 2004.

Except as otherwise expressly provided in this Code, any person who violates any provision of this Code or fails to comply with any mandatory requirement of this Code shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Except as otherwise provided in this Code, any person convicted of a misdemeanor under any provision of this Code shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000.00 per day per violation on each day or part thereof that the violation continues to exist, imprisonment in the County jail for a period not exceeding six months, or both. Except as otherwise provided in this Code, each person shall be guilty of a separate offense for each and every day or any portion of a day during which any violation of any provision of this Code is committed or permitted and shall be punishable accordingly.

(Ord. No. NS-300.967, § 19, 11-15-22)

State Law reference— Violation of ordinance declared misdemeanor unless by ordinance made infraction, Government Code § 25132.

If any person is arrested for a violation of any provision of any ordinance of the County and is not immediately taken before a magistrate as prescribed by the Penal Code of the State of California, the arresting officer shall prepare in duplicate a written notice to appear in court, containing the name and address, the offense charged, and the time and place where and when the arrested person shall appear in court. The time specified in the notice to appear shall be at least five days after the arrest. The place specified in the notice to appear shall be the court of the magistrate before whom the arrested person would be taken if the requirement of taking an arrested person before a magistrate were complied with or shall be an officer authorized by the court to receive a deposit of bail.

(Ord. No. NS-300.967, § 19, 11-15-22)

The arresting officer shall deliver one copy of the notice to the arrested person, and the arrested person in order to secure release must give their written promise to appear in court by signing the duplicate notice which shall be retained by said officer. Thereupon the arresting officer shall forthwith release the person arrested from custody. The arresting officer shall as soon as practicable file the duplicate notice with the magistrate specified therein.

(Ord. No. NS-300.967, § 19, 11-15-22)

When a person signs a written promise to appear at the time and place specified in the written promise to appear and has not posted bail as provided in Section 853.6 of the Penal Code of the State of California, the magistrate shall issue and have delivered for execution a warrant for their arrest within 20 days after their failure to appear as promised, or if such person promises to appear before an officer authorized to accept bail other than a magistrate and fails to do so on or before the date which he or she promised to appear, then within 20 days after the delivery of such written promise to appear by the officer to a magistrate having jurisdiction over the offense.

(Ord. No. NS-300.967, § 19, 11-15-22)

It shall be unlawful for any person to willfully violate their written promise to appear in court or lawfully granted continuance of their promise to appear. Any person who willfully violates their written promise to appear in court is guilty of a misdemeanor, regardless of the disposition of the charge upon which they were originally arrested.

(Ord. No. NS-300.967, § 19, 11-15-22)