FINAL REPORT - San Bernardino Superior Court

2011‐2012 San Bernardino County Grand Jury Final Report
CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO
CITATION APPEAL PROCESS
BACKGROUND
A complaint was received by the Grand Jury from an individual who received a parking citation
from the City of San Bernardino that was disputed. The individual appealed the parking citation.
The first two levels of appeal upheld the citation. On the third level of the appeal process, the
Superior Court dismissed the citation.
The Grand Jury reviewed the contract between the private company and the City of San
Bernardino (City). They met with the City Attorney and with members of the Police Department
who were responsible for the parking citation appeals. Also, members were furnished copies of
the Hearing Officer Manual – California Public Parking Association, 2008, used to assist in
hearing and disposition of all contested cases involving violations of the California Vehicle
Code.
Members noted City parking citations state, on the reverse side, an appeal can be requested by
writing to the City of San Bernardino, c/o a parking citation service center in Orange County.
The City contracts with a company to handle the administrative actions associated with
documenting the issue of citations, dispositions, scheduling appeal hearings, and collecting fees.
The citation also states information can be obtained by calling a toll-free number.
The company does not participate in any of the appeal reviews, except to collect documents from
the complainant and forward them to the City. The company does not have input into the
upholding or dismissal of parking citations.
The City’s website states what actions are required and how the parking citation appeal process
works, for the three levels of appeals:
The first level of the appeal process is an Administrative Review conducted by a
member of the City of San Bernardino Police Department. If the first level of
appeal does not result in the disposition the appellant desires, they may go to the
second level of appeal.
The second level of the appeal process is an Administrative Hearing conducted by
a Hearing Officer that is not an employee of the City Police Department. If the
second level of appeal does not result in the disposition the appellant desires, they
may go to the third level of appeal.
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