THE PEOPLE v. ERIC PLOURDE (2011)

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b).  This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

On August 19, 2009, as the victim walked into a shopping mall, Eric Plourde drove up, pulled her purse off her shoulder and sped away.   Later that day, officers with United States Customs and Border Protection (Border Patrol) arrested Plourde near the Mexican border.   Plourde entered a negotiated guilty plea to second degree robbery (Pen.Code, § 211).   The court sentenced him to prison for a stipulated three-year middle term.

The probation report recommended that the court order Plourde to pay a $154 “Criminal Justice Administration Fee pursuant to [Government Code section] 29550.1.” ¹  The sentencing court ordered Plourde to pay $154, an amount it orally referred to as a “criminal justice fee,” but did not cite statutory authority.   On the form minute order, next to a handwritten entry of “$154,” the clerk checked a box marked “booking fee” and “GC29550.1.” Plourde appeals, contending the imposition of the $154 fee must be reversed because he was not arrested by an officer of an agency listed in section 29550.1.   The People concede the point.

“[S]ections 29550, 29550.1, and 29550.2 govern fees for booking or otherwise processing arrested persons into a county jail.   To some degree, they vary based on the identity of the arresting agency.   Arrests made by a ‘city, special district, school district, community college district, college, university or other local arresting agency’ are governed by ․ sections 29550, subdivision (a)(1) and 29550.1.   Arrests made by a county are governed by ․ section 29550, subdivision (c) and those made by ‘any governmental entity not specified in Section 29550 or 29550.1’ are governed by ․ section 29550.2, subdivision (a).”  (People v. Pacheco (2010) 187 Cal.App.4th 1392, 1399, fn. 6.) Section 29550.2 provides:  “Any person booked into a county jail pursuant to any arrest by any governmental entity not specified in Section 29550 or 29550.1 is subject to a criminal justice administration fee for administration costs incurred in conjunction with the arresting and booking if the person is convicted of any criminal offense relating to the arrest and booking․If  the person has the ability to pay, a judgment of conviction shall contain an order for payment of the amount of the criminal justice administration fee by the convicted person, and execution shall be issued on the order in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action, but the order shall not be enforceable by contempt.” (§ 29550.2, subd. (a).)

Because Plourde was arrested by the Border Patrol, section 29550.1 does not apply;  section 29550.2, subdivision (a) does.   There is no evidence in the record, however, whether Plourde has the ability to pay a section 29550.2, subdivision (a) fee.   While we could remand the case to the sentencing court for a determination of that issue (People v. Pacheco, supra, 187 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1398–1401), in the interests of judicial economy we instead strike the section 29550.1 fee.  (People v. Pacheco, supra, at p. 1403).

DISPOSITION

The $154 section 29550.1 fee is stricken.   In all other respects the judgment is affirmed.

WE CONCUR:

FOOTNOTES

FN1. All further statutory references are to the Government Code.Section 29550.1 states:  “Any city, special district, school district, community college district, college, university, or other local arresting agency whose officer or agent arrests a person is entitled to recover any criminal justice administration fee imposed by a county from the arrested person if the person is convicted of any criminal offense related to the arrest.   A judgment of conviction shall contain an order for payment of the amount of the criminal justice administration fee by the convicted person, and execution shall be issued on the order in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action, but the order shall not be enforceable by contempt.”.  FN1. All further statutory references are to the Government Code.Section 29550.1 states:  “Any city, special district, school district, community college district, college, university, or other local arresting agency whose officer or agent arrests a person is entitled to recover any criminal justice administration fee imposed by a county from the arrested person if the person is convicted of any criminal offense related to the arrest.   A judgment of conviction shall contain an order for payment of the amount of the criminal justice administration fee by the convicted person, and execution shall be issued on the order in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action, but the order shall not be enforceable by contempt.”