Bill Text: CA AB708 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 708 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Traffic violator schools.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Passed) 2019-09-20 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 307, Statutes of 2019. [AB708 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB708-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly March 25, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 708

Introduced by Assembly Member Frazier

February 19, 2019

An act to amend ~~Sections 11205 and 42005 of~~ Section 11205 of, and to add Section 11205.5 to, the Vehicle Code, relating to traffic violator school.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 708, as amended, Frazier. Traffic violator schools.

Existing law provides for the licensing of traffic violator school owners, operators, and instructors by the Department of Motor Vehicles. Existing law authorizes the court, after a deposit of bail, a plea of guilty or no contest, or a conviction, to order persons who hold a specified noncommercial driver’s license, or certain persons who hold a specified commercial driver’s license, to attend a licensed traffic violator school. Existing law requires the department to provide a list of licensed traffic violator schools on its internet website. Existing law authorizes a person ordered to attend a traffic violator school to choose the traffic violator school the person will attend, and requires the court to provide to each person subject to that order or referral the department’s current list of licensed traffic violator schools. Existing law requires the sequential listing of traffic schools to be randomized daily.

This bill would instead require the department by June 1, 2020, to provide a license verification information system of licensed traffic violator schools on its internet website, indicating the license status, modalities of instruction offered, and whether the license is valid. The bill would require the system to display only the school’s name and license number with expiration date. The bill would prohibit the system from including a school’s telephone number or URL address. The bill would require a court or traffic assistance program only to refer consumers to the system, commencing December 31, 2020, and would prohibit those entities from advertising or publishing any list of traffic violator schools. The bill would delete the requirement that the court provide a person ordered or referred to traffic violator school with the department’s current list of licensed schools, and instead would authorize the court commencing June 1, 2020, to provide the person with a link to the license verification information system. The bill would also make technical, nonsubstantive changes.
This bill would require that each traffic violator school, or group of affiliated schools, as defined, to be listed only one time on each list and for a school that is part of a group to not be listed separately in addition to the listing for the group. The bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to require each licensee to disclose if they operate any schools that are part of a group, as specified. The bill would provide penalties for any licensee who fails to make such a disclosure.
This bill would also require the department to adopt regulations as specified relating to cybersecurity of traffic violator schools and protection of participants’ personal information.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 11205 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:

11205.

(a) The department shall provide a list of licensed traffic violator schools on its ~~Internet Web site.~~ internet website. For each licensed ~~school,~~ school or group of affiliated schools, the list shall indicate the school’s or group of affiliated schools’ internet website, the modalities of instruction ~~offered and specify~~ offered, and, if applicable, the cities where classroom instruction is offered. Each licensed school or group of affiliated schools shall only be listed once and a school that is part of an affiliated group of schools shall not be listed separately in addition to the listing for the group. The sequential listing of licensed schools shall be randomized daily.

(b) (1) The department shall require all licensees and applicants to disclose, under penalty of perjury, if any traffic violator school they operate is affiliated with a group of affiliated schools. Any licensee that operates a traffic violator school that is affiliated with a group of affiliated schools shall provide the department with a list of all affiliated schools in the group.
(2) Any licensee that fails to disclose a traffic violator school that is affiliated with a group of affiliated schools shall, for the first violation, after notice and hearing, have all traffic violator school licenses they hold suspended for a period of one year and the group of affiliated schools shall be removed from the list for a period of one year. For the second and any subsequent violation, the licensee, after notice and hearing, shall have all traffic violator school licenses they hold suspended for a period of five years and the group of affiliated schools shall be removed from the list for a period of five years.
(c) For purposes of subdivisions (a) and (b), a “group of affiliated schools” means two or more traffic violator schools that meet any of the following criteria:
(1) Are colocated at the same street address, or share a common physical space.
(2) Use a common computer network or server.
(3) Share employees, staff, or telephone services.
(4) Have a shared or common ownership, shared assets, shared revenue, or other shared financial interests.
~~(b)~~

(d) When a court or traffic assistance program (TAP) provides a hard copy list of licensed traffic violator schools to a traffic violator, the court or TAP shall provide only a current date-stamped list downloaded from the department’s ~~Internet Web site.~~ internet website. The hard copy list shall be as current as practicable, but in no event shall a list be distributed with a date stamp that is more than 60 days old.

~~(c)~~

(e) The department ~~shall, by April 1, 2012,~~ shall develop a Web-based database that will enable the department, the courts, and traffic violator schools to monitor, report, and track participation and course completion. Traffic violator schools shall update course information within three business days of class completion and provide to the courts class completion information on a daily basis.

~~(d)This section shall become operative on September 1, 2011.~~

SEC. 2.

Section 11205.5 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:

11205.5.
The department shall adopt regulations to ensure that traffic violator schools protect the confidentiality and security of the personal information of all persons participating in a traffic violator school. The department shall consult with the Department of Technology to ensure that department regulations and guidelines meet or exceed the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework. The department shall require that each individually licensed traffic violator school's cybersecurity practices have been certified by an accredited third-party verification entity approved by the department.

SECTION 1.Section 11205 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
11205.
(a)By June 1, 2020, the department shall provide a license verification information system of licensed traffic violator schools on its internet website. For each licensed school, the verification system shall indicate the license status and modalities of instruction offered and whether the license is valid. The system shall display only the school name and license number, with expiration date. The department shall not publish a school’s telephone number or URL address.
(b)As of December 31, 2020, a court or traffic assistance program (TAP) shall not advertise or publish any list of traffic violator schools and shall only refer consumers to the license information verification system on the department’s internet website created under subdivision (a).
(c)The department shall develop a web-based database that will enable the department, the courts, and traffic violator schools to monitor, report, and track participation and course completion. A traffic violator school shall update course information within three business days of class completion and provide class completion information to the courts on a daily basis.
SEC. 2.Section 42005 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
42005.
(a)Except as otherwise provided in this section, after a deposit of the fee under Section 42007 or bail, a plea of guilty or no contest, or a conviction, a court may order or permit a person who holds a noncommercial class C, class M1, or class M2 driver’s license who pleads guilty or who pleads no contest or who is convicted of a traffic offense to attend a traffic violator school licensed pursuant to Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 11200) of Division 5.
(b)To the extent the court is in conformance with Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and except as otherwise provided in this section, the court may, after deposit of the fee under Section 42007 or bail, order or permit a person who holds a class A, class B, or commercial class C driver’s license, who pleads guilty or no contest or is convicted of a traffic offense, to complete a course of instruction at a licensed traffic violator school if the person was operating a vehicle requiring only a class C license, or a class M license. The court may not order that the record of conviction be kept confidential. However, the conviction shall not be added to a violation point count for purposes of determining whether a driver is presumed to be a negligent operator under Section 12810.5.
(c)The court shall not order that a conviction of an offense be kept confidential according to Section 1808.7, order or permit avoidance of consideration of violation point counts under subdivision (b), or permit a person, regardless of the driver’s license class, to complete a program at a licensed traffic violator school in lieu of adjudicating an offense, if any of the following applies to the offense:
~~(1)It occurred in a commercial motor vehicle, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 15210.~~
~~(2)It is a violation of Section 20001, 20002, 23103, 23104, 23105, 23140, 23152, or 23153, or of Section 23103, as specified in Section 23103.5.~~
~~(3)It is a violation described in subdivision (d) or (e) of Section 12810.~~
(d)A person ordered to attend a traffic violator school pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) may choose the traffic violator school the person will attend. As of June 1, 2020, the court may provide to each person subject to that order a link to the department’s traffic violator school license information verification system established under subdivision (a) of Section 11205 to confirm the validity of a school’s license.
~~(e)A person who willfully fails to comply with a court order to attend traffic violator school is guilty of a misdemeanor.~~