House File 291 HOUSE FILE BY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT (SUCCESSOR TO HSB 70) Passed House, Date Passed Senate, Date Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays Approved A BILL FOR 1 An Act relating to motor vehicle parking violations, and 2 providing a penalty. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 1940HV 80 5 jm/sh/8 PAG LIN 1 1 Section 1. Section 321.236, subsection 1, paragraph a, 1 2 Code 2003, is amended to read as follows: 1 3 a. May be charged and collected upon a simple notice of a 1 4 fine payable to the city clerk or clerk of the district court, 1 5 if authorized by ordinance. The fineshall not exceed five 1 6 dollars except for snow route parking violations in which case 1 7 the fine shall not exceed twenty=five dollarsfor each 1 8 violation charged under a simple notice of a fine shall be 1 9 established by ordinance. The fine may be increasedup to ten1 10 by five dollars if the parking violation is not paid within 1 11 thirty days of the date upon which the violation occurred, if 1 12 authorized by ordinance. Violations of section 321L.4, 1 13 subsection 2, may be charged and collected upon a simple 1 14 notice of a one hundred dollar fine payable to the city clerk 1 15 or clerk of the district court, if authorized by ordinance. 1 16 No costs or other charges shall be assessed. All fines 1 17 collected by a city pursuant to this paragraph shall be 1 18 retained by the city and all fines collected by a county 1 19 pursuant to this paragraph shall be retained by the county. 1 20 Sec. 2. Section 805.8A, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 1 21 2003, is amended to read as follows: 1 22 a. For parking violations under sections 321.236, 321.239, 1 23 321.358, 321.360, and 321.361, the scheduled fine is five 1 24 dollars, except if the local authority has established the 1 25 fine by ordinance pursuant to section 321.236, subsection 1. 1 26 The scheduled fine for a parking violationofpursuant to 1 27 section 321.236 increasesin an amount up to tenby five 1 28 dollars, as authorized by ordinance pursuant to section 1 29 321.236, subsection 1,paragraph "a",if the parking violation 1 30 is not paid within thirty days of the date upon which the 1 31 violation occurred. For purposes of calculating the unsecured 1 32 appearance bond required under section 805.6, the scheduled 1 33 fine shall be five dollars, or if the amount of the fine is 1 34 greater than five dollars the unsecured appearance bond shall 1 35 be the amount of the fine established by the local authority 2 1 pursuant to section 321.236, subsection 1. However, 2 2 violations charged by a city or county upon simple notice of a 2 3 fine instead of a uniform citation and complaint as permitted 2 4 by section 321.236, subsection 1, paragraph "a", are not 2 5 scheduled violations, and this section shall not apply to any 2 6 offense charged in that manner. For a parking violation under 2 7 section 321.362 or 461A.38, the scheduled fine is ten dollars. 2 8 EXPLANATION 2 9 This bill relates to motor vehicle parking violations. 2 10 The bill provides that a local authority may establish the 2 11 parking violation fine for each violation that occurs. 2 12 Current law establishes the maximum parking fine at $5. 2 13 The bill provides that if a parking violation is not paid 2 14 within 30 days, the fine amount increases by $5. Under 2 15 current law the fine amount increases by $10. 2 16 The bill equalizes the amount of an unsecured appearance 2 17 bond for a parking violation to the amount of the parking 2 18 violation fine established by the local authority. An 2 19 unsecured appearance bond permits the court to enter a 2 20 conviction and render judgment against the defendant for the 2 21 amount of the bond in satisfaction of the penalty plus court 2 22 costs, if the defendant fails to appear in court for trial. 2 23 LSB 1940HV 80 2 24 jm/sh/8