Countywide : Cities Appeal Drunk Driving Fine Ruling

All 10 cities of Ventura County Friday appealed a court ruling allowing the county to keep as much as $1.5 million annually in fines collected from drunk drivers.

The action, filed with the State Court of Appeal, also seeks $6 million that the cities claim is owed them in fines wrongfully collected in the past.

Camarillo City Manager Bill Little said officials of the cities agreed that the county “falls far short” of earning the money for maintaining probation programs for drunk drivers.

He added that the county’s administration of the program “in no way meets the criteria that the Legislature had in mind when it established such programs.”

But Frank O. Sieh, litigation supervisor for the county counsel’s office, said the county is entitled to the fees because of the cost of maintaining education and rehabilitation services for convicted drunk drivers.

“The cities can appeal, but I don’t think they’ll succeed,” Sieh said.

The cities are appealing an Aug. 23 ruling by Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Ronald C. Stevens that allowed the county to keep 100% of the fines instead of turning most of the money over to the cities.

The dispute dates back to 1987, when Ventura County began keeping all fines paid by drunk drivers who were placed on probation.

Oxnard claims that it loses $600,000 a year because of the arrangement. Other cities claiming annual losses include Ventura, $400,000; Thousand Oaks, $200,000, and Camarillo and Simi Valley, $100,000 each.