City of Victorville v. County of San Bernardino

Opinion

SCOTLAND, J.

This case involves a dispute between cities and a county over the lifeblood of local governments: revenue.

As a general rule, counties must share with their cities the fines and forfeitures collected upon convictions in criminal cases. (Pen. Code § 1463; further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise specified.) An exception exists for fines collected by a county probation officer “as a condition of the granting of probation or as a part of the terms of probation, . . .” (§ 1203.1.) With limited exceptions, such fines shall be placed in the general fund…