Funds Stop Short of Letting County Apply Seizure Law

Local motorists who are driving illegally on revoked or suspended licenses should be thankful for Orange County’s bankruptcy.

Because of the county’s financial woes, legal officials say, the district attorney’s office is not enforcing a state law that went into effect last year calling for such violators’ cars to be confiscated.

“Our office is very anxious to participate in the auto forfeiture law,” explained Brent Romney, director of Municipal Court operations for the county district attorney. “But because of the bankruptcy, we have had to allocate our resources to criminal prosecution. We have experienced a 10% increase in felony filings and don’t have the personnel to prosecute civil auto forfeiture cases.”

At least one Orange County judge is not satisfied by this state of affairs.

“I’m not happy,” said Pamela L. Iles, a judge in Municipal Court in Laguna Niguel who ardently supported the legislation. “It’s been very successfully enforced elsewhere, and I think it could be effectively enforced here with very little cost.”

The question was raised by reader Bill Boehlert of Huntington Beach, who noted that, despite enactment of the law, he’d heard very little about its actual enforcement. “It seemed like a great way to remove problem drivers from the road,” Boehlert wrote. “However, I haven’t heard any subsequent reports on the number of cars removed from the road or even whether it is being enforced.”

In fact, about 158 cars have been temporarily removed from Orange County roads in the last 13 months, under a separate provision allowing law enforcement agencies to impound for 30 days any vehicle operated by an unlicensed driver.

“They’re not happy, of course, because they have to pay storage, which amounts to about $800,” said Caryn Juelke, a spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol. “Some of the people don’t have the money and their cars go to lien, but it’s our way--and the best way--to keep these vehicles out of the hands of people who shouldn’t be driving them.”

Indeed, that was the intent of the new forfeiture law in the first place, according to Iles.

“The people whose cars we would take will have prior convictions,” she said of the measure, which allows the permanent confiscation of a vehicle driven by someone--owner or not--caught driving without a license for at least the second time.

Such drivers, Iles said, have often had their licenses suspended or revoked due to unpaid tickets or previous drunk-driving convictions.

“They are very dangerous,” she said. “They are high-profile recidivists. They have no insurance. It’s basically a wanton disregard of the law. . . . I think [this legislation] is going to save a lot of lives.”

For now, though, Orange County’s lack of enforcement is apparently providing some relief for illegal drivers.

“In Southern California, you depend on getting around in a car,” said one, who admitted to regularly driving to work despite the recent revocation of his license after a drunk-driving conviction.

“Without a car,” he said, “I don’t know too many people who are able to survive.”

Street Smart appears Mondays in The Times Orange County Edition. Readers are invited to submit comments and questions about traffic, commuting and what makes it difficult to get around in Orange County. Include simple sketches if helpful. Letters may be published in upcoming columns. Please write to David Haldane, c/o Street Smart, The Times Orange County, P.O. Box 2008, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, send faxes to 966-7711 or e-mail him at David.Haldane@latimes.com. Include your full name, address and day and evening phone numbers. Letters may be edited, and no anonymous letters will be accepted.