It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this article to accomplish the following purposes:
(a) To assist public and private owners and possessors of property defaced by minors with graffiti or other inscribed material to recover their full damages.
(b) To safeguard the fiscal integrity of cities and counties that expend public funds to remove graffiti and other material inscribed by minors from public or private property, or to repair or replace public or private property defaced by minors with graffiti or other inscribed material, by enabling those cities and counties to recoup the full costs of that removal, repair, and replacement.
(c) To safeguard the fiscal integrity of cities and counties by enabling them to recoup the law enforcement costs of identifying and apprehending minors who deface the property of others with graffiti or other inscribed material.
(d) To minimize the costs of collecting those costs and damages.
(e) To discourage the inscription of graffiti and other material by minors by requiring the offending minors, and their parents who have the financial ability to do so, to bear the costs associated with the unlawful defacement of property with graffiti or other inscribed material.
(f) To retain in the juvenile court the discretion needed to accomplish the goal of rehabilitating minors.
(Added by Stats. 1994, Ch. 909, Sec. 11. Effective January 1, 1995.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018