(a) No person or entity shall authorize the production or distribution, or participate in the authorization of the production or distribution, of any document, including, but not limited to, any campaign advertisement, as defined in subdivision (d), that the person or entity knows contains inaccurate emergency service phone numbers for various emergency services, including, but not limited to, police, fire, or ambulance services.
(b) A violation of subdivision (a) shall be an infraction, punishable by a fine not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
(c) A violation of subdivision (a) resulting in the serious injury or death of persons who innocently rely on the erroneous phone numbers contained in the document is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(d) For purposes of this section, “campaign advertisement” means any communication directed to voters by means of a mass mailing, as defined in Section 82041.5 of the Government Code, a paid television, radio, or newspaper advertisement, an outdoor advertisement, or any other printed matter, if the expenditures for that communication are required to be reported by Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 84100) of Title 9 of the Government Code.
(Added by Stats. 1992, Ch. 1010, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1993.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018