(a) This section shall be known as and may be cited as the Black Market Cigarette and Street Corruption Prevention Act.
(b) The Legislature finds that the sale of black-market, untaxed cigarettes has resulted in the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to the state, robbing state health care and programs designed to help children.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature, by enacting the act adding this section, to provide resources to prosecutors and local law enforcement personnel, and to enable local jurisdictions to develop a multiagency task force for the purpose of significantly reducing the sales of black-market cigarettes and creating a deterrent to those sales through the focused investigation and prosecution of sales of black-market cigarettes, and other associated offenses and related crimes.
(d) In addition to the fine or sentence, or both, imposed by Section 30474, each person convicted under Section 30474 shall pay one hundred dollars ($100) for each carton of 200 cigarettes, or portion thereof, knowingly possessed, or kept, stored, or retained for the purpose of sale, or sold or offered for sale in violation of Section 30474, as determined by the court. The court shall direct that the penalty of one hundred dollars ($100) assessed under this section shall be transmitted to the Controller for deposit in the Unlawful Sales Reduction Fund, which is hereby created. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the moneys in the fund shall be allocated to the Office of Criminal Justice Planning for the funding of a competitive grant program to be established by the Legislature to award grants to local jurisdictions for the purpose of establishing a multiagency task force, the composition of which shall include prosecutors and local law enforcement personnel and may include state law enforcement personnel, for the purpose of significantly reducing the sales of black-market cigarettes, and creating a deterrent to those sales through the focused investigation and prosecution of sales of black-market cigarettes and other associated offenses and related crimes. No more than 5 percent of the amount transmitted from the penalty of one hundred dollars ($100) assessed under this section may be retained to fund the costs of administering the competitive grant program.
(e) The Office of Criminal Justice Planning shall consult with the State Board of Equalization in the administration of the competitive grant program.
(f) (1) The one hundred dollar ($100) penalty for each carton of 200 cigarettes knowingly possessed, or kept, stored, or retained for the purpose of sale, or sold, or offered for sale in violation of Section 30474, as authorized under subdivision (d), shall only be imposed for the period beginning on January 1, 2003, and ending on January 1, 2006.
(2) This section shall remain in effect until December 1, 2006, or until all the moneys remaining in the Unlawful Sales Reduction Fund on January 1, 2006, have been appropriated by the Legislature for allocation to the Office of Criminal Justice Planning for funding the competitive grant program established under this section, whichever occurs later.
(Added by Stats. 2002, Ch. 687, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2003. Inoperative on or after December 1, 2006, as prescribed by its own provisions.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018