Bakersfield council approves automated administrative citation processing, refers metrics to committee

The Bakersfield City Council on March 26 approved automating the city’s administrative citation processing and referred development of implementation metrics back to a council committee.

The council’s action, made by Councilmember Gonzales, authorizes staff to pursue use of a third‑party citation processor and return with any municipal code changes and contract approvals needed to implement the system. The motion passed with Vice Mayor Court and Councilmember Weir absent.

City staff said the automation would let multiple departments — including Recreation and Parks (Park Ranger Division), Development Services, Code Enforcement, Public Works, Solid Waste, the Fire Department and the Police Department — shift citation processing, payments and appeals management to a service provider to improve efficiency and data tracking. “The administrative citation program is more of a community based approach than a criminal citation,” said Billy Owens, Park Ranger Manager for the City of Bakersfield, during the presentation.

Staff and the city attorney outlined how the current paper‑based process works and why they recommended automation. Under the existing process, staff issues certain administrative citations (up to a $1,000 limit), then schedules an administrative hearing through the city attorney’s office; appealants must pay the fine amount up front to pursue an appeal and hearings are scheduled a minimum of 30 days out, staff said. City Attorney commentary noted past challenges collecting judgments and the administrative burden on staff.

City staff described features of the third‑party service: online payment portals, customer service for payment and appeal questions, printed and mailed notices, automated reminders, data and analytics reporting, and online adjudication and appeals processing with an independent hearing officer or an internal hearing officer option. Staff said the police department already uses a similar service for parking citations. Mr. Clegg, a city staff member who introduced the item, described the change as “an efficiency measure that helps our staff stay focused on the actual enforcement.”

Councilmembers pressed staff on resident impacts, the need for education and warnings before issuing citations, limitations on who may issue citations during rollout, and whether citation volume could be tied to employee performance evaluations. “I would not like to see how many citations a person writes being part of their performance evaluation,” said Councilmember Coleman, expressing the council’s concern that measurement systems can create perverse incentives. Owens said the policy staff will develop will emphasize an education‑first approach and that, during an initial rollout, citation‑issuing authority in his department would be limited to supervisors to maintain tight control.

The city attorney cautioned that some enforcement areas pose evidence challenges — for example, fireworks enforcement often requires an officer to witness an infraction — and described the prior administrative citation program’s limits for collecting small judgments, which created cost and workload issues. The attorney also recommended that the council request metrics and oversight after rollout, noting the city pays for hearing officers and that the contract structure can raise questions about neutrality and costs.

Councilmember Gonzales moved to approve automation of the administrative citation process and to refer development of performance and implementation metrics back to committee; the motion passed. Staff said they will return with proposed municipal code changes where necessary, department schedule changes for fines, and the proposed contract with the service provider.

The council adjourned to a closed session after the item and later reported direction had been given to the city attorney on a separate litigation matter.