Earlier this year a Desert Sun news investigation had revealed details about a controversial arrangement between the state and a private law firm which according to the investigation had been billing residents in California hefty prosecution fees after those individuals had received city code violations.

Defendants were billed for every minute the firm had spent prosecuting them and for some that meant thousands of dollars.

There were some officials who seemingly defended the practice publicly despite the public backlash from the revelations about the alleged arrangement. Many people took to social media to shame public officials for charging individuals such enormous prosecution fees, some authority figures even admitted that they didn't feel it was something that they should ultimately support.

A class action lawsuit was launched to try and put an end to what some see as a corrupt money-making scheme that is targeting some of the most vulnerable in the community. They argued that courts in California had previously made it clear that it was illegal for prosecutors to have any direct financial stake in a case that they bring.

A Win For The People Of Indio

A settlement has reportedly been reached and the city of Indio, California has agreed to return prosecution fees, along with agreeing not to oppose any future efforts to try and have residents' underlying municipal code violations vacated in court.

Since this dispute has gained attention things have also changed in California and new legislation was passed not long ago that newly establishes a restriction that prohibits cities from charging people for prosecution fees that are related to any criminal code enforcement cases.

The class action suit is still moving forward...

Indio wasn't the only city named, Coachella still remains a party involved. The lawsuit will continue until they also agree to a settlement or until a judge gives a ruling. They're hoping that Coachella will follow and also agree to return the funds that had been imposed.

They may have put to rest people in California being treated like an ATM in this certain circumstance, involving private firms charging enormous fees over prosecuting city code violations, but the state isn't ready to stop treating its subjects like ATMs in general just yet. If they did decide to stop milking the public then they wouldn't have any money coming in. Hopefully it won't take too long for the city to finalize the reimbursement and for some people who've been victimized by this controversial scheme to finally see their funds returned to them.

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