AB 1869 / AB 199 — Discharged criminal-justice fees
Discharge of 23 categories of criminal-justice administrative fees (probation supervision, public defender, drug testing, etc.) — debts incurred 2021+ are uncollectible
What it does
AB 1869 (effective July 1, 2021) eliminated 23 categories of criminal-justice administrative fees prospectively, and AB 199 (2021) extended that to discharge the unpaid balances. Counties may NOT continue collecting on those fee balances — though restitution to victims and court-imposed fines remain owed.
Eligibility
Anyone with a county (or any California county) criminal-justice administrative-fee balance accrued before July 1, 2021. Applies automatically — no application required — but holders of stale collection notices may need to write to the collecting county/probation agency to confirm balance is zero.
Issued by
California Legislature — administered by county probation, sheriff, and superior court collection units
Processing time
Debt discharge was automatic effective July 1, 2021. Removing a stale debt from a credit report or franchise tax board (FTB) intercept may take 60-90 days of follow-up correspondence.
Audience
People with prior criminal-justice administrative-fee debt in California
Official form / portal
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1869Local contact (Antelope Valley)
County Probation — Collections Unit
County Probation, Lancaster, CA (Antelope Valley address being gathered)
Antelope Valley Probation collections line being gathered
Write or call the county Probation collections unit to request confirmation that pre-July-2021 fee balances are discharged. If you've received a collection notice for a discharged fee, refer to Debt Free Justice CA's letter templates.
Find on the resource map (1 place) →Sources
- 1.California AB 1869 (2020) bill textaccessed 2026-05-27
- 2.Debt Free Justice California — AB 1869 implementation guideaccessed 2026-05-27
Research compiled by Guardians of the AV. Verify current eligibility and program details with the issuing agency before filing — programs change.