Appeal of Fines and Penalty Fees
San Diego Municipal Code § 33.3725
in effect§33.3725 Appeal of Fines and Penalty Fees
(a) An alarm user who has either received notice of violation of a false alarm or has been assessed a fine or penalty fee, may request a hearing with the Chief of Police.
(b) The hearing must be requested within ten days of receipt of the notice of violation or assessment of fine or penalty fee. Failure to submit a timely request terminates the alarm user’s right to contest the false alarm or the fine or penalty fee, and constitutes a failure to exhaust administrative remedies.
(c) The hearing will be set no more than 30 business days from the date of receipt of the request, unless otherwise agreed to by the parties.
(d) The hearing is an informal administrative review to determine the validity of the notice of violation or assessed fine or penalty fee. Formal rules of evidence and discovery do not apply.
(e) At the hearing, the Chief of Police will only consider evidence that is relevant to whether the alarm activation triggered a false alarm or whether an alarm user had a valid alarm system permit at the time of the call for service.
(f) There shall be a rebuttable presumption affecting the burden of producing evidence that an alarm activation is a false alarm if the responding law enforcement officers did not find evidence that an emergency situation triggered the alarm. An alarm user has the burden to present evidence sufficient to negate the presumption.
(g) After an evaluation of the evidence presented, the Chief of Police may amend an alarm user’s records to indicate that an alarm activation was not a false alarm or did not generate a call for service, and waive, reverse, or modify any fine or penalty fee.
(h) The Chief of Police will issue a written decision within 15 business days after completing the hearing. The decision shall be final.
(“Appeal of Fines and Penalty Fees” added 5-5-2017 by O-20819 N.S.; effective 6-4-2017.)
Source: City of San Diego Office of the City Clerk, San Diego Municipal Code and City Charter (docs.sandiego.gov PDFs)URL: https://docs.sandiego.gov/municode/MuniCodeChapter03/Ch03Art03Division37.pdf#page=17Fetched: 10/28/2026