(a) A city, county, or city and county may enact an ordinance to provide for the use of city or county funds to remove graffiti or other inscribed material from publicly or privately owned real or personal property located within the city, county, or city and county and to replace or repair public or privately owned property within that city, county, or city and county that has been defaced with graffiti or other inscribed material that cannot be removed cost effectively.

(b) The ordinance shall authorize only the removal of the graffiti or other inscribed material itself, or, if the graffiti or other inscribed material cannot be removed cost effectively, the repair or replacement of the portion of the property that was defaced, and not the painting, repair, or replacement of other parts of the property that were not defaced.

(c) (1) The removal, repair, or replacement may be performed, in the case of publicly owned real or personal property, only after securing the consent of the public entity having jurisdiction over the property, and in the case of privately owned real or personal property, only after securing the consent of the owner or possessor.

(2) The law enforcement agency with primary jurisdiction in a city, county, or city and county that enacts an ordinance pursuant to this section may promulgate procedures for preremoval preservation of sufficient evidence of the graffiti or other inscribed material for criminal prosecutions or proceedings pursuant to Section 602 of the Welfare and Institutions Code pertaining to the person or persons who inscribed the graffiti or other material. These procedures shall be followed by the city, county, or city and county prior to or during removal of graffiti or other inscribed material.

(d) (1) If a city enacts an ordinance pursuant to this section, the city may also enact an ordinance to establish a procedure pursuant to Section 38772, 38773, 38773.1, 38773.2, 38773.5, or 38773.6 to recover city funds used pursuant to this section to remove graffiti or other inscribed material from publicly or privately owned real or personal property within the city.

(2) If a county enacts an ordinance pursuant to this section, the county may enact an ordinance to establish a procedure pursuant to Section 25845 to recover county funds used pursuant to this section to remove graffiti or other inscribed material from publicly or privately owned real or personal property within the county.

(3) As used in this section, “city or county funds” include, but are not limited to, court costs, attorney’s fees, costs of removal of the graffiti or other inscribed material, costs of repair and replacement of defaced property, costs of administering and monitoring the participation of a defendant and his or her parents or guardians in a graffiti abatement program, and the law enforcement costs incurred by the city or county in identifying and apprehending the person who created, caused, or committed the graffiti or other inscribed material on the publicly or privately owned permanent real or personal property within the city or county.

(e) As used in this section, “graffiti or other inscribed material” includes any unauthorized inscription, word, figure, mark, or design that is written, marked, etched, scratched, drawn, or painted on any real or personal property.

(f) This section does not preclude the abatement of graffiti or other inscribed material as a nuisance pursuant to Section 25845 or 38773.5 or the enactment or enforcement of any criminal law with respect to nuisance.

(Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 600, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1997.)