(a) Whenever a written notice to appear has been issued by a peace officer or by a qualified employee of a law enforcement agency on a form approved by the Judicial Council for an alleged violation of Section 22451, or, based on an alleged violation of Section 21453, 21455, or 22101 recorded by an automated traffic enforcement system pursuant to Section 21455.5 or 22451, and delivered by mail within 15 days of the alleged violation to the current address of the registered owner of the vehicle on file with the department, with a certificate of mailing obtained as evidence of service, an exact and legible duplicate copy of the notice when filed with the magistrate shall constitute a complaint to which the defendant may enter a plea. Preparation and delivery of a notice to appear pursuant to this section is not an arrest.

(b) (1) A notice to appear shall contain the name and address of the person, the license plate number of the person’s vehicle, the violation charged, including a description of the offense, and the time and place when, and where, the person may appear in court or before a person authorized to receive a deposit of bail. The time specified shall be at least 10 days after the notice to appear is delivered. If, after the notice to appear has been issued, the citing peace officer or qualified employee of a law enforcement agency determines that, in the interest of justice, the citation or notice should be dismissed, the citing agency may recommend, in writing, to the magistrate or the judge that the case be dismissed. The recommendation shall cite the reasons for the recommendation and be filed with the court. If the magistrate or judge makes a finding that there are grounds for dismissal, the finding shall be entered on the record and the infraction dismissed.

(2) A notice to appear shall also contain all of the following information:

(A) The methods by which the registered owner of the vehicle or the alleged violator may view and discuss with the issuing agency, both by telephone and in person, the evidence used to substantiate the violation.

(B) The contact information of the issuing agency.

(c) (1) This section and Section 40520 do not preclude the issuing agency or the manufacturer or supplier of the automated traffic enforcement system from mailing a notice of nonliability to the registered owner of the vehicle or the alleged violator prior to issuing a notice to appear. The notice of nonliability shall be substantively identical to the following form:

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NOTICE OF INCOMPLETE TEXT: Forms relating to the Notice of Nonliability appear in the hard-copy publication of the chaptered bill. See Sec. 4, Chapter 735 (pp. 7–8), Statutes of 2012.

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(2) The form specified in paragraph (1) may be translated to other languages.

(d) A manufacturer or supplier of an automated traffic enforcement system or the governmental agency operating the system shall not alter the notice to appear or any other form approved by the Judicial Council. If a form is found to have been materially altered, the citation based on the altered form may be dismissed.

(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 735, Sec. 4. (SB 1303) Effective January 1, 2013. Note: See published chaptered bill for complete section text. Forms relating to the Notice of Nonliability appear on pages 7 to 8 of Ch. 735.)