I got one extension for a cell phone ticket in L.A. Must pay fine by Monday, but don't have $. Can I do community service?

The money owed to the court is usually broken up into 2 categories: 1) fines and 2) fees. The reason why this is important is that the forner (fines) are taxed by what is called a "Penalty and Assessment" at the rate of now 260% and can be converted to jail time at the rate of $30 a day or Community Service at the rate of approximately $8 an hour. The great news about this is that these amounts are calculated PRE-TAX. For example, if the court fines someone $40, this will be taxed by 260% and the total due will be approximately $144 to the court. If you do community service, the court has to convert the fine pretax ($40 divided by $8 an hour equals 5 hours of community service). So instead of paying a $144 fine, a defendant can due 5 hours of community service. Not bad for a days work. The latter, (fees) such as court security fees and other fees the state adds on to pay for things such as maintenance of the court, metal detectors, etc, are NOT convertible to jail or community service and MUST be paid in dollars and cents and not work or jail. Steve Bloom, Esq. ocbestdefense.com