2000-05-15 Special Called Workshop Meeting

Browse Search

Introduction Code Enforcement consists of the identification and abatement of violations such as visible trash and debris, high weeds and grass, junk motor vehicles, faulty sewer systems, and substandard buildings, just to name a few. A majority of these violations are addressed and abated by the offender. However, some of the more blatant violations are not abated by the offender and staff is forced to abandon the negotiation tactic and seek other action in hopes of gaining compliance and correction of the violation. The most readily available action above staff level is to issue a citation and have the offense handled by Municipal Court. In the recent past, this process has had limited success in actually gaining abatement of the violation. There are numerous reasons why Municipal Court is not effective with these types of Code violations and these will be discussed later. As an alternative to the Municipal Court process, staff has been investigating the possibility of creating a Building and Standards Commission solely for the purpose of reviewing and handling Code Enforcement cases. Background As previously mentioned, if staff cannot get an offender to abate a violation, it is typical for staff to issue a citation and work the violation through Municipal Court. There are some inherent flaws with the Municipal Court process that need to be outlined. First, the Judge can only render verdicts of guilty or not -guilty. Even with a guilty verdict, the violation does not actually get cleaned up or abated. A fine of up to $2000 per violation is the result of a guilty verdict. The second flaw is the relatively easy avenue for appeal of a guilty verdict and fine. Municipal Court cases can be appealed to County Court. A recent example demonstrates this: Staff was unsuccessful in gaining compliance on some violations at a residence. At Municipal Court, the Judge found the defendant guilty on three violations and assessed fines totaling $2, 500. The defendant appealed to County Court. The prosecuting attorneys at the County Court worked a deal with the defendant to dismiss two of the charges and reduce the fine for one charge to $750. This case has gone though the Qsystem" and the violations still exist. Other cases that have gone to County Court have turned out even worse for the City. There have been cases that the County Court Judge has dismissed without even a fine. Another option available to the City would be to file a Civil Lawsuit against the offender in State District Court. This approach has recently been used.