(A) A fourth violation of the same code provision in this chapter occurring within 24 monthsof the first violation shall be filed in the criminal division of the municipal court as a class 1 misdemeanor by the City Attorney’s office by long form complaint, or the Enforcement Officer by direct citation, which minimum fine shall be $1,000 and a maximum fine of $2,500, a minimum probation period of 12 months and a maximum of 36 months, a minimum jail suspended sentence of 30 days or a maximum of 180 calendar days, and other provisions that the court has jurisdiction to impose, such as applicable, court-imposed penalties, assessments, an order for forfeiture and destruction of an animal, and other court or probation fees. The court shall treat subsequent and successive civil judgments in the same manner as prior criminal convictions are concerned insofar as the elevated fines noted above are to be applied. The court has no discretion to lower these penalties and shall sentence the individual to at least the minimum sentences noted above. However, unless otherwise set forth in this chapter, violations of the following code provisions, whenever committed, single incident or repetitive, shall always be handled as criminal class 1 misdemeanors with the above-noted minimum class 1 misdemeanor penalties:
Noise | |
Cruelty, neglect and abandonment | |
Impeding Enforcement Officer | |
Biting animals; quarantine | |
Running at large (may be pursued by the Enforcement Officer as either a civil or criminal matter, in his or her own discretion, based on previous violations and contacts with the alleged offender, and the alleged offender’s quantifiable remorsefulness and willingness or lack of willingness to mitigate and eliminate future violations) | |
Vicious dogs |
(B) Notwithstanding the above code provisions, the City Attorney’s office has the discretion to reduce a misdemeanor to a civil violation in the interest of justice.
(Ord, 1465, passed 12-4-2018)