A. Definitions: The following definitions shall apply to this Section:
CHARGING OFFICIAL: | A city officer or employee with authority to enforce the ordinance for which citations may be issued or a person designated by the charging official to act on his or her behalf. |
CITATION: | An administrative citation issued pursuant to this Section stating that the charging official has determined that there has been a violation of one or more provisions of a City ordinance, which ordinance incorporates this Section in whole or in part. |
FINE and/or PENALTY: | The dollar amount of an administrative or civil fine that the person cited is required to pay for violation of an ordinance as set forth by the charging official in the citation. |
PERSON: | A natural person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, company, corporation, limited liability company, joint venture, or club, or its manager, lessee, agent, servant, officer or employee. |
PREPONDERANCE OF THE EVIDENCE: | Under the preponderance standard, the burden of proof is met when the party with the burden convinces the hearing officer(s) that there is a greater than fifty percent (50%) chance that the claim is true. |
SERVE or SERVICE: | Either personal delivery or deposit in the United States Mail, first class, in a sealed envelope postage prepaid. Service shall include a declaration under penalty of perjury setting forth the date of personal delivery or, for service by mail, the date of deposit in the mail. Service by personal delivery shall be deemed complete on the date of the delivery. Service by mail shall be deemed complete on the date of deposit in the mail. |
VIOLATION: | A violation of an ordinance for which the charging official has authority to issue a citation. |
B. Issuance and Service of Citations.
1. When a charging official determines that a violation of an ordinance has occurred, the charging official may issue and serve a citation on any person responsible for the violation. The citation shall contain the following information:
a. The name of the person to whom the citation is issued;
b. Identification of the provision or provisions of the ordinance violated;
c. A description of the condition or circumstances constituting the violation(s), including the address or location and date of the violation;
d. The amount of the fine imposed for each violation;
e. The date by which the fine must be paid, the procedure for making payment (including to whom payment must be made and acceptable forms of payment), and the consequences of the failure to pay;
f. The date the citation is issued and the name and signature of the charging official.
C. Determination of the Amount of the Administrative Fine when the Citation is Issued. The amount of any fine for a violation under the Bellevue City Code, the following fines may be assessed:
1. One hundred dollars ($100.00) for a first violation of the ordinance (and each additional day that is part of the same incident);
2. Two hundreds dollars ($200.00) for a second violation of the same ordinance within one year of the date of the first violation; and
3. Three hundreds ($300.00) for each additional violation of the same ordinance within one year of the date of a second or subsequent violation.
D. When Fines Due; Payment of Fine; Late Payment Fee:
1. The citation shall set forth the date by which the fine is required to be paid, provided however, any person cited, shall have thirty (30) days from the date of the citation to pay the fine unless the person cited has filed a timely appeal in compliance with this Section.
2. Fines which remain unpaid fifteen (15) days after the due date shall be subject to a late payment penalty of ten percent (10%) plus interest at the rate of one percent (1%) per month on the outstanding balance, which shall be added to the fine or penalty amount from the date that payment is due.
3. All fines and late payment fees shall be payable to the City and deposited in the City's general fund, unless the payment is made pursuant to an ordinance that provides otherwise.
E. Remedies Available to City for Non-Payment of Fines; Criminal Sanctions for Multiple Offenses:
1. The amount of any fine not paid within the time required under this Section, including the amount of any applicable late payment charges, constitutes a debt to the city. The City may file a civil action or pursue any other legal remedy to collect such money. In any civil action to obtain payment of the fine, and any late payment penalties, the city shall be entitled to obtain a judgment for the amount of the unpaid fines and penalty payments and, in addition, for the costs and attorneys' fees incurred by the city in bringing any civil action to enforce the provisions of this Section. Nothing hereunder shall preclude the city from levying against real property in order to satisfy a judgment for such fines and costs.
2. If the fine is unpaid at the time a person cited for a violation applies for a license or permit, or any other registration issued by the City, the City may deny the approval of such license, permit, or registration until the fine is paid in full, unless State law provides otherwise.
3. In the event that a Person is cited three (3) or more times in any five-year period with a civil fine for the violation of the same or a substantially similar violation of this Code, the third and all subsequent offenses may be treated as misdemeanors.
F. Right to Appeal:
1. Any person who has been served with a citation may seek administrative review of the citation by filing an appeal with the City Clerk as provided herein. The grounds for any such appeal shall be that there was no violation of the ordinance for which the citation was issued or that the person cited did not commit the violation.
2. The City Clerk shall make available an appeal form for use by violators who wish to appeal their citation. The form shall include a description of the procedure for seeking administrative review of the citation, including the deadline for filing the appeal or reference this Section of the Bellevue City Code. The appeal form shall require the appellant to provide a mailing address, a street address, a telephone number, and any other contact information that the Clerk determines appropriate.
3. In order to file an appeal, the appellant must pay a deposit in an amount equal to the cited fine. The deposit will be refunded in whole if the hearing officer issues a determination vacating the citation and in part if the hearing officer determines that the citation should be thus modified. No interest or late fees shall accrue during the appeal period.
G. Appeal Procedure; Appointment of Hearing Officer.
1. Any person who seeks the administrative review of a citation may file an appeal no later than thirty (30) calendar days from the day of service of citation or the time given to pay the citation. An appeal shall be deemed filed on the day that the City Clerk received the appeal along with the required deposit.
2. The City Clerk shall take the following actions within fourteen (14) days of receiving a properly filed appeal:
a. Appoint a hearing officer or a panel of officers;
b. Set a date for the hearing, which date shall be no less than ten (10) and no more than sixty (60) days from the date that the appeal was filed; and
c. Send written notice of the hearing date to the appellant and the charging official.
3. The provisions of this Subsection requiring the City Clerk or Charging Official to act by a specific date are directory. The failure of the City Clerk or Charging Official to take action within the time specified shall not deprive that person of jurisdiction over the matter or of the right to take action at a later time, unless to do so would unreasonably prejudice persons issued citations.
H. Qualification of Hearing Officers.
1. The officer(s) selected to hear appeals shall be impartial.
2. Disqualification of Appeals Hearing Officer. Any person designated to serve as an Appeals Hearing Officer is subject to disqualification for bias, prejudice, interest, or for any other reason for which a judge may be disqualified in a court of law. The City Clerk shall determine in writing whether to grant the petition for disqualification and their reason, therefore. If a substitute is required for a hearing officer due to disqualification or unavailability, a substitute shall be appointed by the City Clerk in accordance with these rules and regulations.
I. Hearing Procedures.
1. The hearing officer(s) shall conduct all appeal hearings under this subsection and shall be responsible for deciding all matters relating to the hearing procedures not otherwise specified in this Subsection or in regulations adopted by the City Council. The charging official shall have the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence at the hearing. The hearing officer(s) may continue the hearing at his, her, or their own initiative or at the request of either party. The hearing officer(s) may request additional information from the charging official or the person cited.
2. The hearing need not be conducted according to technical rules of evidence and witnesses. Any relevant evidence is admissible if it is the sort of evidence on which responsible persons are accustomed to rely in the conduct of serious affairs.
3. The following provisions shall also apply to the appeal procedure:
a. A citation that complies with the requirements of this Subsection and any additional evidence submitted by the charging official shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein;
b. The appellant shall be given the opportunity to present evidence concerning the citation; and
c. The hearing officer(s) may accept testimony by declaration under penalty of perjury relating to the citation from any party if he or she determines it appropriate to do so under the circumstances of the case.
J. Requirement to Exhaust Administrative Remedies. The failure of the person cited to file a timely appeal shall constitute a failure to exhaust administrative remedies and shall preclude the person cited from obtaining judicial review of the validity of the citation.
K. Determination of the Hearing Officer.
1. After considering all of the testimony and evidence submitted by the parties, the hearing officer(s) shall issue a written decision upholding, modifying or vacating the citation and shall set forth the reasons for the determination. The determination of the hearing officer(s) shall be a final administrative determination.
2. The hearing officer(s) shall serve the appellant and the charging official with a copy of the determination within thirty (30) days of the appeal hearing.
3. If the hearing officer(s) determines that the citation is vacated or modified the City shall issue a full or partial refund of the deposit to the appellant along with a copy of the determination.
4. If a charging official issues a single citation for multiple violations of an ordinance or for violation of multiple provisions of an ordinance, the hearing officer(s) shall hear all appeals of a citation at the same time, unless good cause is shown that they should be heard separately.
5. If two (2) hearing officers are appointed they must act together to uphold a citation either in full or in part; if more than two (2) hearing officers are appointed a simple majority of them must act to uphold a citation either in full or in Part. (Ord. 2023-03, 5-8-2023)