(A) Authorization. Pursuant to KRS 83A.087, there are hereby authorized Citation Officers, subject to the provisions of this section.
(B) Powers. Citation Officers shall not have the powers of police officers to make arrests or carry deadly weapons, but may issue notices of violations and/or citations as authorized upon observation of violations of city ordinances.
(C) Citation procedures. The procedures for issuing citations by Citation Officers shall be as provided in KRS 431.015 and by the ordinances of the city. Standard citations forms will be utilized by all Citation Officers appointed pursuant to this section.
(D) Uniform. Each Citation Officer appointed pursuant to this section shall be readily identifiable by the public as a Citation Officer by a uniform or other identifying characteristics/identification as designated by the City Manager. Citation Officers shall immediately identify themselves as Citation Officers to any member of the public while enforcing any ordinance of the city.
(E) Enforcement.
(1) Nothing in this section shall be a limitation on the power of a Citation Officer to make an arrest as a private person as provided in KRS 431.015, that is, when a felony has been committed in fact and the Citation Officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person being arrested has committed said felony. This section shall not be the exclusive means for enforcement of city ordinances, and Citation Officers are not limited to the use of a citation and/or notice of violation, but may swear to a complaint, criminal or otherwise, in lieu of a notice of violation or a citation.
(2) In an effort to gain compliance with state statutes and city ordinances, all departments responsible for enforcement shall, in most cases, first attempt to gain compliance through inspection, notification, granting of responsible time to comply and allowing for exhaustion of administrative remedies. When all responsible efforts have failed, certain employees including, but not limited to, Citation Officers designated by this section, may issue citations.
(F) Citation Officer as Code Enforcement Officer. Whenever the term “Code Enforcement Officer” is used or referred to in any previously enacted ordinance of the city as the person designated to enforce said ordinance, the Citation Officer shall be designated as the Code Enforcement Officer and shall have all powers and duties of the Code Enforcement Officer as set forth in any previously enacted ordinance, subject to the limitations of the powers of a Citation Officer as set forth in this section and the state statutes.
(Ord. 130.2-4-03, passed 5-12-2003)