(A) Date for hearing.
(1) A time and date for the Special Magistrate hearing shall be set, and notice to the alleged violator and the Code Inspector of the same shall be provided. The violator may file a written reply to the charges contained in the notice of violations which shall be known as “the response.” The response must contain the address of the violation and the alleged violator’s relationship to the property (for example, owner, tenant, and the like).
(2) If the violation is not corrected by the time specified for correction by the Code Inspector, the case may be presented to the Special Magistrate even if the violation has been corrected prior to the Special Magistrate hearing, and the notice shall so state.
(3) At the time and place set for the hearing, the Special Magistrate shall hear and consider all testimony offered and shall examine and consider all the evidence presented. The City Attorney or his/her designee shall present each case before the Special Magistrate after he/she has determined that there is a legally sufficient case to be presented. After the conclusion of the hearing, the Special Magistrate shall issue findings of fact and conclusions of law in a written order affording the proper relief consistent with the powers granted herein. Such order may command a violator to take whatever steps are necessary to bring a violation into compliance by the time announced at the hearing and subsequently placed in the order. The findings, conclusions and order of the Special Magistrate shall be announced orally at the Special Magistrate hearing and shall be reduced to writing and mailed to the violator.
('72 Code, § 1.5-12(a) - (c))
(B) Hearing procedures.
(1) No Special Magistrate shall act in any case in which that Special Magistrate has a conflict of interest. If the Special Magistrate has a conflict of interest with any case, he/she shall orally announce such at the scheduled hearing unless he/she is aware of such conflict prior to the hearing and shall notify the Clerk whereby that case shall be rescheduled for a hearing before another Special Magistrate.
(2) All hearings of the Special Magistrate shall be open to the public, and any person whose interests may be affected by the matter before the Special Magistrate shall be given an opportunity to be heard. The record of all hearings, agendas, findings, determinations and Final Orders shall be maintained by the Clerk of Code Enforcement.
(3) Hearings shall be informal and need not be conducted according to technical rules relating to evidence and witnesses. They shall, however, be conducted in accordance with accepted parliamentary procedures relative to motions, votes and decisions fundamental due process shall be observed and shall govern all hearings.
(4) All relevant evidence shall be admitted if, in the opinion of the Special Magistrate, it is the type of evidence upon which reasonable and responsible persons would normally rely in the conduct of business affairs, regardless of the existence of any common law or statutory rule which might make such evidence inadmissible over objections in civil action. The Special Magistrate may exclude irrelevant or unduly repetitious evidence.
(5) Hearsay evidence may be accepted for the purpose of supplementing or explaining any direct evidence, but such hearsay evidence shall not in and of itself be considered sufficient to support a finding or decision unless the evidence would be admissible over objections in a civil action.
(6) Each party to the hearing shall have the right to call and examine witnesses, introduce exhibits, cross-examine opposing witnesses, impeach witnesses and rebut evidence.
(7) The alleged violator has the right, at his/her own expense, to be represented by an attorney at any Special Magistrate hearing.
(8) All testimony before the Special Magistrate shall be under oath and shall be recorded. The alleged violator or the city may cause the proceedings to be recorded by a certified court reporter or by a certified recording instrument.
(9) The burden of proof shall be with the Code Inspector, to show by the greater weight of evidence that a code violation exists and that the alleged violator committed, or was responsible for maintaining, the violation.
(10) It written notice has been provided to an alleged violator of the hearing, a hearing may be conducted and an order rendered in the absence of the violator.
(11) The Special Magistrate may, for good cause shown, postpone or continue a hearing.
(12) If a violator requests a hearing pursuant to § 36.29(A) of this chapter, the issue to be determined at the hearing is whether all violations were complied prior to the hearing. The Special Magistrate may consider any testimony and other relevant evidence submitted by the Code Inspector and the violator. Upon conclusion of the presentation of evidence, the Special Magistrate shall enter either an order finding that the violations were complied by the required time, or an Order of Imposition of Fine and Claim of Lien for violations that are found to not have been timely complied. An Order of Imposition of Fine and Claim of Lien shall be recorded in the Public Records of Broward County, Florida pursuant to § 36.29(B) below.
(13) No Order of Imposition of Fine and Claim of Lien shall be entered by the Special Magistrate if all violations in a case have been complied and an Affidavit of Compliance is filed within the 14-day period described in § 36.29(A)(2). The filing of said Affidavit of Compliance within the 14-day period shall also act to cancel any penalty hearing which has been set for a case, and shall otherwise render void any request for a hearing.
('72 Code, § 1.5-13)
(C) Subpoena powers. The Code Inspector, the Special Magistrate or the alleged violator may request that witnesses and records, including surveys, plats and other materials, be subpoenaed to any formal hearings. Subpoenas may be served by officers of the Police Department of the city, police aides or other such persons authorized to deliver subpoenas. The Special Magistrate shall provide the Clerk of Code Enforcement with sufficient signed and blank witness and document subpoenas to be provided to alleged violators and the Code Inspector for the purpose of having witnesses and records subpoenaed. The violator shall pay to the city a fee for each subpoena served.
('72 Code, § 1.5-17)
(D) Calling of Special Magistrate hearings. The Special Magistrate may call a Special Magistrate hearing. Written notice of any special or emergency hearing shall be given to an alleged violator, if circumstances permit, at least one day in advance of such hearing. The Special Magistrate may, at any hearing, set a future hearing date.
(E) Owner of property. If the owner of property that is subject to an enforcement proceeding before an enforcement board, Special Magistrate or court transfers ownership of such property between the time the initial violation was served and the time of the hearing, such owner shall:
(1) Disclose, in writing, the existence and the nature of the proceeding to the prospective transferee;
(2) Deliver to the prospective transferee a copy of the violations, pleadings, notices, and other materials relating to the code enforcement proceeding received by the transferor;
(3) Disclose, in writing, to the prospective transferee that the new owner will be responsible for compliance with the applicable code and with orders issued in the code enforcement proceeding; and
(4) File a notice with the Director of Code Enforcement of the transfer of the property, with the identity and address of the new owner and copies of the disclosures made to the new owner, within five days after the date of transfer. A failure to make the disclosures described in subsections (1), (2) and (3) before the transfer creates a rebuttable presumption of fraud. If the property is transferred before the hearing, the proceeding shall not be dismissed, but the new owner shall be provided a reasonable period of time to correct the violation before the hearing is held.
(Ord. O-87-68, passed 11-4-87; Am. Ord. O-89-15, passed 5-3-89; Am. Ord. O-95-37, passed 7-19-95; Am. Ord. O-96-07, passed 2-28-96; Am. Ord. O-99-46, passed 12-15-99; Am. Ord. O-2005-02, passed 3-2-05)