121.09 COMPELLING ATTENDANCE OF WITNESSES.

   (a)    Issuance of Subpoena. The chairman of any duly appointed committee of Council is hereby empowered to subpoena witnesses in the Municipality to appear before such committee at a time and place designated in the subpoena, to testify concerning matters properly within the scope of the committee, and may require the production of books, papers and records by such witnesses.

   (b)    Procedure and Form. The subpoena shall be signed by the chairman of the committee and shall be directed for service to any member of the Police Department of the Municipality. The officer to whom the subpoena is directed, or his assistant or deputy, shall serve and return it to the chairman issuing it, in the same manner as subpoenas issued by courts of record in the State of Ohio are served and returned. The subpoena shall be substantially in the following form:

 

State of Ohio       ) County of Cuyahoga    )    SS. Mayfield Village    )    To any member of the Police Department of Mayfield Village, Ohio:    By authority of the Municipality of Mayfield Village, Ohio, you are hereby commanded to summon                                     of                           to appear before the                           Committee of the Municipality of Mayfield Village, Ohio, on the                          day of                         , A.D.                       at                o'clock        M. Eastern Standard Time (or Eastern Daylight Savings Time), then and there to testify concerning matters within the scope of such committee, and not to depart without leave of such committee, and with him to bring the following described books, papers and records:    Of this writ make due return with your proceedings in this behalf endorsed thereon.    Witness my hand this              day of               A.D.                                                              Chairman

   (c)    Testimony Not Used as Evidence in Criminal Prosecution. Except a person who, in writing, requests permission to appear before a committee of Council, or who, in writing, waives the rights, privileges and immunities granted by this section, the testimony of a witness examined before a committee of Council shall not be used in criminal proceedings against him, nor shall any person be prosecuted on account of a transaction, matter or thing concerning which he testifies or produces evidence. This section shall not exempt a person from the penalties of perjury under any law.

   (d)    Service and Attendance Fees. Policemen and witnesses shall be paid the same fees and mileage for service and attendance as are paid by the Court of Common Pleas of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, for similar service and attendance, except that a witness who fails to demand such fee at the time of service of a subpoena upon him shall be deemed to have waived such fee. Such fees and mileage shall be paid from the General Fund of the Municipality upon the authorization of the chairman of the committee which issued the subpoena.

   (e)    Administering Oaths. The chairman or a member of a committee of Council may administer oaths to any person testifying before such committee.

   (f)    Effects of Failure to Appear or Testify. Whoever willfully fails to appear in obedience to a subpoena provided for in this section or whoever appears and refuses to answer a question pertinent to a matter properly before the committee, or whoever declines upon demand of such committee to produce a paper, book or record in his possession or control, may, upon majority vote of the members of Council be adjudged guilty of contempt for each such act or refusal. The chairman of the committee before which such person fails to appear or refuses to answer or produce a paper, book or record, on order of the committee, shall report the facts to Council, and shall issue a warrant for the arrest and appearance before Council of the person to answer for the contempt. Any member of the Police Department of the Municipality is authorized to execute such warrant. Council, upon adjudging such person guilty of contempt, may punish such person for each act of contempt by levying a fine of not more than one hundred dollars ($100.00), payable to the Municipal Treasury, or by committing him to jail for not more than ten days, or both, or may commit such person to jail until he complies with the order of the committee or purges himself of contempt.

(Ord. 619. Passed 2-17-58.)