(A) Title. This section shall be entitled and known as the “Transportation and Lodging Fee Ordinance” of the Charter Township of Montrose.
(B) Findings and intent. The Charter Township of Montrose finds that frequently persons are arrested in the Township for offenses committed in the Township, which arrests would require that the person be transported to the Genesee County jail for lodging. The Township further finds that the Genesee County jail frequently refuses to accept the person for lodging due to overcrowding and the township must then transport the person to another county for lodging in an appropriate county jail. It is the intent of this section to provide for the imposition of a transportation and lodging fee upon those persons who must be lodged in a jail in a county other than Genesee County because the Genesee County jail is unable to or refuses to accept the person for lodging.
(C) Imposition of fee. A fee described in this section as a transportation and lodging fee is hereby imposed upon each person who, after being arrested for an offense committed in the township, is transported to and lodged in a jail in another county because the Genesee County jail is unable to or refuses to accept the person for lodging, and the person shall be the person responsible for paying the fee. The fee shall be imposed only where all of the following conditions are satisfied.
(1) The person must be arrested for an offense for which lodging in the county jail is provided for by law.
(2) The police official of the township who has taken the person into custody has attempted to have the arrested individual lodged in the Genesee County jail.
(3) The police official of the township who has taken the person into custody has been advised by the Genesee County jail that the jail is unable or unwilling to accept the person for lodging.
(4) The arrested person is transported to a county jail in another county where the person is lodged.
(5) The county jail providing the lodging for the arrested person charges the township a fee for the lodging.
(D) Amount of transportation and lodging fee. The transportation and lodging fee charged to the person shall be equal to the additional cost incurred by the township for lodging the person in the jail in a county other than Genesee County. The additional cost shall include the following.
(1) The fee, if any, charged to the township for the lodging of the individual in a county jail other than the Genesee County jail.
(2) The additional cost to the township of transporting the person to and from the county jail in another county (including any transportation to and from the jail and any court). This cost shall cover:
(a) The time spent by police personnel in transporting the person to and from the other county jail over and above 1 hour, that being the time normally spent in transporting the person to and from the Genesee County jail. Charges for the time shall be made at the hourly labor cost (including all fringe benefits) for the police personnel involved in the transportation.
(b) A mileage charge in the amount of $.29 per mile for each mile traveled by police personnel in transporting the person to and from the other county jail over and above 24 miles, that being the mileage normally traveled in transporting the person to and from the Genesee County jail.
(E) Collection of transportation and lodging fee. Upon determining the amount of the transportation and lodging fee as provided for in division (C) above, the township shall send a bill for the amount to the person responsible therefor. The bill must be sent to the person no later than 6 months following the last date of providing the transportation and/or lodging to the person. If a person fails to pay any transportation and lodging fee imposed in accordance with the terms of this section, the township may bring a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction to collect the transportation and lodging fee.
(F) Effective date. This section shall become effective upon publication.
(Ord. 1994-10, passed 12-19-1994)