A. Operation Of An Administrative Adjudication System:
1. These provisions shall provide a system of administrative adjudication as required by section 11-208.3 of the Illinois vehicle code to cause the suspension of a registered owner's or lessee's driver's license upon his failure to pay fines or penalties due and owing as a result of ten (10) or more city standing and/or parking violations.
2. These provisions shall not preclude the city from adopting procedures pursuant to 625 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/6-306.5 providing for the authority to file a certified report to the Illinois secretary of state upon a person's failure to satisfy any fine or penalty imposed by a final judgment from a court of law for ten (10) or more standing and/or parking violations.
In addition, notwithstanding any provision of this section, the city may continue to prosecute in a court of law any person receiving less than ten (10) standing and/or parking violations. (Ord. O-15A-90, 3-19-1990)
3. An individual, appointed by the mayor, shall serve as parking administrator under the direction of the chief of police and shall be authorized to adopt, distribute and process parking violation notices required, collect money paid as fines and penalties for violation of parking ordinances and shall operate the administrative adjudication system. The parking administrator also may make a certified report to the secretary of state.
4. The city prosecutor or some other individual designated by the mayor, shall serve as hearing officer and shall perform such duties as defined within this Section. (Ord. 0-15A-90, 3-19-90; 1992 Code)
B. Authority to Issue:
1. Any employee of the City authorized to issue vehicular parking and standing citations and who detects a violation of any section of this Code restricting or prohibiting parking or standing of motor vehicles shall issue a hang-on parking violation notice by either affixing it to an unlawfully parked vehicle or handing it to the operator of such vehicle if he or she is present.
2. Police officers, auxiliary police officers, City inspectors and Code enforcement officers shall be authorized, in the course of their specific duties, to issue hang-on parking violation notices in accordance with the provisions set forth herein.
C. Action by Recipient of Citation: A person receiving a citation for a parking violation may make an appearance in one of the following manners:
1. Payment of the fine indicated on the citation. Such payment shall be made by the deadline stated on the citation and shall operate as the final disposition of the violation; or
2. Requesting a hearing on the merits of the parking violation in the time and manner specified on the hang-on notice and attendance at the hearing at the time, date and place specified by the Parking Administrator. The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with procedures set forth herein.
D. Failure to Appear; Service of Additional Notices:
1. Failure to make an appearance shall result in additional notices of violation, as indicated in this subsection, being sent by first class mail to the registered owner of the cited vehicle at his or her address as recorded with the Secretary of State or to the lessee of the cited vehicle at the last address known to the lessor of said vehicle at the time of the lease. Service of additional notices shall be complete as of the date of deposit in the United State mail.
2. A second notice of violation shall be sent to the responsible party, as defined in subsection D1 above upon the failure of the recipient of a hang-on parking violation to make an appearance as prescribed in subsection C of this Section. The recipient may appear by either paying the indicated fine and assessed penalty for late charges or by requesting a hearing on the merits of the citation in the time and manner specified on the second notice and attending such hearing at the time, date and place specified by the Parking Administrator. Failure to appear as herein prescribed shall result in a final determination of parking violation liability for the cited violation.
3. A notice of final determination of parking violation liability shall be sent to the responsible party, as defined in subsection D1 above, upon the failure to appear pursuant to the second notice of violation and after a final determination of parking violation liability has been rendered in accordance with subsection D2 hereof. The recipient may appear by paying the fine and penalty within the time specified on the notice and shall be advised that failure to do so pay may result in the City's filing of a petition in the Circuit Court to have the unpaid fine or penalty rendered a judgment as provided by section 11-208.3 of the Illinois Vehicle Code, and that proceedings to suspend his driver's license will be initiated pursuant to chapter 951/2, section 6-306.5 of the Illinois Vehicle Code for failure to pay fines or penalties for ten (10) or more parking violations.
4. A notice of impending driver's license suspension shall be sent to the person for whom a final determination of liability was rendered, in accordance with this subsection, on each of ten (10) or more unpaid parking violations. Failure to pay the fines and/or penalties owing within forty five (45) days of the notice's date shall result in notification to the Secretary of State of said person's eligibility for initiation of driver's license suspension proceedings.
E. Final Determination of Parking Liability; Petition to Set Aside:
1. A final determination of parking ticket violation liability shall occur following failure to pay the fine or penalty after a hearing officer's determination of parking violation liability and the Parking Administrator's denial of a petition to set aside the determination or expiration of the period for filing such petition without a filing having been made.
2. A determination of parking ticket violation liability may be set aside by filing a petition with the Parking Administrator within ten (10) working days after the hearing officer's determination. Petitions shall specify the grounds on which a challenge may be based, including the following:
a. The person owing the unpaid fine and/or penalty was neither the owner nor lessee of the cited vehicle(s) on the date or dates the parking violation notice was issued;
b. The fine and/or penalty were paid for the parking violation in question;
c. Excusable failure to request a hearing, appear at the hearing or request a new date for hearing.
3. The Parking Administrator shall render a decision within fourteen (14) days of the petition's receipt and shall immediately notify the hearing officer and petitioner of such decision. If the petitioner has shown just cause, the Parking Administrator shall set aside the parking ticket violation liability determination.
4. If the petition is granted, and the determination of parking violation liability set aside, the registered owner or lessee shall be provided a hearing on the merits of the violation and shall be given notice of the time and manner in which it will take place.
F. Administrative Adjudication Of Parking Violations: The hang on parking violation citation and the second notice of liability shall provide the alleged violator with the time and manner in which a hearing contesting the merits of the alleged violation shall be held. Neither formal nor technical rules of evidence shall apply. Such hearing shall be recorded, and the person conducting the hearing, on behalf of the parking administrator, shall be empowered to administer oaths and to secure by subpoena both the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of relevant books and papers. Persons appearing at such hearing may be represented by counsel at their own expense.
G. Certified Report; Contesting Certified Report:
1. Upon failure to pay fines and penalties deemed due and owing after the exhaustion of administrative procedures set forth herein for ten (10) or more parking violations, the parking administrator shall make a certified report to the secretary of state stating that the owner of a registered vehicle has failed to pay any fine or penalty due and owing as a result of ten (10) or more violations of the city's vehicular parking regulations and thereby cause the suspension of that person's driver's license. A copy of the certified report shall be sent to the registered owner.
2. The parking administrator shall take no further action unless and until the fines and penalties due and owing are paid or upon determination that the inclusion of the person's name on the certified report was in error. At such time, the parking administrator shall submit to the secretary of state a notification which shall result in the halting of a driver's license suspension proceedings. The person named therein shall receive a certified copy of such notification upon request and at no charge.
3. Persons may challenge the accuracy of the certified report by completing a form provided by the office of the parking administrator within ten (10) days after the date of the certified report and which specifies grounds on which such challenge is based. Grounds for challenge shall be limited to the following:
a. The person was neither the owner nor lessee of the vehicle(s) receiving ten (10) or more parking violation notices on the date or dates such notices were issued; or
b. The persons have paid the fine and penalty for the ten (10) or more violations indicated on the certified report.
4. The parking administrator shall render a determination within ten (10) business days of receipt of the objection form and shall notify the objector thereof.
H. Procedure For Nonresidents:
1. Persons who are not residents of the city may contest the merits of the alleged violation without attending a hearing as provided herein by submitting a waiver of hearing and a notarized statement of facts specifying grounds for challenging the citation. Such documentation must be received by the parking administrator within the time for requesting a hearing.
2. The hearing officer shall issue to the parking administrator a finding based on the statement of facts.
3. The parking administrator shall notify the nonresident of the hearing officer's determination.
4. In all other respects, the procedures set forth in this section shall apply to nonresidents.
I. Administrative Review: Any further review shall be pursuant to the administrative review act 1 . (Ord. O-15A-90, 3-19-1990)
Notes
| 1 | 1. 735 ILCS 5/3-101 et seq. |