(A) Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the definitions are as set forth herein or, if not established herein, then as defined in § 91.20.
CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER. The same meaning as set forth at KRS 65.8805(4).
CRIMINAL ACTIVITY NUISANCE. Any building or premises where law enforcement officers have, on more than one occasion in the preceding 12-month period, cited or arrested persons for crimes involving prostitution, controlled substances, alcohol, outdoor gambling, or illegal aliens, or have executed court-issued search warrants for crimes involving prostitution, controlled substances, alcohol, outdoor gambling, or illegal aliens.
CRIMINAL NUISANCE VIOLATION. A criminal citation, arrest, or court-issued search warrant for crimes involving prostitution, controlled substances, alcohol, outdoor gambling, or an illegal alien or illegal aliens.
ILLEGAL ALIEN.
(a) Any individual or individuals whose initial entry into the United States was illegal and whose current status is also illegal; or
(b) Any individual who, after entering into the United States legally, has failed to leave upon the expiration of his or her visa.
(B) Unlawful use of property. No owner of residential, commercial, or vacant real property located in the city shall allow his, her, or their property to be used as the site for any criminal activity nuisance after having received a citation pursuant to this section that the property has been used for the commission of a criminal activity nuisance. A legal or equitable owner of such property is deemed to have knowledge of such activity upon receipt of a civil citation as set forth in this section.
(C) Destroying orders or citations. No person or owner shall destroy, remove, or deface any order or citation posted by a Code Enforcement Officer.
(D) Disobeying orders. No person or owner shall disobey any order issued by a Code Enforcement Officer, or use, occupy, or permit any other person to use or occupy any premises ordered closed by a Code Enforcement Officer or other governing authority.
(E) Duty of Police Department. The Chief of the City Police Department shall, as soon as possible, but not more than 15 days after criminally citing or arresting persons or executing a court-issued search warrant for a crime involving prostitution, controlled substances, alcohol, outdoor gambling, or illegal aliens, notify a Code Enforcement Officer in writing of the specific violation investigated, the address of the property on or in which the violations occurred, and the circumstances of the violation. The Chief of the City Police Department shall also provide said notice to a Code Enforcement Officer upon becoming aware that any law enforcement agency has criminally cited or arrested persons or executed a court-issued search warrant for a crime involving prostitution, controlled substances, alcohol, outdoor gambling, or illegal aliens at any property within the city. After the Chief of the City Police Department notifies a Code Enforcement Officer of a criminal nuisance violation at a property for the first time, the Code Enforcement Officer shall notify the owner of the property of such violation in writing via regular United States mail.
(F) Civil citations. Whenever a Code Enforcement Officer receives notice or other information that a criminal activity nuisance exists in or upon residential, commercial, or vacant property, i.e., that a second criminal nuisance violation has occurred at or on the property, he or she shall notify the owner that the property is a criminal activity nuisance and that the nuisance must be abated. The notice shall take the form of a civil citation. If a property owner reports illegal activity that leads to a criminal arrest, criminal citation or court-ordered search warrant, such arrest, citation, or warrant will not be considered a criminal nuisance violation for purposes of this section. The civil citation required by this section shall be mailed by certified mail, return receipt requested. If certified mail is not accepted or received by the property owner, the citation may be served by personal delivery upon the owner. If the whereabouts of the property owner is unknown and it cannot be ascertained by a Code Enforcement Officer in the exercise of reasonable diligence, or if the whereabouts of the owner is known and he or she refuses to accept personal service or the certified mail directed to him or her, then the Code Enforcement Officer shall make an affidavit to that effect, and thereafter, the officer may serve the citation by posting a copy of it in a conspicuous place on the premises, by sending a copy of the citation by regular United States mail to the property owner’s last known mailing address, by newspaper publication, pursuant to KRS Ch. 424, and by recording the citation in the County Clerk’s office at Covington, Kentucky.
(G) Abatement.
(1) Should the criminal activity nuisance not be abated at the time stated in the citation, or by any extension granted by the Code Enforcement Officer issuing the citation, then the Code Enforcement Officer is authorized at any time thereafter to issue an order closing and vacating the premises, or portions thereof, to the extent necessary to abate the criminal activity nuisance. Such closing and vacating shall be for such period as a Code Enforcement Officer reasonably may direct, but in no event shall the closing and vacating be for a period of more than one year from the date of the closing. A close and vacate order issued by a Code Enforcement Officer pursuant to this section is not an act of possession, ownership, or control by the city. A close and vacate order will be rescinded within 14 days after the criminal activity nuisance is abated unless the premises are the site of repeated close and vacate orders.
(2) If the premises consist of multi-unit dwellings or mixed uses and the criminal activity nuisance has occurred solely within a unit or units, the authority to close and vacate is restricted to the unit in which the criminal activity nuisance has occurred, and does not extend to any other unit in the premises.
(3) Upon the issuance of any order provided for in this section, a copy of the order shall be served on the owner of the property in the same manner as a citation provided for in this section, and a copy shall be conspicuously posted on the property.
(4) If any person or owner fails to comply with an order to close and vacate issued pursuant to this section, a Code Enforcement Officer may:
(a) Prohibit the furnishing of utility service, including but not limited to gas, electric, water, and heating oil, to the premises by any public utility holding a franchise to use the streets and public ways of the city;
(b) Revoke the certificate of occupancy of the premises or the occupational license of a business; or
(c) Use any other civil remedy available under the laws of the commonwealth.
(5) Pursuant to the provisions of KRS 65.8840, the city possesses a lien against the premises for all fines, penalties, charges, and fees imposed and for the reasonable value of labor and materials used to abate a criminal activity nuisance. This lien shall be superior to and have priority over all other subsequent liens on the property except ad valorem taxes, and may be enforced by judicial proceeding.
(H) Eviction as a defense.
(1) It shall be a defense to a violation of this section if the owner has instituted an eviction proceeding within 30 days upon receipt of a citation under this section against the offending tenant or occupants of the offending premises, and the owner completes the eviction within 75 days of commencement or as soon thereafter as court procedures allow. In the event that judicial or quasi-judicial proceedings prohibit an owner from proceeding with an eviction, abatement of the criminal activity nuisance by eviction will be stayed until the judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding is resolved.
(2) In the case of multi-unit dwellings, the only parties necessary to name in an eviction proceeding are the occupants of the actual unit involved in the activity suspected, or the occupants suspected of the activity described in the citation.
(I) Relief from order. The City Code Enforcement Board may vacate or suspend the provisions of an order to close and vacate upon a showing by clear and convincing evidence by the property owner that the criminal activity nuisance has been abated and will not be maintained or permitted in any unit on the premises.
(J) Other remedies available. Enforcement of this section does not impair or restrict the ability of the city to bring a separate action to revoke the occupational license of a landlord, or business who allows a criminal activity nuisance to exist on the premises or to bring a proceeding before the City Code Enforcement Board for the imposition of civil fines, pursuant to §§ 30.100 through 30.109. No civil fines will be assessed by the Code Enforcement Board if an eviction proceeding has been instituted pursuant to division (H) above.
(2010 Code, § 92.03A) Penalty, see § 91.99