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(1) The Director of Finance shall have the power and duty, unless otherwise provided by this Chapter, to provide by regulation for the hearing and determination of cases involving alleged violations of provisions of this Chapter relating to conduct in public places of assembly, restaurant/entertainment districts and city permitted festivals and parades, for the imposition of civil penalties, cost and additional fees for such violations, and for the acceptance of payment for such penalties, costs and additional fees, including installment payments with installment payment fees and payments by credit cards, all in accordance with all provision of this Chapter. 346
(2) The Director of Finance shall appoint such Code Violation Hearing Examiners and such other persons as shall be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Chapter.
Notes
| 346 | Amended, 1994 Ordinances, p. 683. |
In addition to its other functions, powers and duties of the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication shall have the following functions, powers and duties in connection with the administrative adjudication system established by this Chapter:
(1) To receive and process answers to charges of alleged violations and to refer contested answers to the Finance Director's Office for hearing and determination;
(2) To provide administrative, cashiering and data processing support to the Finance Director's Office and to compile and maintain complete and accurate records relating to all charges, dispositions made and payments received by the Finance Director's Office; and
(3) To send notices, as required, on behalf of the Finance Director's Office, of orders determining liability, notices to appear, decisions and other actions of the Finance Director's Office.
(1) Any police officer or other duly authorized employee of the City or any agency thereof who observes a violation of this Chapter shall serve a ticket upon the violator as provided in this Section.
(2) The ticket shall be in the form established by the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication and approved by the Director of Finance, and shall contain information advising the person to whom it is issued of the manner in which and the time within which an answer to the violation alleged is required. The ticket shall also advise that additional fees and costs may result from a failure to answer, that the failure to answer or appear shall be considered an admission of liability, and that other civil action may result from a failure to pay the amount due.
(3) A person to whom a ticket has been served shall answer within eight (8) days after the date the ticket was served. Failure to answer within the prescribed period shall result in the imposition of additional fees as set forth in Section 10-1610.
(4) The original ticket shall be signed by the issuing officer who shall affirm the truth of the facts set forth therein. The original ticket or any true copy thereof (or any facsimile of the original ticket transferred onto microfilm, computer tape, or other form of data storage) shall be considered a record kept in the ordinary course of business of the City and shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein.
(5) The Bureau of Administrative Adjudication shall cause tickets to be prepared and distributed to the Police Department and other issuing agencies.
(1) In answer to a ticket, a person to whom such ticket was issued may:
(a) admit the commission of the violation by payment of the fines, costs and additional fees due;
(b) admit with explanation; or
(c) deny liability and request a hearing with respect to the violation.
(2) The regulations issued by the Director of Finance pursuant to subsection 10-1604(1) shall provide for the manner by which a ticket may be answered. The regulations may provide for answer by personal appearance, by mail, by telephone, or in such other manner as the Director of Finance deems appropriate.
(3) A person who admits the commission of a violation shall, and a person who admits with explanation may, at the time of submission of the answer, pay the civil fines and costs, and any additional fees as may be due for failure to answer within the time required.
(4) If the person to whom a ticket is issued is a minor, such person shall be permitted to appear at a hearing or admit responsibility for a violation without the necessity of the appointment of a guardian, and the City may proceed against such person in the same manner as if that person were an adult.
(1) Each hearing for the adjudication of a violation pursuant to this Chapter shall be held before a Code Violation Hearing Examiner.
(2) The officer issuing the ticket shall not be required to appear at the hearing unless the respondent has denied liability and the Code Violation Hearing Examiner determines that the officer's presence is required. The Code Violation Hearing Examiner may grant a reasonable continuance if the officer is not available at the time of hearing. The Code Violation Hearing Examiner may also issue a subpoena to compel the production at the hearing of any document, paper or record relevant to the violation charged. The City shall not be required to submit any evidence other than the ticket. Such documentation in proper form (including without limitation any facsimile of the original ticket which has been transferred onto microfilm, computer tape or other form of data storage) shall be considered prima facie evidence that the person to whom the ticket was issued was the person who committed the violation. The presence of an attorney or other representative of the City shall not be required.
(3) If a person fails to answer in response to a ticket or fails to appear at a hearing when required to do so, or, having admitted commission of the violation (with or without explanation), fails to pay the fines, costs and additional fees assessed, the Code Violation Hearing Examiner shall enter an order by default sustaining the charges, fix the appropriate fine or other penalty and assess appropriate costs and additional fees, if any. 347
(4) An order by default may be vacated by the Code Violation Hearing Examiner within one (1) year after its entry only upon written application setting forth (i) a sufficient defense to the charge, and (ii) excusable neglect as to the respondent's failure to attend the hearing.
(5) Hearings shall be conducted in a fair and appropriate manner. Technical rules of evidence shall not apply, and all relevant evidence of reasonably probative value may be received. All testimony shall be given under oath or affirmation. A record shall be made of a hearing of a contested violation, and recording devices may be used for such purposes.
(6) After due consideration of the evidence and arguments offered in a contested care, the Code Violation Hearing Examiner shall determine whether the charges have been established. If the Code Violation Hearing Examiner determines the charges have not been established, an order dismissing the charges shall be entered. If the Code Violation Hearing Examiner determines the charges have been established, he shall enter an order sustaining the charges, fixing the appropriate fine, and assessing costs and additional fees, if any, as appropriate.
(7) Upon entry of an order determining liability for a violation, the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication shall notify the operator or owner, by first class mail: (i) of the violation charged, and (ii) of the entry of an order determining liability for a violation.
Notes
| 347 | Amended, Bill No. 030245 (approved July 31, 2003). |
(1) The Director of Finance shall constitute Code Violation Appeals Panels which shall consist of one (1) or more persons, but in no event shall the Code Violation Hearing Examiner from whose decision the appeal is taken be included in the panel determining said appeal.
(2) An appeal from a determination of any Code Violation Hearing Examiner after a hearing on a plea denying liability, or from a determination denying a motion to reopen any matter, shall be submitted to an Appeals Panel which shall have power to review the facts and the law, and shall have power to affirm the determination or to reverse or modify any determination appealed from error of fact or law, or to remand for additional proceedings, or, in appropriate cases, to hear the matter de novo.
(3) A party aggrieved by the final determination of a Code Violation Hearing Examiner may obtain a review thereof by serving upon the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication within thirty (30) days of the entry of such final determination, a notice of appeal on a form provided by the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication shall be made by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested. Upon receipt of such notice of appeal, the Finance Director's Office shall furnish to the appellant, upon request and at the appellant's expense, a transcript of the original hearing. No appeal shall be conducted less than ten (10) days after the mailing of the transcript to the appellant.
(4) Appeals shall be conducted in the presence of the appellant or his attorney, or both, if such right of appearance is expressly requested by the appellant in his notice of appeal and upon his complying with the regulations of the Director of Finance. If the appellant elects to appear, the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication, within thirty (30) days after the receipt of the notice of appeal, shall advise the appellant, either personally or by ordinary first class mail, of the date on which he shall appear. No appeal shall be conducted less than ten (10) days after the mailing of such notification. A record shall be made of any de novo hearings on appeal, and recording devices may be used for such purposes. The appellant shall be notified in writing of the decision of the Code Violation Appeals Panel.
(5) The order of a Code Violation Appeals Panel shall be the final order of the Finance Director's Office. However, in the event that no appeal is taken, the order of the Code Violation Hearing Examiner shall be the final order. If payment is not made within thirty (30) days after entry of a final order determining liability for a parking violation and fixing fines, costs and additional fees for such violation, such fines, costs and additional fees shall be considered a debt due and owing the City.
(1) The civil penalties prescribed for violations under this Chapter, and payable by a person to whom a ticket has been issued, are as set forth in subsection 10-1610(2). The total sum of costs and additional fees payable by a person who fails to answer a ticket within eight (8) days after the date the ticket was issued, or by a person who, after a hearing pursuant to Section 10-1608, has an order entered against him sustaining the charges, is twenty-three dollars ($23). In the event that payment is not made within thirty (30) days after entry of a final order determining liability for a violation or in the event that a person fails to appear at a hearing when required to do so, an additional fee of four dollars ($4.00) shall be added to the amount due.
(2) Any person violating the following provisions of this Chapter shall, upon a final finding of liability pursuant to this Chapter, be liable for payment of the civil penalty not to exceed the penalty indicated below, in addition to the costs and fees set forth in subsection 10-1610(1):
Code Provision Violation Description Penalty
10-1603(1) Disorderly Conduct $300
10-1603(2) Failure to Disperse $300
10-1603(3) Public Drunkenness $300
(3) The "Violation Descriptions" used in subsection 10-1610(2) are intended solely to facilitate reading and reference to provisions of this Chapter and shall not affect the meaning or interpretation of any Section of this Chapter.