A. Time to file a Request for Hearing. Any recipient of an administrative citation may contest the citation by completing a Request for Hearing form and returning it to the City Clerk within fifteen (15) days from the date the citation is served or deemed to have been served. A failure to file a timely Request for Hearing shall be deemed a waiver of the right to a hearing on the citation and a failure to exhaust administrative remedies.
B. Hearing Officer. The Hearing Officer shall be a neutral contracted by the City to hear such matters.
C. Hearing procedure.
(1) No hearing to contest an administrative citation before a Hearing Officer shall be held unless and until a Request for Hearing form has been completed and submitted within the time limits set forth above.
(2) After receipt of the Request for Hearing form, a hearing before the Hearing Officer shall be set for a date that is not less than fifteen (15), and not more than sixty (60), days from the date that the request for a hearing is filed in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter. The applicant shall be notified of the time and place set for the hearing at least ten (10) days prior to the date of the hearing.
(3) The applicant shall be given the opportunity to testify and present evidence concerning the administrative citation.
(4) Formal rules of evidence shall not apply.
D. The administrative citation and any additional documents submitted by the Animal Control Officer, or other authorized officer, shall constitute prima facie evidence of the respective facts contained in those documents.
E. If the Animal Control Officer, or other authorized officer, submits an additional written report concerning the administrative citation to the Hearing Officer for consideration at the hearing, then a copy of this report also shall be served by mail on the person requesting the hearing at least ten (10) days prior to the date of the hearing.
F At least ten (10) days prior to the hearing, the recipient of an administrative citation shall be provided with copies of the reports and other documents submitted or relied upon by the Animal Control Officer, or other authorized officer. The hearing shall not be conducted according to formal rules of evidence or procedure, but shall be conducted in a manner generally consistent with the Administrative Procedure Act, Government Code §§ 11370, et seq.
G. The Hearing Officer may continue the hearing and request additional information from the issuing Animal Control Officer, or other authorized officer, or the recipient of the administrative citation prior to issuing findings of fact and statement of decision.
H Any person who has filed a "Request for Hearing" and has been notified of the time and date for a hearing pursuant to this Chapter who does not appear at said hearing and does not seek a continuance prior to the hearing shall be deemed to have waived the right to be present at the hearing, and the hearing shall proceed in their absence.
I. Hearing Officer's Decision. After considering all of the testimony and evidence submitted at the hearing, the Hearing Officer may immediately issue a verbal decision or may issue a written decision within ten (10) working days of the hearing. The decision shall include the reasons therefor and the amount of any fine imposed. Said decision shall also include any conditions pertaining to the correction of the violation(s) and any time limits set for said corrections. If a verbal decision is issued at the hearing, a written decision shall be prepared by the Hearing Officer and mailed to the applicant within ten (10) working days of the hearing. The effective date of the decision shall be the mailing date of the written decision to the applicant.
(Ord. MC-1469, 3-07-18)