Administrative hearings shall be conducted by an administrative hearing officer being the village attorney or other attorney as time to time appointed by the village who is an attorney licensed to practice law in this state for a minimum of three (3) years.
The date and time of the initial hearing shall be scheduled by the police department and notice of such shall be provided by the above mentioned follow up notice. An interested party may request a change to the date and time of the initial hearing by contacting the village clerk. The initial hearing shall be conducted no later than forty five (45) days after the date of the follow up notice.
At the hearing, the administrative hearing officer shall determine by a preponderance of the evidence whether or not the police officer directing the impoundment of the vehicle had cause to believe that the vehicle was subject to impoundment under this chapter. The party seeking return of the vehicle shall bear the burden of proof. Formal rules of evidence shall not be applicable to the hearing. The party seeking return of the vehicle fails to appear at the hearing, the hearing officer shall enter a default order sustaining the impoundment.
At the conclusion of the administrative hearing, the hearing officer shall issue a written decision either sustaining or overruling the vehicle impoundment. If the administrative hearing officer overrules the impoundment, the vehicle shall be released (if not already released) and any bond posted shall be refunded to the party posting the bond. If the administrative hearing officer sustains the vehicle impoundment, any bond posted to secure the release of the vehicle shall be forfeited to the municipality. If no bond was posted, the vehicle shall remain impounded until all fees are paid or the vehicle is deemed abandoned. Fees owed the village may be collected and enforced in the same manner as a judgment entered by a court of competent jurisdiction unless such collection action is stayed by a court of competent jurisdiction. All final decisions of the administrative hearing officer shall be subject to review under the provisions of the administrative review law. (Ord. 12-09, 5-15-2012)