(A) The Municipal Court and the Judge thereof shall have jurisdiction over all violations of city ordinances. This requirement shall not be interpreted as preventing the City of Union from contracting with another public body for judicial services by a judge thereof, nor from citing any person into the Circuit Court of the State of Oregon when the offence to be charged is a violation of state law.
(B) Persons to be charged with a violation of an ordinance of the City of Union shall not be arrested, but shall be summoned to appear before the Municipal Judge by means of a summons, complaint, citation, or a combination thereof. The Municipal Judge shall have the authority by rule to determine the requirements of the form and content of documents used to charge violations. Absent adoption of rules by the Court, such documents shall at a minimum comply with due process.
(C) The only answers to documents charging a violation shall be an admission, a denial, or an answer of "no contest." A denial shall be deemed to controvert every material allegation in the complaint, citation, or summons.
(D) Motions, answers, and pleas to documents charging a violation shall be made either orally in open court or in writing, according to rules of procedures as may be set by the Municipal Judge.
(E) Upon an answer of "no contest" or admission to a complaint charging an infraction, the Court shall render judgment against the respondent. Upon an answer of denial, the Court shall set the case for trial without a jury, unless the person charged is entitled to a jury pursuant to §§ 34.01 through 34.13, as amended by this chapter.
(F) In lieu of a personal appearance and answer, the person charged with a violation may file with the Court a written waiver of appearance and forfeiture accompanied by a deposit of the scheduled forfeiture as provided for in § 35.99(F). In addition, the person may file with the waiver a written explanation of the circumstances of the infraction. The Municipal Judge may, after any further investigation the Judge deems necessary to verify the respondent's explanation, reduce all or a portion of the scheduled forfeiture and refund any balance to the person charged.
(G) The Municipal Court, or an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Oregon, shall have the power to issue summons for the appearance of witnesses in Municipal Court. It shall be the duty of all persons duly subpoenaed in any cause pending in the Municipal Court to attend such Court and testify in accordance with the requirements of such subpoena.
(H) Any witness who shall refuse to attend the Municipal Court or to testify as required by the preceding division (G) shall be deemed and held to be guilty of contempt of Court, and such court, in case of such refusal, shall have authority to issue a warrant for the arrest of any person so refusing and, on the persons being brought before the Court on such warrant, unless the person shall purge himself or herself of such contempt by showing his or her inability to attend and testify as required by the subpoena served on him or her, the Court shall summarily impose upon the person a fine not exceeding $100.
(I) The laws of the State of Oregon governing the payment of witnesses in Justice Court shall be and they are hereby adopted in their entirety for the Municipal Court as to the per diem payment and per mileage payment.
(Ord. 498, passed 12-12-2005)
Trials in Municipal Court shall be in accordance with procedural rules as may be adopted by the Municipal Court Judge, though the Judge is not required to adopt procedural rules, and shall generally proceed as follows:
(A) If a defendant is entitled to a jury, after the jury is selected and sworn, the Court shall instruct the jury concerning its duties, its conduct, and the order of proceedings.
(B) The city shall then concisely state the plaintiff’s case and the issues to be tried; the defendant then, in like manner, shall state defendant's case.
(C) The city shall introduce the evidence on plaintiff’s case in chief, and when plaintiff has concluded, the defendant shall do likewise.
(D) The parties respectively may introduce rebutting evidence only, unless a court in furtherance of justice permits them to introduce new evidence.
(E) When the evidence is concluded, both sides shall commence and conclude the argument to the court, find jury if applicable. The city shall have the right to reply to the argument of the defendant.
(F) If a jury has been empaneled, after the evidence is concluded and the parties have argued their cases, the Court shall instruct the jury.
(Ord. 498, passed 12-12-2005)
(A) Whenever pursuant to any other ordinance of the City of Union any act is prohibited or is made or declared to be unlawful or an offense, or the doing of an act is required or the failure to do an act is declared to be unlawful or an offense, the violation shall be classified as a "violation" and shall be punished as provided in this section, notwithstanding any provision of any other existing ordinance of the city. The penalties of this section shall apply to any violation occurring on or after the effective date hereof unless the violation is of an ordinance that is adopted after the effective date hereof which expressly provides a different penalty.
(B) The maximum penalty for a violation shall be an amount not exceeding $500. However, this penalty shall be in addition to any assessment or fine which may be required to be imposed, such as, but not limited to, the unitary assessment described in O.R.S. 137.290 (2003), the county assessment referred to in O.R.S. 137.309 (2003), or any other fine or assessment which may be imposed by force of law in addition to those imposed by an ordinance of the city.
(C) There shall be no sentence of any imprisonment for any violation.
(D) Every day any violation of an ordinance of the city shall continue shall constitute a separate offense.
(F) For the purposes of facilitating dispositions of violations, the Municipal Judge may promulgate a schedule of forfeitures plus any required assessments or fines for particular infractions, and the person charged with such an infraction may deposit with the Court the amounts so scheduled, waive further appearance, and have the sum so deposited forfeited as on a plea of "no contest." The Court shall not, however, be bound by the schedule on appearance and admission by the person charged, or on trial and judgment against the person charged; the Court in such a case may impose any forfeiture allowed by this section.
(G) This section shall not be interpreted as prohibiting or limiting the city's right to abate, enjoin, or alleviate an ordinance violation when such power is given to the city by ordinance or common law.
(Ord. 498, passed 12-12-2005)