A person found to have committed a civil offense and to owe a civil fine may request the Van Wert Municipal Court to review the record of the proceedings before the Hearing Examiner. The director of a city department that issued a notice of civil offense and civil fine dismissed by the Hearing Examiner may also request the Van Wert Municipal Court to review the record of the proceedings before the Hearing Examiner. The request for review must be in writing, specify with particularity the claimed errors in the decision by the Hearing Examiner, filed with the Civil Division of the Van Wert Municipal Court, pay any applicable filing fee as set forth by the Van Wert Municipal Court and sent to the office of administrative hearings by certified U.S. mail within ten days of the date of the mailing of the decision by the Hearing Examiner. The city officer or employee who issued the notice of violation which gave rise to the request for review or a supervisor to the issuing officer may file a written response to the request for review. The response must be filed within 15 days of the receipt of the request for review by the officer of administrative hearings. The Van Wert Municipal Court may set aside the decision of the Hearing Examiner on finding from review of the proceedings before the Hearing Examiner that the findings of fact and conclusions of law are not supported by the record. The Van Wert Municipal Court may reduce a civil fine on a showing that the civil fine would cause an undue hardship and that the underlying infraction has been cured or is unlikely to reoccur. The Van Wert Municipal Court may investigate a claim that an infraction has been cured, make findings with respect to the claim of cure, and include those findings within the record. The decision of the Van Wert Municipal Court may be appealed to the Sixth District Court of Appeals in the same manner and form as any civil action filed with the municipal court.
(Ord. 11-12-078, passed 12-12-2011)