(a) Any person who is issued a citation shall pay the fine indicated for the violation, as set forth in Section 1753.04, in full to the office of the Municipal Court Clerk within ten days of service of the citation. Any person alleging he or she was improperly issued such citation may, within ten days of service of such citation, file a petition for appeal of the citation, along with the required bond, with the Municipal Court Clerk in accordance with the following:
(1) In order to properly and timely appeal his or her citation, within ten days of service of the citation, the recipient of the citation shall pay the required amount of the applicable fine in full to the Municipal Court Clerk, which amount will be held by the Municipal Court as bond pending hearing and resolution of the case by the Municipal Court and the Municipal Court Clerk shall issue a receipt to the recipient of the citation showing the amount of the bond paid. In addition to the bond, the recipient of the citation shall file with the Municipal Court Clerk a petition for appeal of the citation. If any petition for appeal filed in accordance with this section is not timely filed or is not accompanied with the required bond, the recipient of the citation shall be deemed to have waived his or her right to appeal the citation, and such petition shall be summarily denied as untimely filed; provided, however, that nothing set forth hereinabove shall prevent the Municipal Court Judge from finding, upon a proper application and showing, that the recipient of the citation suffers from financial hardship, and, as a result, waiving the requirement that the bond be posted.
(2) Any petition for appeal filed with the Municipal Court Clerk must be in writing, on the form to be provided by the Municipal Court Clerk, and must be signed by the recipient of the citation affirming that the contents of the petition are true and accurate to the best of the recipient of the citation’s knowledge at that time. Such petition for appeal shall state the facts and reasons in support of the petition. Upon filing any such petition for appeal with the Municipal Court Clerk, the recipient of the citation shall serve a copy of the petition and receipt showing proof of bond, or application for wavier thereof, upon the City Attorney.
(b) Upon filing of a petition for appeal with the Municipal Court Clerk, the Clerk or his or her designee shall place the case on the Municipal Court Docket, set the case for hearing within 30 days from the date of the filing of the petition for appeal, provide a notice of hearing to the recipient of the citation, and forward a copy of the petition to the enforcement official who issued the citation. Upon receipt of the petition, the enforcement official shall cause a copy of the citation at issue to be forwarded to the Municipal Court Clerk who shall file it as the original complaint alleging the violation indicated therein.
(c) The Municipal Court shall treat the citation itself as the original complaint before the court. At the close of all of the evidence presented at the hearing on petition for appeal, should the Municipal Judge find against the recipient of the citation, the bond posted by the recipient of the citation shall be applied as payment for the fine imposed for the violation. In the event the Municipal Court Judge finds that the recipient of the citation suffers from financial hardship, the applicable fine from Section 1753.04, above, shall be imposed, and the Municipal Court Judge shall have the ability to grant the recipient of the citation a certain amount of time to pay the fine, at the Municipal Court Judge’s discretion. Should the Court find in favor of the recipient of the citation, the bond, if applicable, shall be refunded to the recipient of the citation by the Municipal Court Clerk, and the citation shall be dismissed.
(Ord. 429. Passed 2-21-17.)
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