2009 06-19 CCP - Laserfiche WebLink

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Senate Version of Administrative Citations for Certain Traffic Offenses § 169..999 The Senate version is somewhat different in that it explicitly requires the local unit of government to pass a resolution 1) authorizing the issuance of administrative citations; 2) obligating the local .government to providea neutral third party to hear and rule on challenges; and 3) barring peace officers from issuing administrative citations in violation of this section. The offences that exclusively qualify to be administrative citations are the same as the House. version and are exclusive. When issuing a speeding citation, the violator's actual speed must be. used and the actual speed the vehicle was traveling may not be reduced so the citation. will qualify for an administrative violation. Like the. Houseversion, only peace officers may issues these citations, and they may not be required to issue them instead of criminal citations. Similar to the House version, there must be a neutral third party for the purposes of contesting the citation. This person may be employed by the city to hear and rule on challenges. The State Patrol may contract with cities to provide an avenue to contest the citation. The Senate bill provides more detail about the amount of the fine [$60) and how the fine revenue will be allocated. These citations do not apply to commercial drivers and will. not appear on the violator's driving record. Like the House version, there is alsoa section requiring the commissioner ofpublic safety to revise traffic citations while working with other state organizations. Implications. for Municipalities This bill provides municipalities the authority to effectuate administrative penalties for certain traffic offenses with minimal participation from the state. The state would only be involved in creating the template citation, collecting receipts of the fines, and monitoring statutory compliance. When comparing the administrative penalty bills to those ordinances created by municipalities to enforce ordinance violations, it is unclear whether this bill limits that authority, asit reads, "The authority to issue an administrative citation is exclusively limited to those offenses in this subdivision." .Changes may needto be made to existing administrative penalty ordinances if this bill is passed. 3