HomeMy WebLinkAboutNS-2882 - Amending Chapter 1, Section 1-8 of Santa Ana Municipal Code Relating to Violations and General Penalties(tlj 08- 10 -15)
ORDINANCE NO. NS -2882
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA
AMENDING CHAPTER 1, SECTION 1 -8 OF THE SANTA
ANA MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO VIOLATIONS AND
GENERAL PENALTIES
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA DOES ORDAIN AS
FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana hereby finds, determines,
and declares as follows:
A. The City Council is authorized pursuant to section 420 of the City Charter to
make any violation of its ordinances a misdemeanor or infraction, which may be
prosecuted in the name of the People of the State of California; and
B. Section 1 -8 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code ( "Code ") provides that, unless
otherwise specifically stated in the Code, any violation of or failure to comply
with any provision of the Code shall be a misdemeanor and, where no
specific penalty is provided in the Code, the violation shall be punished by a
fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or imprisonment for a
term not to exceed six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment;
and
C. Section 1 -8 of the Code provides the City Attorney's Office with discretion to
prosecute any violation constituting a misdemeanor as an infraction.
However, where officers issue criminal citations, the Code does not provide
the officer with discretion to determine whether such violations should be
charged as infractions; and
D. The citing officer is often in the better position to determine whether the
observed criminal conduct rises to the level of an infraction or a misdemeanor
violation; and
E. Where an officer mistakenly issues a citation as an infraction but the violation
constitutes a misdemeanor, or where the City Attorney may desire to file a
misdemeanor citation as an infraction based on the nature of the violation, the
Police Department Court Liaison staff must incur additional work in preparing
and serving the cited person with an amendment before filing the citation with
the court; and
F. Violations routinely filed as misdemeanors also result in an increased
administrative burden for the court in processing these matters; and
Ordinance No. NS -2882
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G. The proposed amendment to Section 1 -8 would provide the citing officer with
the discretion to issue infraction citations for violations of the Code that would
otherwise constitute misdemeanors, as the officers may deem appropriate
based on the circumstances surrounding the violation; and
H. The proposed amendment to Section 1 -8 will help to alleviate the workload of
the Police Department Court Liaison and City Attorney staff in amending
misdemeanor charges to infractions, as well as create efficiencies in
processing and prosecuting these criminal citations in the court system.
SECTION 2. The adoption of this ordinance is exempt from the California
Environmental Quality Act and a Notice of Exemption will be filed if this ordinance is
adopted.
SECTION 3. Section 1 -8 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code is hereby amended
such that it reads as follows (new language underlined, deleted language in strikeout for
tracking purposes only):
Sec. 1 -8. - Violations - General penalty; continuing violations; adjudging fines and
imprisonment; alternative enforcement.
Unless otherwise specifically stated in this Code, it shall be unlawful and a
misdemeanor for any person to violate or fail to comply with any provision of this Code
and where no specific penalty is provided therefor in this Code, the violation of any
provision of this Code shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars
($1,000.00) or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six (6) months or by both such
fine and imprisonment. However, any such violation constituting a misdemeanor under
this Code may, at his or her discretion, be prosecuted by the city attorney and cited by
the issuing officer as an infraction. Each day any violation of any provision of this Code
shall continue shall constitute a separate offense.
As an alternative enforcement method, violations of this Code may be addressed
through the use of an administrative citation as set forth in sections 1 -21.1 through 1-
21.9. Use of sections 1 -21.1 through 1 -21.9 shall not prevent the use of other methods
of enforcement or abatement as provided by this Code. Such methods include but are
not limited to criminal and civil actions.
SECTION 4. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this
ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any
court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining
portions of this ordinance. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana hereby declares that
it would have adopted this ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause,
phrase or portion thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections,
subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions be declared invalid or
unconstitutional.
Ordinance No. NS -2882
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(tlj 08- 10 -15)
ADOPTED this 1St day of September, 2015.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Sonia R. Carvalho, City Attorney
LJdd
By:
eresa
Assistant City Attorney
AYES: Councilmembers: Amezcua, Benavides, Martinez, Pulido, Reyna,
Sarmiento, Tinaiero (7)
NOES: Councilmembers: None (0)
ABSTAIN: Councilmembers:
NOT PRESENT: Councilmembers:
CERTIFICATE OF ATTESTATION AND ORIGINALITY
I, Maria D. Huizar, Clerk of the Council, do hereby attest to and certify that the attached
Ordinance No. NS -2882 to be the original ordinance adopted by the City Council of the
City of Santa Ana on September 1, 2015 and that said ordinance was published in
accordance with the Charter of the City of Santa Ana.
Date: "� 6" a4,--z- -
Clerk of the Council
City of Santa Ana
Ordinance No. NS -2882
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