CITY OF TALLAHASSEE
CITY COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED ON: January 28, 2009
SUBJECT/TITLE: Public Hearing on Ordinance No. 08-O-70; Amending the Code of General Ordinances Relating to General Penalties and Providing Specific Civil Penalties
TARGET ISSUE:

STATEMENT OF ISSUE
Article VIII, Section 2(b), of the Florida Constitution authorizes municipalities to “exercise any power for municipal purposes except as otherwise provide by law.” One of the most frequent exercises of municipal authority has been the enactment of municipal ordinances, the violation of which have been designated as criminal offenses. In furtherance of the City’s authority to create criminal ordinance violations, Tallahassee City Code Section 1-7 was created to define the general penalties associated with “a violation of this Code” as “a person convicted of a violation of this Code shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500.00, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 60 days, or any combination thereof”. This penalty is the relevant equivalent to the commission of a second-degree misdemeanor under Florida law.

In 1998, Florida citizens approved by referendum a revision to Article V of the Florida Constitution, to require funding of the judicial branch of state government by the State and not local governments. In 2003, the legislature passed omnibus legislation in furtherance of the changes in Article V to require local governments to pay for the filing, prosecution and defense of individuals criminally charged with violations of local ordinance. In City of Fort Lauderdale v. Crowder, et al., (Case nos. 4D07-2264, 4D07-2265, and 4D07-2454, April 30, 2008), the Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld the requirement for the City of Fort Lauderdale to pay the costs of representing indigent defendants for violations of municipal ordinances.

Recently TPD received notice from the Office of the Public Defender that they would not be providing representation for indigent defendants charged with municipal ordinance violations after November 1, 2008, unless they were contracted with the City to provide representation. The City would be liable for payment up to $400 per case. A review of TPD’s database indicated that in 2007 there were 77 stand-alone ordinance violations which if applied, would cost the City approximately $30,000.

Currently, there are several criminal ordinances in the Tallahassee Code that can be effectively enforced with civil penalties tied to the violation in lieu of criminal prosecution. The proposed ordinance amendments will change the general penalty provision in section 1-7 to a civil citation, and designate several ordinance violations as civil infractions. The ordinance was introduced on December 3, 2008.

RECOMMENDED ACTION
1. Conduct public hearing and adopt Ordinance No. 08-O-70.

James R. English, City Attorney

For Information, please contact: Jim English, City Attorney, Ext. 8554

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL/ISSUE ANALYSIS
HISTORY/FACTS & ISSUES
Article VIII, Section 2(b), of the Florida Constitution authorizes municipalities to “exercise any power for municipal purposes except as otherwise provide by law.” One of the most frequent exercises of municipal authority has been the enactment of municipal ordinances, the violation of which have been designated as criminal offenses. In furtherance of the City’s authority to create criminal ordinance violations, Tallahassee City Code Section 1-7 was created to define the general penalties associated with “a violation of this Code” as “a person convicted of a violation of this Code shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500.00, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 60 days, or any combination thereof”. This penalty is the relevant equivalent to the commission of a second-degree misdemeanor under Florida law.

In 1998, Florida citizens approved by referendum a revision to Article V of the Florida Constitution, to require funding of the judicial branch of state government by the State and not local governments. In 2003, the legislature passed omnibus legislation in furtherance of the changes in Article V to require local governments to pay for the filing, prosecution and defense of individuals criminally charged with violations of local ordinance. In City of Fort Lauderdale v. Crowder, et al., (Case nos. 4D07-2264, 4D07-2265, and 4D07-2454, April 30, 2008), the Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld the requirement for the City of Fort Lauderdale to pay the costs of representing indigent defendants for violations of municipal ordinances.

Recently TPD received notice from the Office of the Public Defender that they would not be providing representation for indigent defendants charged with municipal ordinance violations after November 1, 2008, unless they were contracted with the City to provide representation. The City would be liable for payment up to $400 per case. A review of TPD’s database indicated that in 2007 there were 77 stand-alone ordinance violations which if applied, would cost the City approximately $30,000.

FISCAL IMPACT
None

OPTIONS
1. Conduct public hearing and adopt Ordinance No. 08-O-70.

2. Conduct public hearing and do not adopt Ordinance No. 08-O-70.

ATTACHMENTS/REFERENCES
Ordinance No. 08-O-70