CITY OF TALLAHASSEE
CITY COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED ON: January 28, 2009
SUBJECT/TITLE: Public Hearing on Ordinance No. 08-O-71; Amending the Code of General Ordinances Providing Specific Criminal 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.

Under separate cover, a proposed ordinance amendment will change the general penalty provision in section 1-7 to a civil citation. In order to provide for criminal penalties for the violation of specific ordinances, each ordinance is being amended to provide for criminal penalties in the body of the ordinance.

Also, a review of the current City of Tallahassee Code of General Ordinances has determined that there are several sections that make certain activities a criminal violation where there is an identical criminal offense in the Florida Statutes. The proposed ordinance (introduced on December 3, 2008) will delete those ordinances as redundant, to wit:

4-5 / Cruelty (Confinement of animals without food or water – section 828.13, F.S.)
4-54 / Procedure upon Citation. (included in Tallahassee Code section 1-7)
12-1 / Adoption of state misdemeanors.
12-31 / Defacing, damaging street posts, utility poles, signs, lamps, trees (Criminal Mischief–section 806.13, F.S.)
12-32 / Defacing streets and sidewalks (Criminal Mischief – section 806.13, F.S.)
12-33 / Fraudulent accosting (Cheating – section 817.29, F.S.)
12-92 / Peeping Toms (Voyeurism – section 810.14, F.S.)
20-108 / Defacing, injuring meters (Criminal Mischief – section 806.13, F.S.)
22-100 / Refusal to pay taxi fare (Petit Theft – section 812.014)

RECOMMENDED ACTION
Option 1. Conduct public hearing and adopt Ordinance No. 08-O-71.

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.

Under separate cover, a proposed ordinance amendment will change the general penalty provision in section 1-7 to a civil citation. In order to provide for criminal penalties for the violation of specific ordinances, each ordinance is being amended to provide for criminal penalties in the body of the ordinance.

Also, a review of the current City of Tallahassee Code of General Ordinances has determined that there are several sections that make certain activities a criminal violation where there is an identical criminal offense in the Florida Statutes. The proposed ordinance will delete those ordinances as redundant, to wit:

4-6 / Cruelty (Confinement of animals without food or water – section 828.13, F.S.)
4-55 / Procedure upon Citation. (included in Tallahassee Code section 1-7)
12-1 / Adoption of state misdemeanors.
12-34 / Defacing, damaging street posts, utility poles, signs, lamps, trees. (Criminal Mischief – section 806.13, F.S.)
12-35 / Defacing streets and sidewalks (Criminal Mischief – section 806.13, F.S.)
12-36 / Fraudulent accosting (Cheating – section 817.29, F.S.)
12-93 / Peeping Toms (Voyeurism – section 810.14, F.S.)
20-109 / Defacing, injuring meters (Criminal Mischief – section 806.13, F.S.)
22-101 / Refusal to pay taxi fare (Petit Theft – section 812.014)

FISCAL IMPACT
None

OPTIONS
1. Conduct public hearing and adopt Ordinance No. 08-O-71.

2. Conduct public hearing and do not adopt Ordinance No. 08-O-71.

ATTACHMENTS/REFERENCES
Ordinance No. 08-O-71