Agenda 01-18-22; 8-a - Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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7 1 There has been discussion previously by Board members about the necessity for the 2 misdemeanor penalty provisions of some ordinances. Contrary to what may be generally 3 believed, the goal of the penalty sections of the ordinances is compliance rather than 4 punishment. Generally a civil citation for a violation would issue prior to any misdemeanor 5 citation. And, for the most part, once the offender is in compliance the civil penalty, if any was 6 assessed, may be waived in whole or in part depending on the circumstances. Having a 7 misdemeanor option is another avenue to encourage compliance either through the threat of 8 enforcement or when a civil penalty fails. The only ordinance violations that regularly involve 9 misdemeanor penalties are violations of the Animal Control Ordinance. When misdemeanor 10 violations are charged, the outcome is out of the hands of County staff and is decided by the 11 District Attorney. For these reasons misdemeanor penalties are rarely pursued for violations of 12 ordinances other than for violations of the Animal Control Ordinance. 13 14 John Roberts reviewed the background information for the item. He said several months 15 ago, the Governor signed a bill into law that is the result of several years of research done by 16 the General Assembly, looking at each county and city's ordinances for misdemeanor 17 provisions. He said he believes the intention was to remove most misdemeanor authority from 18 local governments. He said the advisory committee for the study came back with a limitation on 19 what local governments could adopt misdemeanor penalties for. He said the documents 20 provided in the agenda packet were actually a draft, and he will share his screen to show to 21 correct final documents. 22 John Roberts focused on subsection b1 as written above, which has the limitation. He 23 said the LIDO has to be amended, and will be on the December 14, 2021 agenda. He said this 24 evening the Board will see subsection 2, which refers to ordinances regulating businesses. He 25 said he is recommending addressing with amendments to misdemeanor language. He said 26 much of subsection b1 is not something for which Orange County has an ordinance. He said 27 prior boards have asked why misdemeanor penalties are there at all. He said these are not 28 something intended to fine or convict people, but rather are intended to encourage compliance. 29 He said most ordinances have multiple avenues for pursuing penalties, including civil and 30 criminal penalties up to a Class 3 misdemeanor. He said since he has been at the county, he is 31 not aware of any misdemeanors being enforced other than the Animal Control Ordinance. He 32 said the Board can look at removing misdemeanors in the future if it would like. He said the first 33 section has some minor amendments to change the misdemeanor language, and the second 34 thing is readopting misdemeanors as a best practice measure to address the new method 35 imposed by the General Assembly. He said there are very few sections where he is 36 recommending the Board make any change. He reviewed the few changes. 37 Chair Price said the language in the ordinance is "punished by a fine", and asked John 38 Roberts to clarify his point that these provisions are not intended as punishment. She said it 39 seems contradictory to say this. 40 John Roberts said a fine can be a civil fine as well. He said this language is in here 41 because some of the misdemeanor language refers back to 1-7, and he felt it needed to be 42 clearer. He asked if the Board would like to change this. 43 Chair Price said no because she does not have any alternate suggestions, but just 44 wanted to point out the language of the ordinance goes against the idea that these provisions 45 are in place to encourage compliance, rather than impose punishment. 46 John Roberts said since he has been with the county, the only misdemeanors enforced 47 were for violations of the Animal Control Ordinance. 48 John Roberts continued his presentation. He went over the section where he is 49 recommending no changes as shown in the background information for the item and on 50 Attachment 1. He said he is asking the Board to readopt these sections at the December 14, 51 2021 meeting. He clarified that no vote on this is necessary tonight.