Fowler Municipal Code Ch. 7 Code Enforcement Officers—citation Authority

Subject to creation of the position of Code Enforcement Officer by the City Council, the City Manager shall have the authority to appoint a Code Enforcement Officer. The City Manager may also designate existing employees to serve as Code Enforcement Officers.

(Ord. 2001-03 § 1, 5-17-01)

Code Enforcement Officers appointed by the City Manager shall have a duty to enforce provisions of this Code, except where enforcement is specifically assigned to other enforcement agencies, and except where the City Manager limits the enforcement authority in the appointment.

(Ord. 2001-03 § 1, 5-17-01)

Code Enforcement Officers, as designated in this chapter, who have the duty to enforce the provisions of this code, may, pursuant to Sections 836.5, 853.5 and 853.6 of the California Penal Code, issue a citation in the form of a NOTICE TO APPEAR to a person where any such Code Enforcement Officer has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be issued the citation has violated a provision of this code in the Code Enforcement Officer's presence, which the Code Enforcement Officer has the duty to enforce, and therefore, has committed a misdemeanor, misdemeanor/infraction or infraction.

(Ord. 2001-03 § 1, 5-17-01)

A Code Enforcement Officer exercising his authority pursuant to this chapter shall release the person to be issued a citation on his or her written promise to appear in court. The Code Enforcement Officer shall under no circumstances take the person to be issued a citation into custody.

(Ord. 2001-03 § 1, 5-17-01)

In the event that the person to be issued a citation refuses to provide his or her written promise to appear in court, or demands to be taken before the magistrate, the Code Enforcement Officer must either summon a Fowler Police Officer, explain the situation, and request that the police officer arrest the person and take the person into custody, or seek assistance of the City Attorney and request that a complaint be prepared and filed against that person.

(Ord. 2001-03 § 1, 5-17-01)

Before a Code Enforcement Officer of the City may issue a citation pursuant to this chapter, the Code Enforcement Officer must complete a special enforcement training program established and administered at the discretion of the Chief of Police. The training program shall be designed to instruct Code Enforcement Officers regarding (1) the provisions of this code to be enforced, (2) the evidentiary prerequisites to proper prosecution for violations thereof, and (3) the appropriate procedures for issuing citations and limitations attendant thereto. The Chief of Police may determine that satisfactory completion of the initial course of training provided by the Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training, as set forth in Penal Code Section 832, satisfies some or all of the training requirements.

(Ord. 2001-03 § 1, 5-17-01)

The Code Enforcement Officers having a duty to enforce the provision of this code, and who exercise the authority to issue a citation pursuant to this chapter, shall maintain a file of executed citations and such citations shall be filed with the appropriate court.

(Ord. 2001-03 § 1, 5-17-01)

Notwithstanding that a violation of a provision of this code which a Code Enforcement Officer has a duty to enforce is a misdemeanor, the Code Enforcement Officers may, pursuant to Section 1-2.01 of this code, issue the citation as an infraction.

(Ord. 2001-03 § 1, 5-17-01)

The City Manager may issue guidelines and procedures for the issuance of citations for violating provisions of the Municipal Code.

(Ord. 2001-03 § 1, 5-17-01)