Lodi Municipal Code Art. III Administrative Citations

A. Any person violating any provisions of this code, adopted uniform codes, or applicable state code may be issued an administrative citation by a community improvement officer as provided in this chapter.

B. Each and every day a violation of this code, adopted uniform codes, or applicable state code exists constitutes a separate and distinct offense.

C. An administrative fine shall be assessed by means of an administrative citation issued by the community improvement officer and shall be payable directly to the city unless otherwise noted on the citation.

D. Fines assessed by means of an administrative citation shall be collected in accordance with the procedures specified in this chapter.

(Ord. 1777 § 1 (part), 2006)

A. Upon discovering any violation of this code, adopted uniform codes, or applicable state codes, a community improvement officer may issue an administrative citation to a responsible person in the manner prescribed in this chapter. The administrative citation shall be issued on a form approved by the city attorney.

B. If the responsible person is a commercial business, the community improvement officer shall attempt to locate the business owner and issue the business owner an administrative citation. If the code enforcement officer can only locate the manager of the commercial business, the administrative citation may be given to the manager of the business. A copy of the administrative citation shall also be mailed to the business owner or responsible person in the manner prescribed in this chapter.

C. The administrative citation shall be signed by the issuing code enforcement officer.

D. Method of Service.

1. Signature. Once the responsible person is located, the code enforcement officer shall attempt to obtain the signature of that person on the administrative citation. However, if the responsible person refuses or fails to sign the administrative citation, it shall not affect the validity of the citation and subsequent proceedings.

2. If the community improvement officer is unable to locate the responsible person, then the administrative citation shall be mailed to the responsible person in the manner prescribed in this chapter.

3. Posting. If no one can be located at the property, then the administrative citation shall be posted in a conspicuous place on or near the property and a copy subsequently mailed to the responsible person in the manner prescribed by this chapter.

E. A copy of the administrative citation shall thereafter be mailed to the responsible person and to the owner of the property if different from the responsible person in the manner prescribed by this chapter. The failure of any person with an interest in the property to receive notice shall not affect the validity of any proceedings taken under this chapter.

(Ord. 1777 § 1 (part), 2006)

Any administrative citation that is issued shall contain all of the following information:

A. The date and location of the violations and the approximate time the violations were observed;

B. The code sections violated and a brief description of how the sections are violated;

C. Where appropriate, the action required to correct the violations;

D. Set forth a deadline by which the violations must be corrected and the consequences of failing to comply;

E. The amount of fine imposed for the violations, if any;

F. An explanation as to how the fine shall be paid and the time period by which it shall be paid, and the consequences of failure to pay the fine; and

G. Identify all rights and procedures of appeal.

(Ord. 1777 § 1 (part), 2006)

An appeal from the issuance of an administrative citation shall follow the procedures set forth in this chapter.

(Ord. 1777 § 1 (part), 2006)

A. If the responsible person fails to correct the violation, subsequent administrative citations may be issued for the same violations. The amount of the fine shall increase at a rate specified in subsection B of this section.

B. The fines assessed for each administrative citation issued for the same violations shall be as follows:

C. Payment of the fine shall not excuse the failure to correct the violations nor shall it bar further enforcement action by the city.

D. All fines assessed shall be payable to the city, unless otherwise directed on the citation.

E. The community development director is authorized, under direction and upon approval of the city attorney, to establish policies and procedures for the certification, decertification, and conduct of the community awareness and responsibility education classes, to establish that persons receiving a fine under an administrative citation have the option of attending a certified community awareness and responsibility education class prior to the citation becoming delinquent in lieu of paying the fine. A person may not use this option more than once in any twelve-month period.

F. For all delinquent, unpaid administrative citation fines, there shall be a penalty imposed in the amount of ten percent of the citation fine amount and an additional one percent per month of the total amount of such fine for each month during the time that said fine remains unpaid after its delinquency date. The delinquency date for an administrative citation fine shall be sixty days following the imposition of the fine, or the appeal determination of the administrative hearing officer, whichever is later.

(Ord. 1777 § 1 (part), 2006)

The failure of any person to pay the fines assessed by an administrative citation within the time specified on the citation may result in the director referring the matter to the finance department or other designated agent for collection. Alternatively, the director shall pursue any other legal remedy to collect the fines including, but not limited to, those remedies provided in Title 1, Chapter 1.08 of this code.

(Ord. 1777 § 1 (part), 2006)

Administrative fines collected pursuant to this article shall be deposited into the special revenue fund.

(Ord. 1777 § 1 (part), 2006)