Sec. 3-17. - Administrative remedies; administrative citations.

(a)

This section provides for administrative citations, which are in addition to all other legal remedies, criminal or civil, which may be pursued by the county to address any violation of the County Code.

(b)

Use of this section shall be at the sole discretion of the county.

(c)

This section shall only apply to violations of the airport ordinance that occur on the airport premises.

(d)

This section is adopted pursuant to California Government Code Section 53069.4 and any successor section thereto.

(e)

This section does not apply to citations issued by an agency of the United States government. Failure to pay fines assessed by an agency of the United States government may constitute a violation of the County Code, and may subject the recipient of the fine to an administrative citation.

(Ord. No. 6090, § I(Exh. A), 12-2-2014)

(a)

Whenever an agent of the county, which for the purposes of this article shall mean the airport manager, any sheriff's officer, any traffic enforcement officer, any airport employee, or any person so designated in writing by the airport manager and charged with the enforcement of any provision of the County Code, determines that a violation of such provision has occurred, the agent of the county shall have the authority to issue an administrative citation to any responsible person for the violation.

(b)

An administrative citation on a form approved by the county may be issued to the responsible person by the agent of the county for violations of Chapter 3 of the County Code, in the following manner:

(1)

Personal service. In any case where an administrative citation is issued, the agent of the county shall attempt to locate and personally serve the responsible person, and obtain the signature of the responsible person on the administrative citation.

(i)

Any agent of the county issuing an administrative citation shall be authorized to request that the recipient of the citation produce adequate identification and sign the administrative citation.

(ii)

Failure or refusal to sign the administrative citation by the responsible person shall not affect the validity of the administrative citation or of subsequent proceedings.

(2)

Service of administrative citation by mail. If the agent of the county is unable to locate the responsible person, the administrative citation may be mailed to the responsible person by first class mail.

(3)

Service of administrative citation by posting. The agent of the county may post an administrative citation on any real property within the county in which the county has knowledge that the responsible person has a legal interest. For parking violations, the agent of the county may place an administrative citation on any vehicle owned or operated by the responsible person, and such posting shall be deemed effective service. The agent of the county shall first attempt personal service to the responsible party before posting the administrative citation on real property. Posting an administrative citation may also be used in the event service by mail has failed.

(Ord. No. 6090, § I(Exh. A), 12-2-2014)

To the extent practicable, each administrative citation shall contain the following information:

(a)

The date and time of the violation;

(b)

Name, address and phone number of the responsible person;

(c)

The address or a definite description of the location where the violation occurred;

(d)

The section of the County Code of ordinances that was violated and a description of the violation;

(e)

The amount of the fine for the Code violation;

(f)

A description of the fine payment process, including a statement of the time within which, and the location where, the fine shall be paid;

(g)

An order prohibiting the continuation or repeated occurrence of the violation described in the administrative citation;

(h)

A description of the administrative citation appeal process, including the time within which the administrative citation may be appealed and the place from which a request for hearing form to appeal the administrative citation may be obtained; and

(i)

The name and signature of the citing agent of the county.

(Ord. No. 6090, § I(Exh. A), 12-2-2014)

(a)

The fine for a violation imposed pursuant to this Section 3-17 shall be one hundred dollars ($100.00) for a first violation of this article; two hundred dollars ($200.00) for a second violation of this article within one year; and five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each additional violation within one year. If the maximum assessable fines for violations of this article are increased or decreased by operation of Government Code section 53069.4, the fines set forth herein shall automatically be adjusted to equal the maximum assessable fines.

(b)

The rates and charges resolution shall specify the amount of any late payment charges imposed for the payment of a fine after its due date.

(Ord. No. 6090, § I(Exh. A), 12-2-2014)

(a)

The fine shall be paid to the airport administrative office within twenty-one (21) days from the date of the administrative citation.

(b)

Payment of a fine under this article shall not excuse or discharge any continuation or repeated occurrence of the violation that is the subject of the administrative citation.

(Ord. No. 6090, § I(Exh. A), 12-2-2014)

(a)

Any recipient of an administrative citation may contest that there was a violation of the County Code, or that he or she is not the responsible person by completing a request for hearing form and returning it to the airport administrative office within ten (10) calendar days from the date the administrative citation is served.

(b)

A request for hearing must be in writing on a form provided by the airport administrative office.

(c)

The person requesting the hearing shall indicate if they choose to appear in person for the hearing or have the written appeal be submitted for review by the administrative review committee.

(d)

As soon as practicable, after receiving the written request for hearing, the airport administrative office shall review it for sufficiency. If found to be complete and in conformance with this section, the airport administrative office shall fix a date, time and place for hearing by the administrative review committee. Written notice of the time and place for the hearing may be served by personal service, or first class mail, to the address provided by the responsible party on the request for hearing form.

(e)

If the agent of the county submits an additional written report concerning the administrative citation to the administrative review committee for consideration at the hearing, then a copy of this report also shall be served, mailed, or provided to the person requesting the hearing at least five (5) days prior to the date of the hearing.

(Ord. No. 6090, § I(Exh. A), 12-2-2014)

The chairman of the aviation advisory commission shall appoint an administrative review committee consisting of three (3) of the airport advisory commissioners for the administrative citation hearing.

(Ord. No. 6090, § I(Exh. A), 12-2-2014)

(a)

A hearing before the administrative review committee shall be set for a date that is not less than fifteen (15) days and not more than sixty (60) days from the date that the request for hearing is filed in accordance with the provisions of this article.

(b)

At the hearing, the party contesting the administrative citation shall be given the opportunity to testify and to present evidence concerning the administrative citation.

(c)

If the recipient(s) of an administrative citation requests a hearing, and notifies the airport administrative office that they choose to appear in person for the hearing, their failure to appear in person, or to submit their written appeal for review at the administrative review committee hearing, without notifying the airport administrative office at least twenty-four (24) hours in advance, shall constitute a forfeiture of any fine that has been paid and shall constitute a failure to exhaust their administrative remedies.

(d)

The administrative citation and any additional report submitted by the agent of the county shall constitute prima facie evidence of the respective facts contained in those documents. No other proof concerning the violation shall be required to sustain a finding of conviction, provided, however, that the administrative review committee may, in its discretion, consider such other relevant evidence at the hearing.

(e)

The administrative review committee may continue the hearing and request additional information from the agent of the county or the recipient of the administrative citation prior to issuing a written decision.

(Ord. No. 6090, § I(Exh. A), 12-2-2014)

(a)

After considering all of the testimony and evidence submitted at the hearing, the administrative review committee shall issue a written decision to either uphold or cancel the administrative citation and shall list in the decision the reason for that decision.

(b)

If the administrative review committee determines that the administrative citation should be upheld, the administrative review committee shall set forth in the decision a payment schedule for the fine.

(c)

The recipient of the administrative citation shall be served with a copy of the administrative review committee's written decision. The administrative review committee's decision shall also include appeal rights pursuant to California Government Code Section 53069.4 (b) (1).

(d)

The employment, performance evaluation, compensation and benefits of the administrative review committee, if applicable, shall not be directly or indirectly conditioned upon the amount of administrative citation fines upheld by the administrative review committee.

(Ord. No. 6090, § I(Exh. A), 12-2-2014)

Any person who fails to pay to the county any fine imposed pursuant to the provisions of this section on or before the date that fine is due shall also be liable for the payment of any applicable late payment charges set forth in the rates and charges resolution.

(Ord. No. 6090, § I(Exh. A), 12-2-2014)

The county may collect any past due administrative citation fine or late payment charge by use of all available legal means.

(Ord. No. 6090, § I(Exh. A), 12-2-2014)

(a)

The administrative citation and all notices required to be given by this section shall be served on the responsible party in accordance with the provisions of Section 3-17-2, Administrative Citation Authority and Service Procedures.

(b)

Failure to receive any notice specified in this article does not affect the validity of proceedings conducted hereunder.

(Ord. No. 6090, § I(Exh. A), 12-2-2014)

Any person aggrieved by an administrative decision of the administrative review committee on an administrative citation may obtain review of the administrative decision by filing a petition for review with the Superior Court in Sonoma County in accordance with the timeliness and other provisions set forth in California Government Code Section 53069.4.

(Ord. No. 6090, § I(Exh. A), 12-2-2014)