HomeMy WebLinkAboutORDINANCE 0244-1974i
I':I!IiI!EA.%, 'lbo Alaska qupreme Fr,.rt has indicated that jury
trials are not required if) upon conviction, an of fenice Las a penalty
al)~ent of c'onnotation~ ..... ~f cri~,inuli*,.., or *he. vena~*y.. ,~.,,..., ....not jeopardize
a valuable license, and
I'tIIEREAS, avoidance of jury trials for the very rainor offenses
provides a speedy trial to the citizen at lowest possible costs to
the public treasury as welt as the citizen;
BE IT ORI)AINED BY TIlE CITY COUNCIl, OF Till{ CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA:
Section 1 Section 13-1, the Kenai Code 1963 as amen,ted is
hereby further amended to read as follows:
Penalty_
Section 13-1. Any person, firm or corporation who shall
violate any provision of this Chapter, by doin.p, any act prohibited or
declared to be unlawful thereby, or declared to be an offense, or who
shall fail to do any act required by such provision, or who shall rial
to do any act when such provision declares such failure to be unlawful
or to be an offense, upon conviction of any provision of this Chapter
shall be punished by a fine not exceeding One ltundred Dollars ($100).
Section 2 - Copies of this Ordinance shall be distributed to
all holders of the Kenai Code, 1963, to the Magistrate in charge of the
District Court for the Third Judicial District, State of Alaska and
any other interested person ~: , .f
First readin~ .__~ ..~ day 9f~1974
Passed /.7. ,'ay of
;layer an,] Council
Itc: Peduction of Penalties in Kenai Code
ltistoricall~the Kenai Code has provi4e,! penalties of .¢,Zq0 ,and 3o days
in jail tis a maximin penalty for ~ offense in thc Code. The courts
historically never im¢ose such pe~a-WFttes for drunkennes.¢, minor disputes,
trespassing, etc.
Rarely is a penalty fine exceeding $25.00 or $50.00 imposed for
almost any of the offenses listed in t:enai Code, Chapter 13.
~;'hen more serious offenses occur, enforcement officials file charges
under state statutes, which are prosecuted by the d~strict attorney
with the testimony required for trial provided by the City ~olice.
Even though the city attorney has received a statement from r;a,,,istrate
Jess Il. Nicholas, that if a matter is not a seriou~ offense, it vmn't
bear a penalty of more than $100 and vton't affect a valuable license~
a jury trial will not be required, the penalties should be lowered to
a maximum of $I00. Then the City can argue that a jury trial should
not be required for rainor offenses.
The passage of the Ordinance -74 should do the follm.:ing things:
1. ltopefully cost less money for the C, tty of Kenai's enforcement
of the lenat Code by a$~urlng that jury trials, which are expensive to
the CIW, can be avoided in some instances.
2. The reduction in penalty does not prevent charging a violation
under the City Code, but should reduce costs of trial because violations
would be tried only to a Judge.
3. If the defendant doesn't like what the magistrate does, it is
possible to appeal to another judge.
The major offenses tried by the City are usually drunk driving, reck-
less driving, or negligent driving. These offenses will still carry
the maximum, permitted penalty of .30 days in jail or $300. The monetary
penalties should he increased because the $300 limit was probably
copied from limits established 30 years ago. The city attorney believes
the .5'500 limit should be removed entirely. Removal of the limit
might require a Charter chnn~.e. Such a Charter chanf, e should be
undertaken not later than the 1st of ^u,qust, 197~, so that everything,,
would be in order when annnal elect~onq are held in October 1974.