HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Statement 1988/09/27 Item 12
.
COUNCIL AGENDA STATEMENT
Item 12
Meeting Date 9/27/88
ITEM TITLE:
Ordinance 2.;2. fY- Amending Sections 1. 20. 010 and 1. 20. 020 and
Adding Sections 1.20.030 and 1.20.040 to the Chula Vista
Municipal COde/~jng to Violations of the Municipal Code
City Attornery f-- _SECOND Hw\DING AND ADOPTION
\./
(4/5ths Vote: Yes___No~)
SUBMITTED BY:
The proposed amendment would make all city Code violations punishable as
either misdemeanors or infractions.
RECOMMENDATION: Place the ordinance on its first reading
BOARDS/<n1MISSIONS RECOMMENDATION: N/A
DISCUSSION:
Approximately ten years ago, the City Code was changed to make all violations
infractions. Previously violations of the Code had been misdemeanors. The
.eason for that change was that most violations of the Code did not involve
ery serious crimes and it was rare when a court would impose a sentence of
imprisonment. Since misdemeanors carried with them a right to court appointed
counsel at the taxpayer's expense and a jury trial, we were forced to comply
with an expensive procedure with very little return when the defendant was
found guilty.
Overall, the change from misdemeanors to infractions worked very well.
Cumbersome procedures were eliminated and the courts have been good at using
their power to fine in order to coerce defendants into complying with law.
When defendants are intransigent, the courts have imposed heavy fines. Last
year, we introduced the "wobbler" which allows us to prosecute a violation as
either a misdemeanor or an infraction. We limited application of the
"wobbler" statute to certain violations dealing with loitering, gambling and
drinking. There are occasions when violations of a number of sections of the
Code become so obnoxious as to warrant a misdemeanor charge. This occurs when
a defendant flatly refuses to correct the condition after numerous attempts to
gain compliance or where the violation constitutes a severe nuisance to the
neighbors. In these instances, it would be valuable to charge these offenses
as misdemeanors with the potential for heavier penalties.
The proposed amendments would make all violations of the City Code "wobblers"
and give the prosecutor discretion to charge them as either infractions or
misdemeanors. Consistent with California Penal Code Section 17, the defendant
would have an opportunity to demand that an infraction be charged as a
.isdemeanor, but this is unlikely to happen. We would intend to continue
harging violations as infractions in the vast majority of the cases. Only in
the most egregious of circumstances would we opt for a misdemeanor charge.
FISCAL IMPACT: N/A
4503a
()-d-;J~r-
by the City CO'J,1";i of
Chula Vista, C::;iif rnia
Dated 9~; Irr
" /
.
.
.
.
I
~t
'-i
-.;1