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Memo-Administrative Citation Program :, J , 0 ~, DATE: June 23, 2003 TO: Chief Gerdes FROM: Lieutenant Goldstein SUBJECT: Administrative Citation Program Per your request, I have had an opportunity to discuss the notion of an Administrative Citation Program (ACP) with a number of individuals last week. I have directly talked with representatives from the White Bear Lake Police Department, the Columbia Heights Police Department, the City of Hopkins City Manager, Mr. Steve Mielke, along with Mr. Elliott Knetsch and Mr. Joel Jamnik from our City Attorney's office. In speaking with these individuals about the ACP, I have identified both positive and negative aspects for your consideration. In reviewing this concept, I first spoke with Elliott Knetsch who provided me with a historical overview of how this program was initiated. In 86 counties within the State of Minnesota, a municipality is entitled to 1/3 of the fine revenue generated from a citation/charge. The rest of the money goes to the county. However, in cases where the municipality's City Attorney appears in court, the city will then receive 2/3 of the fine amount leaving the county with the remaining 1/3. Yet, Hennepin County is unique and utilizes a different formula. Several years ago, Hennepin County mandated that all of its municipalities were responsible for paying their own prisoner's Hennepin County Workhouse costs. In response to that decision, the county agreed to let its municipalities keep 100% of all (imposed) fine revenues. **However, recently, in order to cover their administrative costs, the county has added a $5.00 per count charge and a $10.00 to $15.00 flat fee to all of its citations/cases. These fees were in addition to the legislated fines. Then, there are various surcharges that have been imposed by the State of Minnesota that are again above and beyond the fine and county administrative fees. According to Elliott there is no significant advantage to administering a program of this nature in Hennepin County with respect to revenue generation alone. Elliott also cautioned against potential double jeopardy issues despite the fact that the ACP is a civil action. If a municipality offers an administrative hearing for contested citations, where quasi-testimony is heard in relation to self-incrimination, that information might be censored if the case would move into criminal court for a final disposition. While this has not yet been tested, it is a concern. ; ~, Also, if a citation is written for speeding under the city ordinance using the ACP in lieu of the traditional county citation, and the case ultimately ends up in criminal court, the court will not certify the ordinance violation to the Department of Public Safety. With all ofthis in mind, Elliott did indicate that the Hennepin County Judicial Bench would appreciate any mechanism that would reduce its caseload. So, while he would not want this program to initially include traffic violations, it might be a reasonable program for other miscellaneous city code violations. I next spoke with Joel Jamnik after reading his memorandum that was addressed to you. Joel has experience with this issue and offers a similar argument that was initially presented by Roger Knutson via a previous email. Joel indicates that, "the Minnesota legislature has not offered any expressed statutory authority to its municipalities for establishing an administrative enforcement system. The only authorized mechanism is for liquor and tobacco license violations." In conjunction with Joel's thoughts, he argues that while a number of municipalities have incorporated this system e.g. Minnetonka, Roseville, Buffalo, Spring Lake Park, and Fergus Falls, they are only doing so to enforce miscellaneous city code violations. Most municipalities do not have the infrastructure in place to handle a large volume of cases that traffic violations might cause. The City of Plymouth would need to create a process to manage this program and would need to hire an impartial third party to hear any disputes. The violations would need to be tracked and who would be responsible to collect unpaid fines? The City would have no authority to issue warrants or assess out-of-city residents. Joel believes that the traditional criminal court process is a better venue for traffic infractions. Joel and Elliott agree that for cities outside of Hennepin County, there is a greater upside to this program. For those municipalities that only receive 1/3 ofthe fine revenue, the cost benefit might be in their favor to implement the ACP. While there is a cost to administer the project, they might ultimately be money ahead in that they are receiving 100% of whatever fine is collected versus the traditional 1/3. It would appear that there are at least two local communities, outside of Hennepin County, (White Bear Lake and Columbia Heights) who have authorized its police officers to issue administrative citations for traffic infractions along with other city ordinance violations. . In speaking with Captain Beck from the White Bear Lake Police Department, their department instituted this practice several years ago. They wanted to offer their officers another option for traffic enforcement. The city created a fine schedule that closely mirrored the legislated fines less any administrative fees and surcharges. Here, officers can issue citations using their adopted city ordinance to enforce their city's traffic laws. For speeding citations, officers may use the ACP only if the violation was no more than 10 mph over the posted limit. However, officers can stop someone for 15 mph over and simply write 9 mph over the limit on the administrative citation. Captain Beck advised that this program was not created to capture greater revenues. He states that their department wanted another tool for its officers. Many times officers have difficulty writing someone with a clean record a citation, knowing that the fine is high and that the violation will go on their driving record. Here, officers have a method to mitigate the impact. '\ . Captain Beck believes that their program is a success and maintains that the ACP does have an impact on one's driving behavior. He claims that their residents appreciate the program. White Bear Lake has created an administrative hearing process and they have hired a retired court clerk to hear the cases. on a weekly basis. Captain Beck indicated that very few cases are heard and that most people pay the fine within the seven-day time frame. If the violator does not pay the fine, the department will then issue the violator a county citation and the case is referred to criminal court. Captain Beck stated that the program was well received by the officers and they have clearly retained their discretion as to when the administrative citations are issued. However, they cannot be issued in matters involving motor vehicle accidents. I then spoke with Cheray Olson from the Columbia Heights Police Department. Ms. Olson is their ACP coordinator. Ms. Olson stated that the city has had an ACP program in place for several years and it was used for miscellaneous city code violations. However, in April 2003, their city council authorized the police department to use the ACP for traffic infractions. The city adopted a fine schedule and since this inception, the department has written over 500 citations using this new method. The city does not offer an administrative hearing. If a violator does not pay within 30 days, or if they challenge the citation, a county tag is written (by a volunteer) and it is submitted to the traditional county court process. The city offers no due process; it simply refers people to criminal court. . Ms. Olson indicated that the officers were indifferent to the notion. Those officers who typically write several citations still do; and now they have another option to utilize. Ms. Olson has created two databases, one for their finance department and another for the police department. Officers have the ability to see if an individual has been offered an administrative citation in the past via their mobile digital computers. Typically, violators only get one opportunity with the ACP. Whereas in White Bear Lake, an additional $25.00 assessment is added to each subsequent violation within the same 12 month period. Ms. Olson clearly stated that the reason their city council adopted this practice was to increase the city's ability to capture fine revenues. Ms. Olson advised that with the budget deficit and due to the fact that their city was only eligible for a portion ofthe fine revenue, this option helps alleviate those concerns. During this study, I also spoke with City of Hopkins City Manager, Steve Mielke. Mr. Mielke advised that he had assigned one of his staff members to study this program. He indicated that they were taking a preliminary look at this possibility and that ifhis staff member had any useful information for us, he would have that individual call me directly. As oftoday, I have not heard from anyone. . In reviewing this potential program, it would appear that there are some positive aspects to consider. This system would reduce the amount of court cases heard by Hennepin County Criminal Court. The City of Plymouth would be able to utilize this option for all city code violations including traffic, if so desired. With this tool, police officers would be able to enforce traffic violations with another option. Whether this would increase the number of citations issued is unknown. , .. . 'j; i , ' I;. . The negative components do not necessarily out weigh the positive aspects, but they are significant. Due to the current system in Hennepin County, we already receive 100% of all fine revenue. This is always true, unless the judge mitigates the legislated fine to zero. With that, to create, implement, and manage the ACP, there would be an undetermined cost. If we were to provide an administrative hearing component, we would also need to hire a part-time hearing officer. Despite the costs, and the time it would take to mange this ongoing opportunity, the City still needs to work with the City Attorney's office to clarify the program's legality. Also, the City would need to determine what type of long-term impact this program might have on those State agencies that utilize the surcharges that are generated from our traditional criminal court process. Due to the context in which this program was described to be studied, I have not spoken with those communities that have adopted this program for general city code violations only. However, in speaking with Joel Jamnik, it would appear that these cities have found success with their programs. Attached you will find an email from Roger Knutson, a memorandum from Joel Jamnik, and information from the cities of White Bear Lake and Columbia Heights. If you desire any other information, please advise at your convenience.