City Administrator Tina Volek directed the City Attorney’s office to research decriminalization of certain minor misdemeanor criminal offenses. The City Administrator and several City departments including Municipal Court, City Attorneys, Police and Planning have met on multiple occasions to evaluate and refine the ordinance and the listed decriminalized offenses.

Montana Code Annotated section 7-1-4150 (2007) permits a municipality to decriminalize certain state and city offenses, which then become civil infractions as opposed to criminal law violations.  An infraction can be presented in court by the officer who issued the citation or ticket, and the infraction must be proven by a preponderance of the evidence, as opposed to the higher criminal standard of beyond a reasonable doubt.

The procedure at trial is less formal than a criminal trial and more similar to a small claims court procedure. The accused is entitled to a bench (non-jury) trial on the merits, but not a jury trial. A person charged with a municipal infraction is not facing the possibility of jail time, but can only be sentenced to a fine and, in some cases, a specific order of abatement. For the offenses specified in the attached draft ordinance, it is more appropriate to charge individuals with civil infractions for minor offenses such as certain code violations and parking violations, as opposed to charging them with a criminal offense.

If the ordinance is approved and formally adopted by the City Council, procedures will be developed to allow defendants to mail in fines in lieu of contesting a violation in person, which will make the process less cumbersome for those who don’t wish to contest a traffic ticket. 

If the first reading is approved by the Council, a second reading will be scheduled for the consent agenda of January 11, 2009.  The ordinance would go into effect 30 days after approval on the second reading.

Council must hold a public hearing and then may:

• Approve Ordinance on first reading; or 
• Not approve Ordinance on first reading.

There is little anticipated cost to the City to enact this ordinance. There may be minor printing costs if a separate citation form is deemed appropriate and helpful. This new ordinance is intended to expedite the processing of many minor offenses through the court system and free up resources in the Municipal Court and City Attorney’s Office. Surcharge revenue for the City will not change, as surcharges currently collected and forwarded to the City general fund on any criminal offenses will be collected and forwarded in the same manner after designated offenses are decriminalized. Surcharges currently collected and forwarded to the State pursuant to State Law will be collected and forwarded to the State in the same manner after designated offenses are decriminalized.

Staff recommends that the Council approve the Municipal Infraction Ordinance upon first reading.