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 (2009) permits a municipality to decriminalize certain state and city offenses which then become civil infractions as opposed to criminal law violations. The 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, we believe it much more appropriate to charge minor offenses such as certain code violations and parking violations as civil infractions, as opposed to charging people with a criminal offense.

The City Council approved the municipal infraction ordinance at first reading on December 14th, 2009. No modifications or amendments were submitted on first reading. There will be a brief delayed effective date until March 1, 2010, in order to allow the development of procedures and forms used in processing municipal infractions prior to the effective date. After using the municipal infractions for several months we will evaluate how they are working, and will amend the ordinance and procedures if necessary.

The Council may:

• Approve the Municipal Infraction Ordinance; or
• Not approve the Municipal Infraction ordinance.

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 the Council approve the municipal infraction ordinance on 2nd reading.