That the City Council approve the agreement between the City of La Habra and the Orange County District Attorney for the Criminal Prosecution of City of La Habra ordinances. 

Violations of the City of La Habra's Ordinances (Municipal Code Violations) are investigated by City staff and documented on city crime reports. Criminal citations are issued by staff to alleged violators, who are then required to appear in court.  “Referrals for Complaints” occur when copies of the reports and citations are forwarded to the Orange County District Attorney's office or to the City Attorney for review and potential filing of charges for court prosecution. When a prosecution is authorized by either the Orange County District Attorney office or the City Attorney, a complaint is filed with the court charging the violator (defendant) with the applicable City Ordinance violation. When a “Not Guilty” plea is entered by defendants on such complaints, it requires the District Attorney's office or the City Attorney to proceed with prosecution by means of a jury trial.

Under an existing agreement, the City of La Habra is charged a flat fee by the Orange County District Attorney's office to review “Referrals for Complaints” and, when applicable, for the District Attorney's office to oversee the prosecution of cases. The current agreement for prosecution services of City Ordinances by the Orange County District Attorney's office is in its fifth and final year, and will expire on June 30, 2023.  Pursuant to Section 51302 of the Government Code, the agreement period may not be extended beyond five years without the approval of both parties. If approved by Council, the attached agreement will establish a new five-year term for these services, beginning on July 1, 2023, and ending on June 30, 2028.

The proposed cost for each prosecution of a City Ordinance violation by the Orange County District Attorney's office is $301.43. This reflects a $43.28, or 16.8%, increase from the previous agreements pricing $258.15 per prosecution. These are flat rate fees per case and do not increase if the case proceeds to jury trial, unless the trial exceeds one day in duration. 

Under the proposed terms of the new agreement, for trials that exceed one day, the City of La Habra would be required to pay an hourly rate fee that has increased from the previous agreement. The current hourly rate fee for attorney time is $158.15 per hour and will be increased by $25.59 per hour (a 16.2% increase) to $183.74 per hour in the new agreement. The current hourly rate fee for clerical services is $100 per hour and will be increased by $17.69 per hour (a 17.7% increase) to $117.69 per hour.

The costs associated with prosecuting City Ordinance violations are a General Fund expense and $7,000 has been budgeted in the proposed Fiscal Year 2023-2024 La Habra Police Department budget for this cost. Over the past three years, the City has spent an average of approximately $2,000 per year to prosecute City Ordinance violations through the Orange County District Attorney's office.

In addition, this recommended action is consistent with the following aspects of the City of La Habra Goals and Objectives:

Goal 1 -- Public Safety
Objective G: Improve and enhance traffic and pedestrian safety through regular traffic enforcement, commercial vehicle enforcement, parking enforcement, and DUI enforcement, as well as provide to the La Habra Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan.
 

Goal 5 – Development Activity and Business Assistance
Objective A: Identify blighted properties within the community and prepare targeted strategies to address the challenge.

Objective C: Work closely with commercial and residential property-owners to improve and maintain the appearance of their properties.

Objective M: Update the City’s sign ordinance to be consistent with applicable state and federal laws, with an emphasis on ease of implementation of flexibility of application, while maintaining community aesthetic standards.

Objective R: Review the Zoning Code on an ongoing basis and process amendments that ensure compliance with recent State legislation, streamline project processing, remove unnecessary regulations, and/or make the Zoning Code easier to implement.