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TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the Common Council FROM: Lynn Lorenson, City Attorney DATE: August 27, 2024 SUBJECT: *Ord 24-484 Amend Section 13-6 of the City of Oshkosh Municipal Code Pertaining to Fireworks; and Amend Sections 13-20 and Create Section 13-21 of the City of Oshkosh Municipal Code Pertaining to Penalties for Violations of Chapter 13 for Adult and Juvenile Offenders and to Specifically Amend the Forfeiture for Violation of Ordinances Pertaining to the Possession and Use of Fireworks

BACKGROUND

At the August 14, 2024 meeting, the Common Council directed preparation of an ordinance to increase the penalties for violation of the ordinance pertaining to the possession and use of fireworks to one thousand dollars ($1000.00).

ANALYSIS

Consistent with the direction given by Council, staff has prepared an ordinance to update the provisions in Chapter 13 Fire Prevention that deal with fireworks.   Of note, as staff reviewed the ordinance we recommend two amendments to the ordinances in addition to simply increasing the forfeiture amount.  When we review ordinances for potential updates we check any statutory references, and in this case are recommending an update to the ordinance to reflect an additional specific statutory reference for possession and use of fireworks.  The second recommended amendment is to clearly separate juvenile and adult forfeiture amounts within the Chapter.   The forfeiture for both adults and juveniles was increased to $1000.00 in the draft ordinance.  Realizing that there was not discussion of juvenile forfeitures, if a council member believes that a different amount is appropriate for a juvenile, this could be accomplished by an amendment to the ordinance:  “I move to amend the proposed forfeiture for juveniles to $XX”.   In addition, Chief Smith forwarded information regarding other current forfeitures.   Chief Smith indicated that there are currently 1597 different fines for ordinance violations.  He provided the following samples of some forfeitures for council information:    No valid bartenders license 75.00  Prostitution  125.00  Adult Littering 75.00  Resisting Arrest 125.00  Juvenile Littering  50.00  Disorderly Conduct 125.00  Discharge a firearm 75.00  Open Intoxicants 75.00  Juvenile Discharge a firearm 75.00  Juvenile Open Intoxicants 50.00  Graffiti 125.00  OWI 1st offense 300.00  Juvenile Graffiti 25.00  Illegal Fireworks 75.00  Concealed Weapon 100.00  Juvenile Illegal Fireworks 50.00  Juvenile Concealed Weapon 100.00       It should be noted that court costs and in some cases surcharges would be added to the above amounts upon conviction.  For example, a $75.00 forfeiture would become $232.00 when court costs are added.  For a juvenile, court costs are limited to $5.00, making a $50.00 fine $55.00 upon conviction.

Attachments Ord 24-484 Fireworks Forfeiture Ordinance Amendment - clean Fireworks Forfeiture Ordinance Amendment - redline

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