HomeMy WebLinkAboutNS-2674 - Amending Section 1-8 of Santa Ana Municipal Code to Grant the City Attorney Discretion to Prosecute Criminal Violations of the Code As Misdemeanors or Infractions
Icp 1/6/05
ORDINANCE NO. NS-2674
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF SANTA ANA AMENDING SECTION 1-8 OF THE
SANTA ANA MUNICIPAL CODE TO GRANT THE CITY
ATTORNEY DISCRETION TO PROSECUTE CRIMINAL
VIOLATIONS OF THE CODE AS MISDEMEANORS OR
INFRACTIONS
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA DOES ORDAIN AS
FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana hereby finds, determines
and declares as follows:
A.
Currently, except where otherwise noted, all criminal violations of the
Santa Ana Municipal Code are prosecuted as misdemeanors. The
Council desires to give the City Attorney discretion to determine whether
violations of the Santa Ana Municipal Code should be criminally
prosecuted as misdemeanors or infractions.
B.
All provisions of the Santa Ana Municipal Code that are repeated herein
are repeated solely in order to comply with the provisions of section 418 of
the Charter of the City of Santa Ana. Any such restatement of existing
provisions of the Code is not intended, nor shall it be interpreted, as
constituting a new action or decision of the City Council, but rather such
provisions are repeated for tracking purposes only in conformance with
the Charter.
Section 2. Section 1-8 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code is hereby amended to
grant the City Attomey discretion to prosecute a violation of the Code as a misdemeanor or
an infraction, such that it reads as follows (new language in bold, deleted language in
strikeout):
Sec. 1-8. Violations - General penalty; continuing violations;
adjudging fines and imprisonment; alternative enforcement.
Unless otherwise specifically stated in this Code, it shall be unlawful and
a misdemeanor for any person to violate or fail to comply with any provision of
this Code and where no specific penalty is provided therefore in this Code, the
violation of any provision of this Code shall be punished by a fine not exceeding
one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six
(6) months or by both such fine and imprisonment. However, any such
violation constituting a misdemeanor under this Code may, at the
Ordinance No. NS- 2674
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discretion of the City Attorney, be prosecuted as an infraction. Each day
any violation of any provision of this Code shall continue shall constitute a
separate offense.
As an alternative enforcement method, violations of this Code may be addressed
through the use of an administrative citation as set forth in sections 1-21.1
through 1-21.9. Use of sections 1-21.1 through 1-21.9 shall not prevent the use
of other methods of enforcement or abatement as provided by this Code. Such
methods include but are not limited to criminal and civil actions.
Section 3. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this
ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any
court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining
portions of this ordinance. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana hereby declares that it
would have adopted this ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase
or portion thereof irrespective of the fact that anyone or more sections, subsections,
sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Joseph W. Fletcher, City Attorney
7t(~
By/. -
1:orena C. Peñ za
Assistant City Attorney
AYES:
Council members:
Alvarez. Bist. Christy. Bustamante. Garcia. Pulido.
Solorio (7)
ABSENT:
Council members:
None (0)
None (0)
NOES:
Councilmembers:
ABSTAIN:
Councilmembers:
None (0)
Ordinance No. NS- 2674
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CERTIFICATE OF ATTESTATION AND ORIGINALITY
I, PATRICIA E. HEALY, Clerk of the Council, do hereby attest to and certify that the
attached Ordinance No. NS-2674 to be the original ordinance adopted by the City
Council of the City of Santa Ana on Februarv 7. 2005, and that said ordinance was
published in accordance with the Charter of the City of Santa Ana.
Date:
~IÍ 7~~
Clerk of the Council
City of Santa Ana
Ordinance No. NS- 2674
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