HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995 Ordinance No. 044ORDINANCE NO . '11
SERIES OF 1995
BY AUTHORITY
COUNCIL BILL NO . 43
INTRODUCED BY COUNCIL
MEMBER WIGGINS
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE I , CHAPl'ER 4, SECTION I, BY ADDING A NEW
SUBSECTION C. ENTITLED TRIAL BY JURY FOR JUVENILES.
WHEREAS, Lhe Colorado State Statute r egarding trial by jury for petty offenses has been
a me nded to deny Lh e right Lo a jury trial for child ren under eighteen years of age for most
mi sdemeanon and pe tty offenses when jail is no t a possible punis hm e nt: and
WHEREAS , th e Englewood Municip a l Court is ove rburdened wi th a \'e ry h eavy case load ;
a nd
WHEREAS , a reduc tio n in the cose load or the Engle wood Municipal Cou rt wo uld be in the
best interest of th e citizens of the Ci ty of Engl ewood; and
WHEREAS , it is in the inte rest of tii e citizens ofEn glewolod to preserve jud icial res ources
a nd to follow the revised State Statute;
NO W, THEREFORE , BE IT ORDAI NED BY THE C ITY COUNC iL O F THE CITY OF
ENGLEWOOD, CO LORADO , AS FOL LOWS :
&w.lw..1 . Th e Engl e wood City Counc il h ere.>y amend s Title I , Chapter 4, Sec tion I , by
adding n ne w Subsection C, entitl ed Tri al by J1 .. ry For Juv e nil es of th e En glewood Muni ci pal
Code , 1985 which shall read as follow s:
1-4•1: GENERAL PENALTY:
A. It sh all be unlawful for a ny perso n to vio la t e, a :,obt,y, om it, neglect , refu se or fail to
co mply with or re sist the enforc ement of any pro vision of thi s Code or any secondary
code a dopted herein. Exce pt as oth er wi se specifi ca ll y provid ed for in thi s Code , th e
violatio n of any prov isions of this Code .Jr Jf any sec lmd ary code a dop ted he rein shall
be punished by a fine not exceed ins fivr. hundN~ rlflH a rs ($500.00) or imprison ment for
a term not exc eeding one hundred eighty (18lll days or by bo Lh s uch fi ne a nd
imprisonm ent. Th e impositio n of one penalty sh oil not excuse any vio lat ion nor
pe nnit it to co nti nu e. Unless oth e rwise indica ted, a se pa rate offe nse sha ll be deemed
co mm itted upon eac h day or portion the reo f durin g or on which a ny vio lati on of a ny
provision of this Code or any seco ndary code adopted he rei n occurs or co ntinues. (Ord .
35 Series 1991 )
B. No jail se ntence shall be imposed upon per so n s unde r Lhe age of e ighteen (18) year s.
Thi s restric tion sh all not a ppl y to pe rsons who a re convicted of a violatio n a ri si ng out
of the op eration of a motor ve hic le. Th e term .. convi cti on" as used he rei n shall incluQe
ei ther th e entry of a pl~a of nol o contendere or gui lty to the vio lation . Any provisions to
th e co ntra ry sha ll not have sta nd ing with respect to th e pe rsons under th e age of
eighteen (18) years. (O rd . 50 Se ries l98ll
C. TRIAL BY JURY FOR J1NENILES: NO CHILD UNDER THE AGE OF EIGtrrEEN
YEARS SHALL BE ENTITLED TO A TRIAL BY JURY FOR A VIOI.ATION OF A
MUNICIPAL ORDINANCE FOR WHICH IMPRISONMENT IN JAIL IS NOT A
POSSIBLE PENALTY: EXCEPI' THAT SUCH A CHILD IS ENTITLED TO A TRIAL
BY JURY FOR ANY OFFENSE WHICH WOULD BE A CLASS I MISDEMEANOR
UNDER A STATE COUNTERPART STATUTE.
Introduced, read in full , and passed M first reading on the 7th day of August, 1995 .
Publish ed as a Bill for an Ordinance on the 10th day 01 ~gust, 19$5.
Read by title and passed on finol reading on the 2 lrt<l,y of A")"•,i l, 1995.
Published by title as Ordinance No. 'Ii., Serio;. .,,-l a!l/, un · 1,; 24 th dny of August, 1995.
lb.~ ~ tJ;J;i,; J, th
oucrishi,( ,{ Elli s. City Clerk
I, Loucrishia A. Elli s, Ci ty C lerk of the Ci ty of Englewood, C 1lorado, hereby certify tha
the above and foregoing is a true CO ij.)]Af the Ordinance passea on final rending and
......... , ""' .. o ....... ,._ ""· """ ~ '"' d,,~ -.,
1)1dJ1-1d. {fA
Loucrishia A. Ellis
Date Au gust 7, I 995
I N ITIATED BY
STAFF SOCRCE
coi;;-.;c 1L GOAL
CO N IL COMM ICATION
Agenda llt rr
11 a iv
City Auome y
Dan Brotzm, o. City Attorney
Subject An ordi nance prohibitin g
jury aials for juveniles
in municipal Cou n .
Srre:unl ining i th e Co un pr ess and rrduc ti on of com 10 the City
ISSL"E /ACTION PROPOSE D
The proposed ordinance wou ld prohi bit j ury trials for j uvenil es fo r .nost offenses in th e En glewood
.\1 un ici pal Cou n. Coun aial s to the Judge wo ul d still be pre se rved in all cases.
BACKGRO UN D
§ 16-10-109 C.R.S . Cum . Su pp . I 994. requires a j ury tri al for crime s class ifie d as pett y offe nses . It also
provi de s, ho"ever. that " ... :So child under th e age of eighteen ye ars shall be en titled 10 a trial by j ury for a
-,elatio n of a muni cipal ordinance for which imprison ment in jail is not a possi bl e pena lt y: except that suc h
a child is en ti tled 10 a tri al by jury fo r any offense which "oul d b< a Clas s I mi sde meano r under a stat e
co un terp an sta tut e .. ."'
§ 1--1-I {B) E . .\1 .C. cu rrentl y proh ibits a jail senten ce fo r anyone un der the age of eig hteen except fo r
vio lations arising fro m th e opera tio n of a motor vehi cle .
§ 16-10-109 C.R .S. would a1low the City to remove the privileg e of a jury trial for all but : {I) Poss ession
of an Illegal We apo n, (2) 3rd De gree A,sault , (3) St al.king , (-l ) Cruel ty to Animal s. and (5) Unlawfu l
Owners hip of a Dangerou s Dog . .-\ Jury tri al mus t be prese rv ed for those offen ses.
TAFF A:'IIA L YSIS
S1aff recommen ds pa ssage as 1hi s sho uld les sen the cu,e burden on the Cou n wi tho ut res tri cting j ustice for
th e defendant s due to the pres erv atio n of a jury trial in the more serio us cases. This ordinan ce would be
consis tent with State statutes .
Fl:--'A:S CIAL IMPA CT
Jurors are paid S6 a day if the y serve with a maxim um of 6 jurors per jury. bu t 15 to I 8 alte rn ates are
ailed at S3 a day fo r most j uries of 6. Costs of iss uin g su mmo ns to the po 1ential jury poo l. th e srnffing
time for collecting and de aling with the ju ry plus th e ne cessi ty of bloc king o ut cou n time to the exclusion
oi othe r cou n activities fo r a minim um of 1/2 day and frequemly for an entire day fo r a jury trial will b<
reduced .