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Tuesday, August 4, 2009
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Administering citations? Cost a deterrence with administrative citations Staff Writer After years of debate, the Legislature this year finally settled the issue of administrative citations being issued by police departments.
But while police officers now have a clearly defined law that would allow them to issue the citations for such things as speeding, several area law enforcement agencies are not planning on using them because of the cost involved.
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Brainerd Police Officer Scott Stanfield flipped through his ticket book Thursday in Brainerd. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
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Under the new law, which went into effect Saturday, cities must pass a resolution that authorizes issuing administrative citations, provide a neutral third party to hear and rule on challenges to administrative citations and peace officers can only issue these citations in limited circumstances. The state also is requiring uniform tickets for administrative citations.
The offenses for which a peace officer can issue an administrative citation are speeding under 10 mph over the posted speed limit, failing to obey a stop line and vehicle equipment violations.
A motorist who receives an administrative citation must pay a fine of $60, with two-thirds of it being used for law enforcement purposes by the city that issued the ticket and one-third going back to the state. An administrative citation will not go on a motorist's driving record and is not grounds for license revocation or suspension.
Cost is a major deterrence for some cities, especially for police departments already operating under diminished budgets.
"It would actually probably be more costly because you have to use a different set of tickets as prescribed in the legislation," said Brainerd Police Chief John Bolduc. "We don't want to incur more cost."
The Staples Police Department has been issuing administrative citations for several years, but Sgt. Doug Case said he didn't know how the department would proceed under the new law, especially if the city needs to hire a neutral third party to handle appeals.
"It may just get to be too complicated," Case said. "It's starting to sound an awful lot like court and we already got that system in place. This would be another level of bureaucracy."
Administrative citations are not new.
In 2003, several cities around Minnesota, including many in the Brainerd area, began issuing administrative citations instead of state tickets on such petty misdemeanor offenses as vehicle equipment violations, not wearing a seat belt and speeding 1-10 mph over the limit. The offense wouldn't go on a motorist's driving record and the fines were lower because cities don't share the money with counties and the state as they must with official tickets.
It was, as Baxter Police Chief Jim Exsted said in 2006, a warning ticket with a consequence.
But many cities pulled back on issuing administrative citations as both the state auditor's office and the attorney general's office issued opinions that the practice didn't appear legal. Instead, cities such as Brainerd issued administrative citations for ordinance violations.
The Baxter City Council addressed the issue July 7, but tabled the issue until its 2010 annual retreat.
Police Chief Jim Exsted said the way the new administrative citation law was passed by the Legislature this year would create a burden on officers as it sets a speed range for such citations, requires the use of tickets that are not compatible with the current records management system and would require a third-party reviewing authority.
Crosslake Police Chief Bob Hartman also cited cost as a reason he wouldn't be seeking city council approval for administrative citations.
"What I've always gone by, if we stop people for maybe a few miles per hour over the speed limit, they deserve a warning. Instead of a verbal warning, they now could be getting an administrative fine. After reading through the new statute and the new legislation it would not be cost-effective at all to implement all new citations," Hartman said.
Despite the concerns in some police departments, Pequot Lakes Police Chief Jerry Braam wants to keep using administrative citations, and he intends to present a resolution to his city council to continue issuing administrative citations.
Braam said the use of such citations by his department the past three years has been well received by motorists who get them.
Braam noted the lesser fine amount, that the ticket doesn't go on a driver's record and that the ticket doesn't impact auto insurance. "It's been a very friendly way of doing law enforcement."
But that doesn't mean Braam is completely happy with the new legislation. He said it's too restrictive in the types of offenses for which an administrative citation can be issued.
Specifically, Braam noted that in the past his officers used the citations for motorists passing on the right, especially on the two-lane Highway 371, which he said is one of the busiest stretches of road in the area.
Braam is OK with having the law defined and in place and he hopes in the future it will be expanded.
"It's what we always wanted, clarification on the law, and I think we got a good start," Braam said. "I'm not really happy how it turned out, but with it in place we've now got to work it, massage it and get it where we want it."
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
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