H. B. 4734
(By Delegates Webb, Webster and Amores)
[Introduced
February 27, 2004
; referred to the
Committee on Political Subdivisions then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §8-11-1 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to providing that municipalities
are free of legal prohibitions to raise fines for municipal
ordinance violations, with the only restriction being that the
amount of the fine be reasonable.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §8-11-1 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 11. POWERS AND DUTIES WITH RESPECT TO ORDINANCES AND
ORDINANCE PROCEDURES.
§8-11-1. Ordinances to make municipal powers effective; penalties
imposed under judgment of mayor or police court or
municipal judge; right to injunctive relief; right to
maintain action to collect fines; additional assessment
of costs.
(a) To carry into effect the powers and authority conferred
upon any municipality or its governing body by the provisions of this chapter, or any past or future act of the Legislature of this
state, the governing body has plenary power and authority to:
(1) Make and pass all needful ordinances, orders, bylaws,
acts, resolutions and rules and regulations not contrary to the
constitution and laws of this state; and
(2) Prescribe reasonable penalties for violation of its
ordinances, orders, bylaws, acts, resolutions and rules, and
regulations, in the form of fines, forfeitures and confinement in
the county or regional jail or the place of confinement in the
municipality, if there is one, for a term not exceeding thirty
days.
(b) The fines, forfeitures and confinement shall be recovered,
imposed or enforced under the judgment of the mayor of the
municipality or the individual lawfully exercising the mayor's
functions, or the police court judge or municipal court judge of a
city, if there is one, and may be suspended upon reasonable
conditions as may be imposed by the mayor, other authorized
individual or judge.
(c) Any municipality may also maintain a civil action in the
name of the municipality in the circuit court of the county in
which the municipality or the major portion of the territory of the
municipality is located to obtain an injunction to compel
compliance with, or to enjoin a violation or threatened violation
of, any ordinance of the municipality, and the circuit court has
jurisdiction to grant the relief sought. A certified transcript of
a judgment for a fine rendered by a municipal court may be filed in the office of the clerk of a circuit court and docketed in the
judgment lien book kept in the office of the clerk of the county
commission in the same manner and with the same effect as the
filing and docketing of a certified transcript of judgment rendered
by a magistrate court as provided for in section two, article six,
chapter fifty of this code. The judgment shall include costs
assessed against the defendant.
(d) In addition to any other costs which may be lawfully
imposed, an additional cost shall be imposed in an amount of not
less than forty-two dollars for a traffic offense constituting a
moving violation, regardless of whether the penalty for the
violation provides for a period of incarceration, and for any other
offense for which the ordinance prescribing the offense provides
for a period of incarceration. Of the forty-two dollars imposed as
an additional cost, two dollars are administrative costs to be
retained by the municipality, and forty dollars shall be paid into
the regional jail and correctional facility development fund in the
state treasury in accordance with section one-a of this article.
(e) Execution shall be by fieri facias issued by the clerk of
the circuit court in the same manner as writs are issued on
judgments for a fine rendered by circuit courts or other courts of
record under the provisions of section eleven, article four,
chapter sixty-two of this code.
(f) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any
municipality may prescribe the amount of any fine for the violation
of any ordinance, with the only restriction being that it comply with subdivision (2), subsection (a) of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that
municipalities are free of legal prohibitions to raise fines for
municipal ordinance violations, with the only restriction being
that the amount of the fine be reasonable.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.