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An Act relative to unpaid municipal fines.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House
of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the
same, as follows:
SECTION 1. The general laws are hereby amended by inserting after chapter 40S, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, the following chapter-
CHAPTER 40T
Municipal Fines
SECTION 1. As used in this chapter, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-
“Municipal hearings officer”, a person appointed by the appointing authority of a municipality to conduct hearings of alleged code violations pursuant to this chapter.
“Unpaid charges”, shall be an unpaid fine incurred as a result of a violation of any rule, regulation, order, ordinance, or by-law regulating the housing, sanitary, or municipal snow and ice removal requirement.
SECTION 2. This chapter shall take effect upon acceptance by a municipality
SECTION 3. Every municipality may in the manner provided in this chapter adopt the procedures for the payment of certain municipal fines provided in this chapter, and may revoke or rescind any such acceptance.
SECTION 4. The adoption of the procedure for the payment of certain municipal fines under this chapter shall be by majority vote of the city council or town meeting.
SECTION 5. (a) A municipality may by ordinances and by-laws provide for the removal of snow and ice from sidewalks within such portions of the municipality as they consider expedient by the owner of land abutting upon such sidewalks. Such ordinances and by-laws shall determine the time and manner of removal and shall affix penalties, not exceeding $200 for each violation thereof. Such ordinances and by-laws shall be reasonably specific as to the width of the area to be cleared, and the standards for clearance.
(b) Any owner, lessor, occupant or other person in charge of any real property, or any agent of or other person engaged by any such party, who in good faith, removes or attempts to remove snow or ice from sidewalks abutting the property shall not be liable for any personal injuries allegedly caused by the snowy or icy condition of the sidewalk resulting from his acts or omissions unless the alleged misconduct was gross negligence.
SECTION 6. A municipality shall appoint a municipal hearings officer. Said officer shall hear appeals of violation notices issued within said municipality. Said municipal hearings officer may be the same person appointed as a municipal hearings officer pursuant to chapter 148A.
SECTION 7. A municipality shall have the authority to implement a system for the administrative disposition of non-criminal violations, pursuant to section 21D of chapter 40.
SECTION 8. It shall be the duty of every officer and inspector who takes notice of a violation of any provision of any rule, regulation, order, ordinance, or by-law regulating snow and ice removal, the housing, or sanitary codes to give the offender a notice forthwith, which shall be in tag form to appear before the municipal hearings officer or the hearings officer’s designee during regular office hours, no later than 21 days after the date of such violation. All tags shall be prepared in triplicate or by the use of an automated ticketing device and shall be pre-numbered.
SECTION 9. Said tag shall be affixed securely to the building, or for buildings with an onsite professionally-managed property office, delivered to said office during normal business hours, and shall contain, but shall not be limited to the following information: the date, time, and place of the violation, the specific violation charged, the name and badge number of the officer or inspector and his division, a schedule of payment for established fines and instructions for return of the tag.
SECTION 10. Within 3 business days of the completion of each shift, the officer or inspector shall give to his/her superior those copies of each notice of said violation taken cognizance of during such shift. Said superior shall retain and safely preserve 1 of such copies and shall at a time no later than the beginning of the next business day after receipt of such notice deliver another of such copies to the municipal hearings officer before whom the offender has been notified to appear, unless said ticket was produced by an automated ticketing device, in which case no duplicate copies need be retained. The municipal hearings officer shall maintain a docket of all such notices to appear.
SECTION 11. The municipality shall, by ordinance or by-law, establish a schedule of fines for violations subject to this chapter committed within the municipality provided, however, that all such fines be uniform for the same offense committed in the same zone or district, if any; and provided further that any fine established under the provisions of these sections for all violations shall not exceed the maximum allowable amount under the relevant sections of the housing or sanitary code, or municipal snow and ice removal requirement, excluding late fees.
SECTION 12. Where a notice of violation is for one or more code violations, the alleged violator shall return the notice of violation by mail, personally, or by authorized person to the municipal hearings officer and shall, within 21 days, either: (1) pay in full the scheduled assessment by check, postal note, money order; or any legal tender; or (2) request a hearing before the municipal hearing officer. Each violation issued shall contain a statement explaining the procedure to adjudicate the violation by mail. Any amounts paid shall be payable to the municipality. If said fine remains unpaid for 21 days, and no hearing has been requested, a letter shall be sent to the property owner of record’s mailing address, with a processing fee of no more than 10 dollars. Said fine must be paid within 30 days of receiving said notice. If said fine remains unpaid after said 30 days, additional penalties and interest may be attached.
Thereupon any fine plus any additional penalties and interest that may be attached not paid shall become an additional assessment on the property owner’s tax bill. Such amount and cost relative thereto may also be a lien upon such real estate as provided in section 42B of chapter 40. A municipality’s determination of whether to place a lien on the property may involve the number of and the dollar amount of the violations on the property. The property owner of record shall be notified by certified mail of the lien on the property. All such liens shall not be removed until after notice from the tax collector that all such matters have been disposed of in accordance with law. Additional charges equal to the amount required to file the lien and the amount required to remove the lien shall be assessed against the owner of record for the purpose of ensuring that all costs associated with filing and releasing are recovered.
SECTION 13. Any person notified to appear before the municipal hearing officer, as provided herein, may without waiving the right to a hearing provided by these sections, and also without waiving judicial review as provided by Section 14 of Chapter 30A, challenge the validity of the violation notice and receive a review and disposition of the violation from the municipal hearing officer by mail. The alleged violator may, upon receipt of the notice to appear, send a signed statement of objections to the violation notice as well as signed statements from witnesses, police officers, government officials, and other relevant parties. Photographs, diagrams, maps, and other documents may also be sent with the statements. Any such statements or materials sent to the municipal hearings officer for review shall have attached the person’s name and complete address as well as the ticket number and the date of the violation. The municipal hearings officer, shall, within 21 days of receipt of said material, review the material and dismiss or uphold the violation, and notify by mail the alleged violator of the disposition of the hearing. If the outcome of the hearing is against the alleged violator, the municipal hearings officer shall explain the reasons for the outcome on such notice. Such review and disposition conducted by mail shall be informal, the rules of evidence shall not apply, and the decision of the municipal hearings officer shall be final subject to any hearing provisions provided by these sections or to judicial review as provided under section 14 of chapter 30A.
SECTION 14. Notwithstanding General Laws section 21D, chapter 40, a person who desires to contest a violation of any ordinance or by-law of a municipality alleged in a notice to appear, pursuant to violations issued by a municipality in accordance with G.L. section 21D, chapter 40, shall request in writing a hearing before a municipal hearing officer, appointed pursuant to sub-section b, of section 5. Said notice to appear shall be in the format specified in section 21D, chapter 40, except that the third copy of the notice shall be submitted to the municipal hearings officer unless said ticket was produced by an automated ticketing device, in which case no duplicate copies need be retained. Said municipal hearing officer may be the same person appointed as municipal hearings officer pursuant to chapter 148A.
If the alleged violator requests, in a timely manner, a hearing before the municipal hearings officer, the municipal hearings officer shall schedule a hearing not later than 45 days after receiving such hearing request. The municipal hearings officer shall duly notify the alleged violator of the date, time and location of the hearing. Hearings shall be held on at least two evenings each month. When a hearing notice is sent, the alleged violator shall be given an opportunity to request a rescheduled hearing date. In no case shall the municipal hearings officer, so designated, be an employee or officer of the department associated with the issuance of the notice of violation.
The municipal hearings officer shall receive annual training in the conduct of administrative hearing procedure. The hearing and disposition shall be informal, and shall follow the rules set forth in chapter 30A; rules for judicial proceedings shall not apply. In conducting the hearing, the municipal hearings officer shall determine whether the violation occurred and whether it was committed by the person so notified to appear.
SECTION 15. Any person aggrieved by a decision of the municipal hearings officer, after a hearing, may appeal to the district court, housing court, or court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to General Laws section 21D, chapter 40, on a form provided by the municipality, and shall be entitled to a de novo hearing before a clerk magistrate of the court. Said court shall consider such appeals under a civil, as opposed to a criminal, standard. The aggrieved person shall file the appeal within 10 days after receiving notice of the decision from the municipal hearing officer who conducted the hearing.
SECTION 16. Any person who has received a notice of violation issued in accordance with this chapter who, within the prescribed time, fails to pay the scheduled assessment or fails to exercise his right to request a hearing before the municipal hearings officer or who fails to appear at the time and place of the hearing, shall be deemed responsible for the violations as stated in the notice of violation. Such finding of responsibility shall be considered prima facie evidence of the violation in any civil proceeding regarding said violation, and shall be admissible as evidence in a subsequent criminal proceeding. A person who fails to appear at the scheduled hearing without good cause shall have the appeal to the municipal hearing officer dismissed, and shall waive any further right to appeal. If the condition which caused the notice of violation to issue continues to exist, the finding of responsibility may also be used by a municipality as prima facie evidence of the existence of a violation in any proceeding to suspend or revoke any license, permit or certificate issued by such municipality relative to said building, structure or premises pending the correction of the condition.
SECTION 17. All fines, penalties or assessments in actions under this chapter shall be paid to the general fund of said municipality.
SECTION 18. In any municipality that has accepted this chapter, said chapter shall take precedence in any conflict with local ordinances or by-laws.