Magistrate denies Daytona Beach trespass appeal; city offers waiver if resident completes 50 hours of community service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Special Magistrate Robert Riggio on Aug. 26 denied the appeal of Galen Jones of a trespass warning issued for the John H. Dickerson Community Center, but city officials offered to lift and remove the warning if Jones completes 50 hours of community service at a recognized nonprofit by Nov. 1.

The hearing addressed a trespass warning tied to city code enforcement at 308 South Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Sergeant Shawna Connolly of the Daytona Beach Police Department told the hearing that Jones was found on city property “outside the posted hours,” and said, “the trespass stays in place for a period of 1 year.”

The city identified the relevant local rules as city code sec. 86-43 (trespass warnings on public property) and sec. 86-34 (violations of code, ordinances or regulations on public property). Under those sections, the city said a trespass warning may be issued when a person violates a posted regulation while on city property.

Jones, who told the hearing he was at the center to play basketball with friends after a family dispute and that he “didn’t know” the gym was closed, said in his appeal, “I would like to appeal this because all of my friends go to the gym that I was at. I wanna be able to play basketball with my friends. I'm really sorry for everything.” He also said he is pursuing a GED at Daytona State College and lives with his mother.

City prosecutors declined to reverse the warning but offered a conditional path to removal. Sergeant Connolly said the city would accept proof that Jones completed 50 community service hours, signed by a recognized nonprofit, and would then “waive the trespass warning and remove it from his record completely” if the hours are submitted on or before Nov. 1. City staff stated the warning otherwise would remain in force; earlier in the hearing the city had described the normal trespass period as one year and said repeat violations could extend the ban.

Riggio recorded the decision on the record: “I hereby find that the appeal is denied,” and described the city’s conditional offer on the record. The magistrate and city staff also said they would notify other city community centers — including the Cherry Center and other locations mentioned at the hearing — that the current trespass applies only to the Dickerson Center and not automatically to other sites, and city staff said they would clarify that with those facilities.

At the hearing, staff advised Jones to observe posted hours (the city said it uses publicly available sunrise times to judge opening in some cases) and to contact the police nonemergency line with questions about hours. Staff also explained that some parks and fishing piers have different posted hours and separate rules, and that being on a public thoroughfare (for example, a bridge) is treated differently than entering a closed facility.

The hearing opened at about 10:43 a.m. and concluded at about 11:05 a.m. The magistrate denied the appeal but accepted the city's conditional offer: if Jones provides documentation of 50 community service hours completed for a recognized nonprofit no later than Nov. 1, the city will remove the trespass warning from his record; if he does not, the offer expires and the warning remains in effect.