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County staff outlines plan to move code enforcement from criminal to civil proceedings under Title 19
Summary
Planning staff said the county is preparing a separate Title 19 rewrite to remove misdemeanor jail penalties from land-use and addressing chapters and replace them with civil compliance processes and written agreements.
Planning staff told the Okanogan County Planning Commission that the county is preparing a comprehensive Title 19 update that would shift many land-use and addressing enforcement mechanisms from criminal misdemeanor penalties to civil compliance procedures.
The change would remove misdemeanor and imprisonment language currently found in several code chapters and replace those remedies with a civil process that allows the planning department to enter into written agreements, set timelines, and pursue monetary fines tied to days out of compliance. Staff said the approach recognizes local prosecutor resource limits and aims to provide a practical compliance pathway rather than default criminal prosecution.
Why it matters: Staff said criminal prosecution for land-use…
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