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Monona council reviews ordinance to let community service officer issue citations
Summary
City staff presented a first reading of an ordinance to allow Monona's community service officer to write citations for parking and limited code violations; council members asked for legal clarity on which ordinances the position could enforce and requested follow-up with the city attorney.
The Monona City Council on Feb. 3 took up the first reading of Ordinance 2-25-789, a proposal to authorize the city's community service officer (CSO) to issue citations for parking violations and other code offenses when directed by department heads.
Council members said the change aims to make enforcement more efficient and to allow the civilian CSO — who currently issues warnings — to convert repeat warnings into citations without sending a sworn police officer to the scene.
City Administrator Neil said the amendments were drafted with City Attorney Bill Cole and would add the CSO job title to multiple ordinance sections so the position could be authorized to issue citations "as directed by individual department heads." Neil and other staff said the primary focus is parking enforcement near the high school, but the change was written to permit requests from other departments, such as parks, when enforcement is needed.
Police Chief (name not specified) told the council the CSO has been issuing warnings for nearly a year and "the training had already taken place" so the officer understands what to warn for and what could become a ticket. "It's just a matter of getting the paper ticket process established," the chief said.
Alders pressed for legal clarity on the scope. Alder Doug asked whether the ordinance would permit the CSO to issue citations beyond parking and abandoned-vehicle rules; staff replied the authoritative sections (including section 29-5 as amended) add the CSO to lists of officials who may issue citations. Neil and the chief stressed the officer would not be acting independently across all codes but only under direction and within specific sections of the code.
Council members also discussed uniforms and vehicle markings. Staff said the CSO will wear a city traffic vest, operate a civilian vehicle with amber lights and city identification magnets, have a police radio, and "look like an enforcement official of the city," but will not carry a badge.
Several alderpersons asked staff to confirm that the ordinance language actually authorizes the CSO across the desired sections. Attorney Bill Cole's review was requested to verify whether any additional code changes are necessary to give the CSO authority beyond the specific ordinance sections that currently name citation-authorized employees.
The measure was presented for first reading and discussion; no final vote was taken at this meeting. Staff said follow-up with Attorney Cole and clarifying edits will be returned to council on a future agenda.
The discussion also clarified operational limits: code enforcement work such as complaints about vegetation and property maintenance will continue to be directed primarily to the city's code enforcement officer, not the CSO, though the CSO could be assigned to respond if code enforcement staff are unavailable.
The council did not adopt the ordinance at this meeting; staff will return with verified ordinance language and any necessary cross-references to ensure the CSO's enforcement authorities are properly listed in the code.
