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County attorney asks for time; commissioners continue misdemeanor code review without date
Summary
Following a presentation about a state law change that would reclassify unspecified county misdemeanor provisions as infractions, commissioners opted to continue a detailed review rather than accept a blanket reclassification.
County Attorney's Office staff presented a code cleanup item after the state legislature revised classification rules (identified in the meeting as Senate Bill 20). David Shawcroft explained the legislation requires county code provisions that simply state "misdemeanor" without specifying class to be treated differently unless the county clarifies classification.
One commissioner raised concern that leaving the reclassification as written by the state could criminalize minor local violations such as barking‑dog complaints or zoning enforcement matters. "I have a hard time with criminalizing ... barking dogs and nuisance stuff," a commissioner said, arguing the county should deliberately decide whether particular offenses should be infractions or misdemeanor class B offenses rather than accept automatic reclassification.
The county attorney recommended a thorough review of existing code sections to ensure consistency. The commission voted unanimously to continue item #7 without date to allow staff and commissioners to perform that review and return with proposed classifications and draft amendments.
Next steps: County Attorney's Office will work with commissioners to inventory affected code provisions and return with recommended classifications and ordinance language for future consideration.
