Helena officials propose replacing many criminal ordinance penalties with municipal infractions

Helena city staff presented a draft ordinance to the commission to repeal the default criminal penalty for many city-code violations and replace it with a municipal-infraction enforcement regime, a move staff said would keep fines but remove jail as a penalty for most routine ordinance breaches.

Matt Peterson (presenting staff) told commissioners that under the current default penalty an ordinance without a specific penalty can carry a $500 fine and up to six months in jail. "The municipal infractions penalty would be a $300 fine up to $300 for the first offense and up to $500 for a second offense and no jail time," Peterson said, adding that the proposal would authorize the city manager to designate additional city employees as enforcement officers alongside law enforcement.

City attorney remarks and staff discussion clarified that the ordinance would preserve criminal penalties for a limited set of code sections tied to public-safety harms, including hazardous-waste dumping and other specifically identified offenses that the code already treats as criminal. Staff said departments would develop enforcement-prioritization plans for manager review under the new regime.

An ADA committee representative spoke in support, saying the change could improve enforcement outcomes for violations that affect accessibility and other community concerns. Commissioners asked follow-up procedural questions about nonpayment and enforcement: staff replied that unpaid fines could still lead to court actions under existing code and that jail remains a possible outcome when fines are ordered by a court and left unpaid.

No formal vote was recorded on the ordinance during the meeting. Staff said they would provide draft ordinance language and follow-up materials for future commission consideration.