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Town attorney says Plain Dealing must form enforcement board, hire code officer before property-standards ordinance
Summary
Town Attorney Doug Dominick told the Board of Aldermen the town will likely need a dedicated enforcement board, a code-enforcement officer and a magistrate (not the mayor) to adjudicate fines; the issue will return to the next agenda for further study.
Town Attorney Doug Dominick told the Plain Dealing Board of Aldermen on March 11 that adopting property-standards rules would require the town to create an enforcement board, hire a code-enforcement officer, and use a magistrate — rather than the mayor — to preside over related court proceedings.
Dominick told the board that, under the model the town must follow, individuals fined under a property-standards code would be required to appear in a code-enforcement court. He was directed to research the legal authority, check whether an enforcement board already exists in local law, and report back.
The attorney’s overview framed the next steps as procedural and legal: the board would need to draft enabling language, determine staffing and budget needs for a code-enforcement position, and clarify the magistrate role before returning the item to a future meeting. No vote was taken on March 11.
Aldermen and staff present agreed to place the item on the next meeting agenda so the attorney could return with options and legal guidance. The council did not adopt any ordinance at the March 11 meeting.
