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Council directs staff to pursue county MOU to enforce city codes for vendors and trespass
Summary
Council discussed limits in its current law‑enforcement contract and asked staff to pursue a narrow memorandum of understanding with Benton County to allow county‑contracted officers to enforce specified Benton City codes (noise, trespass, food vendors, Bitcoin operations).
Benton City councilors asked staff to pursue a narrow memorandum of understanding with Benton County that would allow county‑contracted officers to enforce specific city codes, including noise, trespass and activities tied to food vendors and Bitcoin operations.
A council member summarized enforcement gaps in the city's contract with its service providers and said the quickest path was “to simply get an MOU between [the city] and the county to amend the contract on a very specific item” so county personnel can apply the city code language. City Attorney (Speaker 3) and staff discussed prosecution logistics and whether the prosecutor's office and county courts would accept cases that used city code language rather than state RCWs. The attorney noted the issue is not new and flagged potential follow‑up with the county prosecutor to confirm how municipal violations would be processed.
Council emphasized the MOU should be narrow in scope and mirror language already approved by county legal counsel to streamline approval. The council asked staff to draft the MOU and bring proposed language back for council review and, if appropriate, to take it to county commissioners for approval.
