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Council hears that a lapse in codification led to a lost code enforcement appeal in the past
Summary
Town attorney said a failure to codify a previously passed ordinance led to an appeal loss in a prior code enforcement case; the attorney described how the error was discovered in appellate briefing and corrected with the court’s awareness but said the town has worked to prevent repeat occurrences.
The town attorney told council that at least one prior code enforcement appeal was lost because the version of the code available online reflected an older provision — a codification lapse that occurred when a municipal code vendor did not receive an email to publish the updated ordinance. "We were in the appeal, and... I pulled up on muni code, and I about fell out of my chair," Max said, describing how the updated ordinance had not been codified online and the court record reflected the older text.
He said the town disclosed the discrepancy to the court in its brief and that the matter proceeded through appeal; he emphasized that the town has improved processes to avoid future gaps in codification. "We told the appellant, and we shared that information with the court in our brief," he said. Council and staff discussed the need for diligence in sending ordinances for codification and for routine checks to ensure the public code reflects the most recent ordinances.
