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County staff seeks ordinance change to let judges order repayment to animal shelter
Summary
The solicitor requested an amendment to the county animal-control ordinance to explicitly allow magistrate or state-court judges to order owners to repay shelter costs for ordinance violations; staff said the change responds to a recent case where a judge refused to authorize repayment under existing language.
Mr. Bowen summarized a requested change to the county's animal-control enforcement provisions so judges could authorize repayment to the shelter for costs incurred caring for animals in ordinance-violation cases. He said the solicitor asked for the clarification after a recent case in which a judge declined because the ordinance lacked an explicit repayment remedy.
"There is a civil provision in state law that allows us to do this when they're charged with certain crimes," Mr. Bowen said, but he noted the county's general ordinance did not specifically provide the remedy for ordinary ordinance violations. Under the proposed amendment, a magistrate or state-court judge would have the option to permit repayment to defray shelter care costs in appropriate cases. Staff said the change would apply to smaller public-nuisance types and not replace the separate state-law petition process in more egregious criminal matters.
Commissioners asked whether the repayment would be allowed in every ordinance case or limited to egregious instances; staff said the proposed language is aimed at the smaller nuisance cases that previously had no explicit remedy in the code.
