Title 19 - Charter Ordinances

Charter Ordinance No. Forty-Four (Section 2 Amended by Ch. Ord. No. Sixty; Repealed by Ch. Ord. No.)

(Note: All or parts of this charter ordinance have been repealed. See notes at the end of the ordinance.)

A CHARTER ORDINANCE EXEMPTING THE CITY OF OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS, FROM THE PROVISIONS OF KSA 12-4202 (1986 SUPP.), 12-4203 (1982), 12-4204 (1982), 12-4205 (1986 SUPP.), AND 12-4207 (1982),AND ANY AMENDMENTS THERETO, WHICH RELATE TO THE FILING AND SERVICE OF COMPLAINTS AND NOTICES TO APPEAR; AND PROVIDING SUBSTITUTE AND ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS ON THE SAME SUBJECT; REPEALING CITY OF OVERLAND PARK CHARTER ORDINANCE NO. THIRTY.

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS:

SECTION 1. The City of Overland Park, Kansas, by the power vested in it by Article 12, Section 5 of the Constitution of the State of Kansas hereby elects to exempt itself and make inapplicable to it the provisions of KSA 12-4202 (1986 Supp.), 12-4203 (1982), 12-4204 (1982), 12-4205 (1986 Supp.) and 12-4207 (1982) and any amendments thereto. Such referenced provisions are part of the Kansas Code of Procedure for Municipal Courts, an enactment of the legislature which is applicable to the City of Overland Park but not uniformly applicable to all cities.

*SECTION 2. "City officer" shall mean City Attorney, City Prosecutor, Assistant City Attorney, Fire Chief, Chief of Fire Prevention, Fire Inspector, Battalion Chief, Environmental Health Officer, Code Inspector, Public Officer, Building Inspector, Plans Examiner, Codes Administrator, Systems Inspector, Building Official, Animal Control Officer, Animal Control Supervisor, Parking Control Officer, or Code Enforcement Officer. Said officers shall have the authority to investigate violations of City ordinances, order compliance and issue complaints and notices to appear.

SECTION 3. Complaint; requirements form.

A Complaint shall be in writing and shall be signed by the complainant. More than one violation may be charged in the same complaint. A complaint shall be deemed sufficient if in substantially the form of complaint set forth in Section 4 herein or in substantially the following form:

The foregoing provisions notwithstanding, and notwithstanding the provisions of Kansas Statutes Annotated 12-4113(g) (1986 Supp.), or any amendments thereto, whenever a law enforcement officer or city officer issues a complaint for the violation of any City ordinance, and such complaint includes information required by law and is signed by the officer preparing the same, then such complaint shall be deemed lawful for purposes of prosecution under this Act even though the same has not been sworn to before a Municipal Judge, Court Clerk, Assistant Court Clerk, or Notary Public.

SECTION 4. In all cases a complaint and notice to appear may be made in the form of the "Uniform Complaint and Notice to Appear" which shall be deemed sufficient if in substantially the following form:

(This complaint is not required to be sworn to if it is signed by a law enforcement officer or city officer.)

SECTION 5. Notice to appear; contents; form.

A notice to appear shall describe the offense charged, shall summon the accused person to appear, shall contain a space in which the accused person may agree, in writing, to appear at a time not less than five (5) days after such notice to appear is given, unless the accused person shall demand an earlier hearing. A notice to appear may be signed by a municipal judge, the clerk of the municipal court, or any law enforcement officer or city officer of the city.

A notice to appear shall be deemed sufficient if in substantially the form of the notice to appear set out below:

SECTION 6. Same; service; return.

The notice to appear shall be served upon the accused person by delivering a copy to him or her personally, or by leaving it at the dwelling house of the accused person or usual place of abode with some person of suitable age and discretion then residing therein, or by mailing it to the last known address of said person. A notice to appear may be served by any law enforcement officer or city officer and, if mailed, shall be mailed by a law enforcement officer, city officer, or the clerk of the municipal court. Upon service by mail, the law enforcement officer or City officer shall execute a verification to be filed with a copy of the notice to appear. Said verification shall be deemed sufficient if in substantially the following form:

The undersigned hereby certifies that on the ________ day

of __________________, 19__ a copy of notice to appear

was mailed to __________________________________ at

_________________ _______________ ________________

_______________________________

Signature of Law Enforcement Officer,

or Clerk of Municipal Court or

City Officer

SECTION 7. Same; how used; issuance of warrant; refusal to issue; effect.

A copy of the complaint shall be served, together with a notice to appear or a warrant, by a law enforcement officer or city officer upon the accused person, and forthwith, the complaint shall be filed with the municipal court. Provided further that the complaint need not be sworn to at the time of service but where required must be sworn to before filing the same with the municipal court. A complaint may be filed initially with the municipal court, and if so filed, a copy of the complaint shall forthwith be delivered to the City Attorney. The City Attorney shall cause a notice to appear to be issued, unless he or she has good reason to believe that the accused person will not appear in response to a notice to appear, in which case the City Attorney may request that a warrant be issued. Such warrant will be issued if the complaint is positively sworn to and the municipal judge has probable cause to believe that (a) there has been the commission of a violation of a municipal ordinance, (b) the accused person committed such violation and (c) the accused person will not appear in response to a notice to appear.

If a City Attorney fails either to cause a notice to appear or to request a warrant to be issued, on a complaint initially filed with the municipal court, the municipal judge may, upon affidavits filed with him or her alleging the violation of an ordinance, order the City Attorney to institute proceedings against any person. Any such municipal judge shall be disqualified from sitting in any case wherein such order was entered and is further prohibited from communicating about such case with the municipal judge pro tem appointed by the municipal judge to preside therein.

SECTION 8. Charter Ordinance No. Thirty is hereby repealed.

SECTION 9. This ordinance shall be published once each week for two consecutive weeks in the Overland Park Sun, an official City newspaper.

SECTION 10. This is a Charter Ordinance and shall take effect sixty-one days after final publication unless a sufficient petition for a referendum is filed and a referendum held on the ordinance as provided in Article 12, Section 5, subdivision (c)(3) of the Constitution of Kansas, in which case the ordinance shall become effective as approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon.

PASSED by the governing body not less than two-thirds of the members elect voting in favor thereof the 19th day of October, 1987.

Ed Eilert, Mayor

ATTEST:

Bernice Crummett, City Clerk

APPROVED AS TO FORM:

Karen Arnold-Burger

Assistant City Attorney

Passed: 10/19/87

Published: 10/23/87

10/30/87

Effective: 12/30/87

*Section 2 is repealed by Charter Ordinance No. Sixty

Entire ordinance repealed by Charter Ordinance No. Ninety-Three

Effective on: 1/1/1901