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90_HB0608
625 ILCS 5/11-208.3 from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11-208.3
Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code to provide that a
municipal ordinance establishing a program of vehicle
immobilization to enforce vehicular standing, parking, and
compliance regulations shall provide the right to a prompt
hearing after the vehicle has been immobilized (instead of
after the vehicle has been immobilized or subsequently
towed). Provides that a vehicle may not be impounded until
after the hearing. Provides that money obtained from the
sale of an impounded vehicle shall be deducted from the
amount owed in unpaid final determinations of parking,
standing, or compliance violation liability. Effective
immediately.
LRB9001106NTsb
LRB9001106NTsb
1 AN ACT to amend the Illinois Vehicle Code by changing
2 Section 11-208.3.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by
6 changing Section 11-208.3 as follows:
7 (625 ILCS 5/11-208.3) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11-208.3)
8 Sec. 11-208.3. Administrative adjudication of violations
9 of traffic regulations concerning the standing, parking, or
10 condition of vehicles.
11 (a) Any municipality may provide by ordinance for a
12 system of administrative adjudication of vehicular standing
13 and parking violations and vehicle compliance violations as
14 defined in this subsection. The administrative system shall
15 have as its purpose the fair and efficient enforcement of
16 municipal regulations through the administrative adjudication
17 of violations of municipal ordinances regulating the standing
18 and parking of vehicles, the condition and use of vehicle
19 equipment, and the display of municipal wheel tax licenses
20 within the municipality's borders. The administrative system
21 shall only have authority to adjudicate civil offenses
22 carrying fines not in excess of $250 that occur after the
23 effective date of the ordinance adopting such a system under
24 this Section. For purposes of this Section, "compliance
25 violation" means a violation of a municipal regulation
26 governing the condition or use of equipment on a vehicle or
27 governing the display of a municipal wheel tax license.
28 (b) Any ordinance establishing a system of
29 administrative adjudication under this Section shall provide
30 for:
31 (1) A traffic compliance administrator authorized
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1 to adopt, distribute and process parking and compliance
2 violation notices and other notices required by this
3 Section, collect money paid as fines and penalties for
4 violation of parking and compliance ordinances, and
5 operate an administrative adjudication system. The
6 traffic compliance administrator also may make a
7 certified report to the Secretary of State under Section
8 6-306.5.
9 (2) A parking, standing, or compliance violation
10 notice that shall specify the date, time, and place of
11 violation of a parking, standing, or compliance
12 regulation; the particular regulation violated; the fine
13 and any penalty that may be assessed for late payment,
14 when so provided by ordinance; the vehicle make and state
15 registration number; and the identification number of the
16 person issuing the notice. With regard to municipalities
17 with a population of 1 million or more, it shall be
18 grounds for dismissal of a parking violation if the State
19 registration number or vehicle make specified is
20 incorrect. The violation notice shall state that the
21 payment of the indicated fine, and of any applicable
22 penalty for late payment, shall operate as a final
23 disposition of the violation. The notice also shall
24 contain information as to the availability of a hearing
25 in which the violation may be contested on its merits.
26 The violation notice shall specify the time and manner in
27 which a hearing may be had.
28 (3) Service of the parking, standing, or compliance
29 violation notice by affixing the original or a facsimile
30 of the notice to an unlawfully parked vehicle or by
31 handing the notice to the operator of a vehicle if he or
32 she is present. A person authorized by ordinance to
33 issue and serve parking, standing, and compliance
34 violation notices shall certify as to the correctness of
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1 the facts entered on the violation notice by signing his
2 or her name to the notice at the time of service or in
3 the case of a notice produced by a computerized device,
4 by signing a single certificate to be kept by the traffic
5 compliance administrator attesting to the correctness of
6 all notices produced by the device while it was under his
7 or her control. The original or a facsimile of the
8 violation notice shall be retained by the traffic
9 compliance administrator, and shall be a record kept in
10 the ordinary course of business. A parking, standing, or
11 compliance violation notice issued, signed and served in
12 accordance with this Section, or a copy of the notice,
13 shall be prima facie correct and shall be prima facie
14 evidence of the correctness of the facts shown on the
15 notice. The notice or copy shall be admissible in any
16 subsequent administrative or legal proceedings.
17 (4) An opportunity for a hearing for the registered
18 owner of the vehicle cited in the parking, standing, or
19 compliance violation notice in which the owner may
20 contest the merits of the alleged violation, and during
21 which formal or technical rules of evidence shall not
22 apply; provided, however, that under Section 11-1306 of
23 this Code the lessee of a vehicle cited in the violation
24 notice likewise shall be provided an opportunity for a
25 hearing of the same kind afforded the registered owner.
26 The hearings shall be recorded, and the person conducting
27 the hearing on behalf of the traffic compliance
28 administrator shall be empowered to administer oaths and
29 to secure by subpoena both the attendance and testimony
30 of witnesses and the production of relevant books and
31 papers. Persons appearing at a hearing under this
32 Section may be represented by counsel at their expense.
33 The ordinance may also provide for internal
34 administrative review following the decision of the
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1 hearing officer.
2 (5) Service of additional notices, sent by first
3 class United States mail, postage prepaid, to the address
4 of the registered owner of the cited vehicle as recorded
5 with the Secretary of State or, under Section 11-1306 of
6 this Code, to the lessee of the cited vehicle at the last
7 address known to the lessor of the cited vehicle at the
8 time of lease. The service shall be deemed complete as
9 of the date of deposit in the United States mail. The
10 notices shall be in the following sequence and shall
11 include but not be limited to the information specified
12 herein:
13 (i) A second notice of violation. This notice
14 shall specify the date and location of the violation
15 cited in the parking, standing, or compliance
16 violation notice, the particular regulation
17 violated, the vehicle make and state registration
18 number, the fine and any penalty that may be
19 assessed for late payment when so provided by
20 ordinance, the availability of a hearing in which
21 the violation may be contested on its merits, and
22 the time and manner in which the hearing may be had.
23 The notice of violation shall also state that
24 failure either to pay the indicated fine and any
25 applicable penalty, or to appear at a hearing on the
26 merits in the time and manner specified, will result
27 in a final determination of violation liability for
28 the cited violation in the amount of the fine or
29 penalty indicated, and that, upon the occurrence of
30 a final determination of violation liability for the
31 failure, and the exhaustion of, or failure to
32 exhaust, available administrative or judicial
33 procedures for review, any unpaid fine or penalty
34 will constitute a debt due and owing the
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1 municipality.
2 (ii) A notice of final determination of
3 parking, standing, or compliance violation
4 liability. This notice shall be sent following a
5 final determination of parking, standing, or
6 compliance violation liability and the conclusion of
7 judicial review procedures taken under this Section.
8 The notice shall state that the unpaid fine or
9 penalty is a debt due and owing the municipality.
10 The notice shall contain warnings that failure to
11 pay any fine or penalty due and owing the
12 municipality within the time specified may result in
13 the municipality's filing of a petition in the
14 Circuit Court to have the unpaid fine or penalty
15 rendered a judgment as provided by this Section, or
16 may result in suspension of the person's drivers
17 license for failure to pay fines or penalties for 10
18 or more parking violations under Section 6-306.5.
19 (6) A Notice of impending drivers license
20 suspension. This notice shall be sent to the person
21 liable for any fine or penalty that remains due and owing
22 on 10 or more parking violations. The notice shall state
23 that failure to pay the fine or penalty owing within 45
24 days of the notice's date will result in the municipality
25 notifying the Secretary of State that the person is
26 eligible for initiation of suspension proceedings under
27 Section 6-306.5 of this Code. The notice shall also state
28 that the person may obtain a photostatic copy of an
29 original ticket imposing a fine or penalty by sending a
30 self addressed, stamped envelope to the municipality
31 along with a request for the photostatic copy. The
32 notice of impending drivers license suspension shall be
33 sent by first class United States mail, postage prepaid,
34 to the address recorded with the Secretary of State.
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1 (7) Final determinations of violation liability. A
2 final determination of violation liability shall occur
3 following failure to pay the fine or penalty after a
4 hearing officer's determination of violation liability
5 and the exhaustion of or failure to exhaust any
6 administrative review procedures provided by ordinance.
7 Where a person fails to appear at a hearing to contest
8 the alleged violation in the time and manner specified in
9 a prior mailed notice, the hearing officer's
10 determination of violation liability shall become final:
11 (A) upon denial of a timely petition to set aside that
12 determination, or (B) upon expiration of the period for
13 filing the petition without a filing having been made.
14 (8) A petition to set aside a determination of
15 parking, standing, or compliance violation liability that
16 may be filed by a person owing an unpaid fine or penalty.
17 The petition shall be filed with and ruled upon by the
18 traffic compliance administrator in the manner and within
19 the time specified by ordinance. The grounds for the
20 petition may be limited to: (A) the person not having
21 been the owner or lessee of the cited vehicle on the date
22 the violation notice was issued, (B) the person having
23 already paid the fine or penalty for the violation in
24 question, and (C) excusable failure to appear at or
25 request a new date for a hearing. With regard to
26 municipalities with a population of 1 million or more, it
27 shall be grounds for dismissal of a parking violation if
28 the State registration number or vehicle make specified
29 is incorrect. After the determination of parking,
30 standing, or compliance violation liability has been set
31 aside upon a showing of just cause, the registered owner
32 shall be provided with a hearing on the merits for that
33 violation.
34 (9) Procedures for non-residents. Procedures by
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1 which persons who are not residents of the municipality
2 may contest the merits of the alleged violation without
3 attending a hearing.
4 (10) A schedule of civil fines for violations of
5 vehicular standing, parking, and compliance regulations
6 enacted by ordinance pursuant to this Section, and a
7 schedule of penalties for late payment of the fines,
8 provided, however, that the total amount of the fine and
9 penalty for any one violation shall not exceed $250.
10 (11) Other provisions as are necessary and proper
11 to carry into effect the powers granted and purposes
12 stated in this Section.
13 (c) Any municipality establishing vehicular standing,
14 parking, and compliance regulations under this Section may
15 also provide by ordinance for a program of vehicle
16 immobilization for the purpose of facilitating enforcement of
17 those regulations. The program of vehicle immobilization
18 shall provide for immobilizing any eligible vehicle upon the
19 public way by presence of a restraint in a manner to prevent
20 operation of the vehicle. Any ordinance establishing a
21 program of vehicle immobilization under this Section shall
22 provide:
23 (1) Criteria for the designation of vehicles
24 eligible for immobilization. A vehicle shall be eligible
25 for immobilization when the registered owner of the
26 vehicle has accumulated the number of unpaid final
27 determinations of parking, standing, or compliance
28 violation liability as determined by ordinance.
29 (2) A notice of impending vehicle immobilization
30 and a right to a hearing to challenge the validity of the
31 notice by disproving liability for the unpaid final
32 determinations of parking, standing, or compliance
33 violation liability listed on the notice.
34 (3) The right to a prompt hearing after a vehicle
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1 has been immobilized or subsequently towed without
2 payment of the outstanding fines and penalties on
3 parking, standing, or compliance violations for which
4 final determinations have been issued. A vehicle may not
5 be impounded until after the hearing. An order issued
6 after the hearing is a final administrative decision
7 within the meaning of Section 3-101 of the Code of Civil
8 Procedure.
9 (4) A post immobilization and post-towing notice
10 advising the registered owner of the vehicle of the right
11 to a hearing to challenge the validity of the
12 impoundment.
13 Money obtained from the sale of an impounded vehicle
14 shall be deducted from the amount owed in unpaid final
15 determinations of parking, standing, or compliance violation
16 liability.
17 (d) Judicial review of final determinations of parking,
18 standing, and compliance violations and final administrative
19 decisions issued after hearings regarding vehicle
20 immobilization and impoundment made under this Section shall
21 be subject to the provisions of the Administrative Review
22 Law.
23 (e) Any fine, penalty, or part of any fine or any
24 penalty remaining unpaid after the exhaustion of, or the
25 failure to exhaust, administrative remedies created under
26 this Section and the conclusion of any judicial review
27 procedures shall be a debt due and owing the municipality
28 and, as such, may be collected in accordance with applicable
29 law. Payment in full of any fine or penalty resulting from a
30 standing, parking, or compliance violation shall constitute a
31 final disposition of that violation.
32 (f) After the expiration of the period within which
33 judicial review may be sought for a final determination of
34 parking, standing, or compliance violation, the municipality
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1 may commence a proceeding in the Circuit Court for purposes
2 of obtaining a judgment on the final determination of
3 violation. Nothing in this Section shall prevent a
4 municipality from consolidating multiple final determinations
5 of parking, standing, or compliance violation against a
6 person in a proceeding. Upon commencement of the action, the
7 municipality shall file a certified copy of the final
8 determination of parking, standing, or compliance violation,
9 which shall be accompanied by a certification that recites
10 facts sufficient to show that the final determination of
11 violation was issued in accordance with this Section and the
12 applicable municipal ordinance. Service of the summons and a
13 copy of the petition may be by any method provided by Section
14 2-203 of the Code of Civil Procedure or by certified mail,
15 return receipt requested, provided that the total amount of
16 fines and penalties for final determinations of parking,
17 standing, or compliance violations does not exceed $2500. If
18 the court is satisfied that the final determination of
19 parking, standing, or compliance violation was entered in
20 accordance with the requirements of this Section and the
21 applicable municipal ordinance, and that the registered owner
22 or the lessee, as the case may be, had an opportunity for an
23 administrative hearing and for judicial review as provided in
24 this Section, the court shall render judgment in favor of the
25 municipality and against the registered owner or the lessee
26 for the amount indicated in the final determination of
27 parking, standing, or compliance violation, plus costs. The
28 judgment shall have the same effect and may be enforced in
29 the same manner as other judgments for the recovery of money.
30 (Source: P.A. 88-415; 88-437; 88-670, eff. 12-2-94; 89-190,
31 eff. 1-1-96.)
32 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
33 becoming law.