93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004
HB5338

 

Introduced 02/06/04, by Michael J. Madigan

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
625 ILCS 5/11-208.3   from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11-208.3

    Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning administrative adjudication of parking violations.


LRB093 17458 DRH 43124 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB5338 LRB093 17458 DRH 43124 b

1     AN ACT in relation to transportation.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by changing
5 Section 11-208.3 as follows:
 
6     (625 ILCS 5/11-208.3)  (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11-208.3)
7     Sec. 11-208.3. Administrative adjudication of violations
8 of traffic regulations concerning the standing, parking, or
9 condition of vehicles.
10     (a) Any municipality may provide by ordinance for a system
11 of administrative adjudication of vehicular standing and
12 parking violations and vehicle compliance violations as
13 defined in this subsection. The administrative system shall
14 have as its purpose the fair and efficient enforcement of
15 municipal regulations through the administrative adjudication
16 of violations of municipal ordinances regulating the standing
17 and parking of vehicles, the condition and use of vehicle
18 equipment, and the display of municipal wheel tax licenses
19 within the municipality's borders. The administrative system
20 shall only have authority only to adjudicate civil offenses
21 carrying fines not in excess of $250 that occur after the
22 effective date of the ordinance adopting such a system under
23 this Section. For purposes of this Section, "compliance
24 violation" means a violation of a municipal regulation
25 governing the condition or use of equipment on a vehicle or
26 governing the display of a municipal wheel tax license.
27     (b) Any ordinance establishing a system of administrative
28 adjudication under this Section shall provide for:
29         (1) A traffic compliance administrator authorized to
30     adopt, distribute and process parking and compliance
31     violation notices and other notices required by this
32     Section, collect money paid as fines and penalties for

 

 

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1     violation of parking and compliance ordinances, and
2     operate an administrative adjudication system. The traffic
3     compliance administrator also may make a certified report
4     to the Secretary of State under Section 6-306.5.
5         (2) A parking, standing, or compliance violation
6     notice that shall specify the date, time, and place of
7     violation of a parking, standing, or compliance
8     regulation; the particular regulation violated; the fine
9     and any penalty that may be assessed for late payment, when
10     so provided by ordinance; the vehicle make and state
11     registration number; and the identification number of the
12     person issuing the notice. With regard to municipalities
13     with a population of 1 million or more, it shall be grounds
14     for dismissal of a parking violation if the State
15     registration number or vehicle make specified is
16     incorrect. The violation notice shall state that the
17     payment of the indicated fine, and of any applicable
18     penalty for late payment, shall operate as a final
19     disposition of the violation. The notice also shall contain
20     information as to the availability of a hearing in which
21     the violation may be contested on its merits. The violation
22     notice shall specify the time and manner in which a hearing
23     may be had.
24         (3) Service of the parking, standing, or compliance
25     violation notice by affixing the original or a facsimile of
26     the notice to an unlawfully parked vehicle or by handing
27     the notice to the operator of a vehicle if he or she is
28     present. A person authorized by ordinance to issue and
29     serve parking, standing, and compliance violation notices
30     shall certify as to the correctness of the facts entered on
31     the violation notice by signing his or her name to the
32     notice at the time of service or in the case of a notice
33     produced by a computerized device, by signing a single
34     certificate to be kept by the traffic compliance
35     administrator attesting to the correctness of all notices
36     produced by the device while it was under his or her

 

 

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1     control. The original or a facsimile of the violation
2     notice or, in the case of a notice produced by a
3     computerized device, a printed record generated by the
4     device showing the facts entered on the notice, shall be
5     retained by the traffic compliance administrator, and
6     shall be a record kept in the ordinary course of business.
7     A parking, standing, or compliance violation notice
8     issued, signed and served in accordance with this Section,
9     a copy of the notice, or the computer generated record
10     shall be prima facie correct and shall be prima facie
11     evidence of the correctness of the facts shown on the
12     notice. The notice, copy, or computer generated record
13     shall be admissible in any subsequent administrative or
14     legal proceedings.
15         (4) An opportunity for a hearing for the registered
16     owner of the vehicle cited in the parking, standing, or
17     compliance violation notice in which the owner may contest
18     the merits of the alleged violation, and during which
19     formal or technical rules of evidence shall not apply;
20     provided, however, that under Section 11-1306 of this Code
21     the lessee of a vehicle cited in the violation notice
22     likewise shall be provided an opportunity for a hearing of
23     the same kind afforded the registered owner. The hearings
24     shall be recorded, and the person conducting the hearing on
25     behalf of the traffic compliance administrator shall be
26     empowered to administer oaths and to secure by subpoena
27     both the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the
28     production of relevant books and papers. Persons appearing
29     at a hearing under this Section may be represented by
30     counsel at their expense. The ordinance may also provide
31     for internal administrative review following the decision
32     of the hearing officer.
33         (5) Service of additional notices, sent by first class
34     United States mail, postage prepaid, to the address of the
35     registered owner of the cited vehicle as recorded with the
36     Secretary of State or, under Section 11-1306 of this Code,

 

 

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1     to the lessee of the cited vehicle at the last address
2     known to the lessor of the cited vehicle at the time of
3     lease. The service shall be deemed complete as of the date
4     of deposit in the United States mail. The notices shall be
5     in the following sequence and shall include but not be
6     limited to the information specified herein:
7             (i) A second notice of violation. This notice shall
8         specify the date and location of the violation cited in
9         the parking, standing, or compliance violation notice,
10         the particular regulation violated, the vehicle make
11         and state registration number, the fine and any penalty
12         that may be assessed for late payment when so provided
13         by ordinance, the availability of a hearing in which
14         the violation may be contested on its merits, and the
15         time and manner in which the hearing may be had. The
16         notice of violation shall also state that failure
17         either to pay the indicated fine and any applicable
18         penalty, or to appear at a hearing on the merits in the
19         time and manner specified, will result in a final
20         determination of violation liability for the cited
21         violation in the amount of the fine or penalty
22         indicated, and that, upon the occurrence of a final
23         determination of violation liability for the failure,
24         and the exhaustion of, or failure to exhaust, available
25         administrative or judicial procedures for review, any
26         unpaid fine or penalty will constitute a debt due and
27         owing the municipality.
28             (ii) A notice of final determination of parking,
29         standing, or compliance violation liability. This
30         notice shall be sent following a final determination of
31         parking, standing, or compliance violation liability
32         and the conclusion of judicial review procedures taken
33         under this Section. The notice shall state that the
34         unpaid fine or penalty is a debt due and owing the
35         municipality. The notice shall contain warnings that
36         failure to pay any fine or penalty due and owing the

 

 

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1         municipality within the time specified may result in
2         the municipality's filing of a petition in the Circuit
3         Court to have the unpaid fine or penalty rendered a
4         judgment as provided by this Section, or may result in
5         suspension of the person's drivers license for failure
6         to pay fines or penalties for 10 or more parking
7         violations under Section 6-306.5.
8         (6) A Notice of impending drivers license suspension.
9     This notice shall be sent to the person liable for any fine
10     or penalty that remains due and owing on 10 or more parking
11     violations. The notice shall state that failure to pay the
12     fine or penalty owing within 45 days of the notice's date
13     will result in the municipality notifying the Secretary of
14     State that the person is eligible for initiation of
15     suspension proceedings under Section 6-306.5 of this Code.
16     The notice shall also state that the person may obtain a
17     photostatic copy of an original ticket imposing a fine or
18     penalty by sending a self addressed, stamped envelope to
19     the municipality along with a request for the photostatic
20     copy. The notice of impending drivers license suspension
21     shall be sent by first class United States mail, postage
22     prepaid, to the address recorded with the Secretary of
23     State.
24         (7) Final determinations of violation liability. A
25     final determination of violation liability shall occur
26     following failure to pay the fine or penalty after a
27     hearing officer's determination of violation liability and
28     the exhaustion of or failure to exhaust any administrative
29     review procedures provided by ordinance. Where a person
30     fails to appear at a hearing to contest the alleged
31     violation in the time and manner specified in a prior
32     mailed notice, the hearing officer's determination of
33     violation liability shall become final: (A) upon denial of
34     a timely petition to set aside that determination, or (B)
35     upon expiration of the period for filing the petition
36     without a filing having been made.

 

 

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1         (8) A petition to set aside a determination of parking,
2     standing, or compliance violation liability that may be
3     filed by a person owing an unpaid fine or penalty. The
4     petition shall be filed with and ruled upon by the traffic
5     compliance administrator in the manner and within the time
6     specified by ordinance. The grounds for the petition may be
7     limited to: (A) the person not having been the owner or
8     lessee of the cited vehicle on the date the violation
9     notice was issued, (B) the person having already paid the
10     fine or penalty for the violation in question, and (C)
11     excusable failure to appear at or request a new date for a
12     hearing. With regard to municipalities with a population of
13     1 million or more, it shall be grounds for dismissal of a
14     parking violation if the State registration number or
15     vehicle make specified is incorrect. After the
16     determination of parking, standing, or compliance
17     violation liability has been set aside upon a showing of
18     just cause, the registered owner shall be provided with a
19     hearing on the merits for that violation.
20         (9) Procedures for non-residents. Procedures by which
21     persons who are not residents of the municipality may
22     contest the merits of the alleged violation without
23     attending a hearing.
24         (10) A schedule of civil fines for violations of
25     vehicular standing, parking, and compliance regulations
26     enacted by ordinance pursuant to this Section, and a
27     schedule of penalties for late payment of the fines,
28     provided, however, that the total amount of the fine and
29     penalty for any one violation shall not exceed $250.
30         (11) Other provisions as are necessary and proper to
31     carry into effect the powers granted and purposes stated in
32     this Section.
33     (c) Any municipality establishing vehicular standing,
34 parking, and compliance regulations under this Section may also
35 provide by ordinance for a program of vehicle immobilization
36 for the purpose of facilitating enforcement of those

 

 

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1 regulations. The program of vehicle immobilization shall
2 provide for immobilizing any eligible vehicle upon the public
3 way by presence of a restraint in a manner to prevent operation
4 of the vehicle. Any ordinance establishing a program of vehicle
5 immobilization under this Section shall provide:
6         (1) Criteria for the designation of vehicles eligible
7     for immobilization. A vehicle shall be eligible for
8     immobilization when the registered owner of the vehicle has
9     accumulated the number of unpaid final determinations of
10     parking, standing, or compliance violation liability as
11     determined by ordinance.
12         (2) A notice of impending vehicle immobilization and a
13     right to a hearing to challenge the validity of the notice
14     by disproving liability for the unpaid final
15     determinations of parking, standing, or compliance
16     violation liability listed on the notice.
17         (3) The right to a prompt hearing after a vehicle has
18     been immobilized or subsequently towed without payment of
19     the outstanding fines and penalties on parking, standing,
20     or compliance violations for which final determinations
21     have been issued. An order issued after the hearing is a
22     final administrative decision within the meaning of
23     Section 3-101 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
24         (4) A post immobilization and post-towing notice
25     advising the registered owner of the vehicle of the right
26     to a hearing to challenge the validity of the impoundment.
27     (d) Judicial review of final determinations of parking,
28 standing, and compliance violations and final administrative
29 decisions issued after hearings regarding vehicle
30 immobilization and impoundment made under this Section shall be
31 subject to the provisions of the Administrative Review Law.
32     (e) Any fine, penalty, or part of any fine or any penalty
33 remaining unpaid after the exhaustion of, or the failure to
34 exhaust, administrative remedies created under this Section
35 and the conclusion of any judicial review procedures shall be a
36 debt due and owing the municipality and, as such, may be

 

 

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1 collected in accordance with applicable law. Payment in full of
2 any fine or penalty resulting from a standing, parking, or
3 compliance violation shall constitute a final disposition of
4 that violation.
5     (f) After the expiration of the period within which
6 judicial review may be sought for a final determination of
7 parking, standing, or compliance violation, the municipality
8 may commence a proceeding in the Circuit Court for purposes of
9 obtaining a judgment on the final determination of violation.
10 Nothing in this Section shall prevent a municipality from
11 consolidating multiple final determinations of parking,
12 standing, or compliance violation against a person in a
13 proceeding. Upon commencement of the action, the municipality
14 shall file a certified copy of the final determination of
15 parking, standing, or compliance violation, which shall be
16 accompanied by a certification that recites facts sufficient to
17 show that the final determination of violation was issued in
18 accordance with this Section and the applicable municipal
19 ordinance. Service of the summons and a copy of the petition
20 may be by any method provided by Section 2-203 of the Code of
21 Civil Procedure or by certified mail, return receipt requested,
22 provided that the total amount of fines and penalties for final
23 determinations of parking, standing, or compliance violations
24 does not exceed $2500. If the court is satisfied that the final
25 determination of parking, standing, or compliance violation
26 was entered in accordance with the requirements of this Section
27 and the applicable municipal ordinance, and that the registered
28 owner or the lessee, as the case may be, had an opportunity for
29 an administrative hearing and for judicial review as provided
30 in this Section, the court shall render judgment in favor of
31 the municipality and against the registered owner or the lessee
32 for the amount indicated in the final determination of parking,
33 standing, or compliance violation, plus costs. The judgment
34 shall have the same effect and may be enforced in the same
35 manner as other judgments for the recovery of money.
36 (Source: P.A. 92-695, eff. 1-1-03.)