HB1597 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB094 07702 DRH 37878 b

94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006
HB1597

Introduced 02/16/05, by Rep. William B. Black

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

625 ILCS 5/6-306.5	from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 6-306.5
625 ILCS 5/11-208.3	from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11-208.3

Provides that notice of penalties and opportunities for hearing with regard to failure to pay fines for parking violations may be sent to the violator's last known address recorded in a United States Postal Service approved database. Provides that, in cases where the violations involved a leased vehicle, notice may be sent to the last address known to the lessor of the vehicle. Provides that, after the expiration of the period during which judicial review may be sought for the administrative adjudication of a parking violation, the municipality commencing an action against the violator may file with the court a certified record (in lieu of a certified copy) of the final determination of violation.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning transportation.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by changing Sections 6-306.5 and 11-208.3 as follows:

(625 ILCS 5/6-306.5) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 6-306.5)

Sec. 6-306.5. Failure to pay fine or penalty for standing, parking, or compliance violations; suspension of driving privileges.

(a) Upon receipt of a certified report, as prescribed by subsection (c) of this Section, from any municipality stating that the owner of a registered vehicle has failed to pay any fine or penalty due and owing as a result of 10 or more violations of a municipality's vehicular standing, parking, or compliance regulations established by ordinance pursuant to Section 11-208.3 of this Code, the Secretary of State shall suspend the driving privileges of such person in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Section. The Secretary shall also suspend the driving privileges of an owner of a registered vehicle upon receipt of a certified report, as prescribed by subsection (f) of this Section, from any municipality stating that such person has failed to satisfy any fines or penalties imposed by final judgments for 10 or more violations of local standing, parking, or compliance regulations after exhaustion of judicial review procedures.

(b) Following receipt of the certified report of the municipality as specified in this Section, the Secretary of State shall notify the person whose name appears on the certified report that the person's drivers license will be suspended at the end of a specified period of time unless the Secretary of State is presented with a notice from the municipality certifying that the fine or penalty due and owing the municipality has been paid or that inclusion of that person's name on the certified report was in error. The Secretary's notice shall state in substance the information contained in the municipality's certified report to the Secretary, and shall be effective as specified by subsection (c) of Section 6-211 of this Code.

(c) The report of the appropriate municipal official notifying the Secretary of State of unpaid fines or penalties pursuant to this Section shall be certified and shall contain the following:

(1) The name, last known address, as recorded with the Secretary of State or in a United States Postal Service approved database, and drivers license number of the person who failed to pay the fine or penalty and the registration number of any vehicle known to be registered to such person in this State.

(2) The name of the municipality making the report pursuant to this Section.

(3) A statement that the municipality sent a notice of impending drivers license suspension as prescribed by ordinance enacted pursuant to Section 11-208.3, to the person named in the report at the address recorded with the Secretary of State or at the last address known to the lessor of the cited vehicle at the time of lease, or at the last known address recorded in a United States Postal Service approved database; the date on which such notice was sent; and the address to which such notice was sent. In a municipality with a population of 1,000,000 or more, the report shall also include a statement that the alleged violator's State vehicle registration number and vehicle make are correct as they appear on the citations.

(d) Any municipality making a certified report to the Secretary of State pursuant to this Section shall notify the Secretary of State, in a form prescribed by the Secretary, whenever a person named in the certified report has paid the previously reported fine or penalty or whenever the municipality determines that the original report was in error. A certified copy of such notification shall also be given upon request and at no additional charge to the person named therein. Upon receipt of the municipality's notification or presentation of a certified copy of such notification, the Secretary of State shall terminate the suspension.

(e) Any municipality making a certified report to the Secretary of State pursuant to this Section shall also by ordinance establish procedures for persons to challenge the accuracy of the certified report. The ordinance shall also state the grounds for such a challenge, which may be limited to (1) the person not having been the owner or lessee of the vehicle or vehicles receiving 10 or more standing, parking, or compliance violation notices on the date or dates such notices were issued; and (2) the person having already paid the fine or penalty for the 10 or more violations indicated on the certified report.

(f) Any municipality, other than a municipality establishing vehicular standing, parking, and compliance regulations pursuant to Section 11-208.3, may also cause a suspension of a person's drivers license pursuant to this Section. Such municipality may invoke this sanction by making a certified report to the Secretary of State upon a person's failure to satisfy any fine or penalty imposed by final judgment for 10 or more violations of local standing, parking, or compliance regulations after exhaustion of judicial review procedures, but only if:

(1) the municipality complies with the provisions of this Section in all respects except in regard to enacting an ordinance pursuant to Section 11-208.3;

(2) the municipality has sent a notice of impending drivers license suspension as prescribed by an ordinance enacted pursuant to subsection (g) of this Section; and

(3) in municipalities with a population of 1,000,000 or more, the municipality has verified that the alleged violator's State vehicle registration number and vehicle make are correct as they appear on the citations.

(g) Any municipality, other than a municipality establishing standing, parking, and compliance regulations pursuant to Section 11-208.3, may provide by ordinance for the sending of a notice of impending drivers license suspension to the person who has failed to satisfy any fine or penalty imposed by final judgment for 10 or more violations of local standing, parking, or compliance regulations after exhaustion of judicial review procedures. An ordinance so providing shall specify that the notice sent to the person liable for any fine or penalty shall state that failure to pay the fine or penalty owing within 45 days of the notice's date will result in the municipality notifying the Secretary of State that the person's drivers license is eligible for suspension pursuant to this Section. The notice of impending drivers license suspension shall be sent by first class United States mail, postage prepaid, to the address recorded with the Secretary of State or to the last known address recorded in a United States Postal Service approved database.

(h) An administrative hearing to contest an impending suspension or a suspension made pursuant to this Section may be had upon filing a written request with the Secretary of State. The filing fee for this hearing shall be $20, to be paid at the time the request is made. A municipality which files a certified report with the Secretary of State pursuant to this Section shall reimburse the Secretary for all reasonable costs incurred by the Secretary as a result of the filing of the report, including but not limited to the costs of providing the notice required pursuant to subsection (b) and the costs incurred by the Secretary in any hearing conducted with respect to the report pursuant to this subsection and any appeal from such a hearing.

(i) The provisions of this Section shall apply on and after January 1, 1988.

(j) For purposes of this Section, the term "compliance violation" is defined as in Section 11-208.3.

(Source: P.A. 89-190, eff. 1-1-96; 90-145, eff. 1-1-98; 90-481, eff. 8-17-97.)

(625 ILCS 5/11-208.3) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11-208.3)

Sec. 11-208.3. Administrative adjudication of violations of traffic regulations concerning the standing, parking, or condition of vehicles.

(a) Any municipality may provide by ordinance for a system of administrative adjudication of vehicular standing and parking violations and vehicle compliance violations as defined in this subsection. The administrative system shall have as its purpose the fair and efficient enforcement of municipal regulations through the administrative adjudication of violations of municipal ordinances regulating the standing and parking of vehicles, the condition and use of vehicle equipment, and the display of municipal wheel tax licenses within the municipality's borders. The administrative system shall only have authority to adjudicate civil offenses carrying fines not in excess of $250 that occur after the effective date of the ordinance adopting such a system under this Section. For purposes of this Section, "compliance violation" means a violation of a municipal regulation governing the condition or use of equipment on a vehicle or governing the display of a municipal wheel tax license.

(b) Any ordinance establishing a system of administrative adjudication under this Section shall provide for:

(1) A traffic compliance administrator authorized to adopt, distribute and process parking and compliance violation notices and other notices required by this Section, collect money paid as fines and penalties for violation of parking and compliance ordinances, and operate an administrative adjudication system. The traffic compliance administrator also may make a certified report to the Secretary of State under Section 6-306.5.

(2) A parking, standing, or compliance violation notice that shall specify the date, time, and place of violation of a parking, standing, or compliance regulation; the particular regulation violated; the fine and any penalty that may be assessed for late payment, when so provided by ordinance; the vehicle make and state registration number; and the identification number of the person issuing the notice. With regard to municipalities with a population of 1 million or more, it shall be grounds for dismissal of a parking violation if the State registration number or vehicle make specified is incorrect. The violation notice shall state that the payment of the indicated fine, and of any applicable penalty for late payment, shall operate as a final disposition of the violation. The notice also shall contain information as to the availability of a hearing in which the violation may be contested on its merits. The violation notice shall specify the time and manner in which a hearing may be had.

(3) Service of the parking, standing, or compliance violation notice by affixing the original or a facsimile of the notice to an unlawfully parked vehicle or by handing the notice to the operator of a vehicle if he or she is present. A person authorized by ordinance to issue and serve parking, standing, and compliance violation notices shall certify as to the correctness of the facts entered on the violation notice by signing his or her name to the notice at the time of service or in the case of a notice produced by a computerized device, by signing a single certificate to be kept by the traffic compliance administrator attesting to the correctness of all notices produced by the device while it was under his or her control. The original or a facsimile of the violation notice or, in the case of a notice produced by a computerized device, a printed record generated by the device showing the facts entered on the notice, shall be retained by the traffic compliance administrator, and shall be a record kept in the ordinary course of business. A parking, standing, or compliance violation notice issued, signed and served in accordance with this Section, a copy of the notice, or the computer generated record shall be prima facie correct and shall be prima facie evidence of the correctness of the facts shown on the notice. The notice, copy, or computer generated record shall be admissible in any subsequent administrative or legal proceedings.

(4) An opportunity for a hearing for the registered owner of the vehicle cited in the parking, standing, or compliance violation notice in which the owner may contest the merits of the alleged violation, and during which formal or technical rules of evidence shall not apply; provided, however, that under Section 11-1306 of this Code the lessee of a vehicle cited in the violation notice likewise shall be provided an opportunity for a hearing of the same kind afforded the registered owner. The hearings shall be recorded, and the person conducting the hearing on behalf of the traffic compliance administrator shall be empowered to administer oaths and to secure by subpoena both the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of relevant books and papers. Persons appearing at a hearing under this Section may be represented by counsel at their expense. The ordinance may also provide for internal administrative review following the decision of the hearing officer.

(5) Service of additional notices, sent by first class United States mail, postage prepaid, to the address of the registered owner of the cited vehicle as recorded with the Secretary of State or to the last known address recorded in a United States Postal Service approved database, or, under Section 11-1306 of this Code, to the lessee of the cited vehicle at the last address known to the lessor of the cited vehicle at the time of lease or to the lessee of the cited vehicle at the time of the last known address recorded in a United States Postal Service approved database. The service shall be deemed complete as of the date of deposit in the United States mail. The notices shall be in the following sequence and shall include but not be limited to the information specified herein:

(i) A second notice of violation. This notice shall specify the date and location of the violation cited in the parking, standing, or compliance violation notice, the particular regulation violated, the vehicle make and state registration number, the fine and any penalty that may be assessed for late payment when so provided by ordinance, the availability of a hearing in which the violation may be contested on its merits, and the time and manner in which the hearing may be had. The notice of violation shall also state that failure either to pay the indicated fine and any applicable penalty, or to appear at a hearing on the merits in the time and manner specified, will result in a final determination of violation liability for the cited violation in the amount of the fine or penalty indicated, and that, upon the occurrence of a final determination of violation liability for the failure, and the exhaustion of, or failure to exhaust, available administrative or judicial procedures for review, any unpaid fine or penalty will constitute a debt due and owing the municipality.

(ii) A notice of final determination of parking, standing, or compliance violation liability. This notice shall be sent following a final determination of parking, standing, or compliance violation liability and the conclusion of judicial review procedures taken under this Section. The notice shall state that the unpaid fine or penalty is a debt due and owing the municipality. The notice shall contain warnings that failure to pay any fine or penalty due and owing the municipality within the time specified may result in the municipality's filing of a petition in the Circuit Court to have the unpaid fine or penalty rendered a judgment as provided by this Section, or may result in suspension of the person's drivers license for failure to pay fines or penalties for 10 or more parking violations under Section 6-306.5.

(6) A Notice of impending drivers license suspension. This notice shall be sent to the person liable for any fine or penalty that remains due and owing on 10 or more parking violations. The notice shall state that failure to pay the fine or penalty owing within 45 days of the notice's date will result in the municipality notifying the Secretary of State that the person is eligible for initiation of suspension proceedings under Section 6-306.5 of this Code. The notice shall also state that the person may obtain a photostatic copy of an original ticket imposing a fine or penalty by sending a self addressed, stamped envelope to the municipality along with a request for the photostatic copy. The notice of impending drivers license suspension shall be sent by first class United States mail, postage prepaid, to the address recorded with the Secretary of State or to the last known address recorded in a United States Postal Service approved database.

(7) Final determinations of violation liability. A final determination of violation liability shall occur following failure to pay the fine or penalty after a hearing officer's determination of violation liability and the exhaustion of or failure to exhaust any administrative review procedures provided by ordinance. Where a person fails to appear at a hearing to contest the alleged violation in the time and manner specified in a prior mailed notice, the hearing officer's determination of violation liability shall become final: (A) upon denial of a timely petition to set aside that determination, or (B) upon expiration of the period for filing the petition without a filing having been made.

(8) A petition to set aside a determination of parking, standing, or compliance violation liability that may be filed by a person owing an unpaid fine or penalty. The petition shall be filed with and ruled upon by the traffic compliance administrator in the manner and within the time specified by ordinance. The grounds for the petition may be limited to: (A) the person not having been the owner or lessee of the cited vehicle on the date the violation notice was issued, (B) the person having already paid the fine or penalty for the violation in question, and (C) excusable failure to appear at or request a new date for a hearing. With regard to municipalities with a population of 1 million or more, it shall be grounds for dismissal of a parking violation if the State registration number or vehicle make specified is incorrect. After the determination of parking, standing, or compliance violation liability has been set aside upon a showing of just cause, the registered owner shall be provided with a hearing on the merits for that violation.

(9) Procedures for non-residents. Procedures by which persons who are not residents of the municipality may contest the merits of the alleged violation without attending a hearing.

(10) A schedule of civil fines for violations of vehicular standing, parking, and compliance regulations enacted by ordinance pursuant to this Section, and a schedule of penalties for late payment of the fines, provided, however, that the total amount of the fine and penalty for any one violation shall not exceed $250.

(11) Other provisions as are necessary and proper to carry into effect the powers granted and purposes stated in this Section.

(c) Any municipality establishing vehicular standing, parking, and compliance regulations under this Section may also provide by ordinance for a program of vehicle immobilization for the purpose of facilitating enforcement of those regulations. The program of vehicle immobilization shall provide for immobilizing any eligible vehicle upon the public way by presence of a restraint in a manner to prevent operation of the vehicle. Any ordinance establishing a program of vehicle immobilization under this Section shall provide:

(1) Criteria for the designation of vehicles eligible for immobilization. A vehicle shall be eligible for immobilization when the registered owner of the vehicle has accumulated the number of unpaid final determinations of parking, standing, or compliance violation liability as determined by ordinance.

(2) A notice of impending vehicle immobilization and a right to a hearing to challenge the validity of the notice by disproving liability for the unpaid final determinations of parking, standing, or compliance violation liability listed on the notice.

(3) The right to a prompt hearing after a vehicle has been immobilized or subsequently towed without payment of the outstanding fines and penalties on parking, standing, or compliance violations for which final determinations have been issued. An order issued after the hearing is a final administrative decision within the meaning of Section 3-101 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(4) A post immobilization and post-towing notice advising the registered owner of the vehicle of the right to a hearing to challenge the validity of the impoundment.

(d) Judicial review of final determinations of parking, standing, and compliance violations and final administrative decisions issued after hearings regarding vehicle immobilization and impoundment made under this Section shall be subject to the provisions of the Administrative Review Law.

(e) Any fine, penalty, or part of any fine or any penalty remaining unpaid after the exhaustion of, or the failure to exhaust, administrative remedies created under this Section and the conclusion of any judicial review procedures shall be a debt due and owing the municipality and, as such, may be collected in accordance with applicable law. Payment in full of any fine or penalty resulting from a standing, parking, or compliance violation shall constitute a final disposition of that violation.

(f) After the expiration of the period within which judicial review may be sought for a final determination of parking, standing, or compliance violation, the municipality may commence a proceeding in the Circuit Court for purposes of obtaining a judgment on the final determination of violation. Nothing in this Section shall prevent a municipality from consolidating multiple final determinations of parking, standing, or compliance violation against a person in a proceeding. Upon commencement of the action, the municipality shall file a certified copy or record of the final determination of parking, standing, or compliance violation, which shall be accompanied by a certification that recites facts sufficient to show that the final determination of violation was issued in accordance with this Section and the applicable municipal ordinance. Service of the summons and a copy of the petition may be by any method provided by Section 2-203 of the Code of Civil Procedure or by certified mail, return receipt requested, provided that the total amount of fines and penalties for final determinations of parking, standing, or compliance violations does not exceed $2500. If the court is satisfied that the final determination of parking, standing, or compliance violation was entered in accordance with the requirements of this Section and the applicable municipal ordinance, and that the registered owner or the lessee, as the case may be, had an opportunity for an administrative hearing and for judicial review as provided in this Section, the court shall render judgment in favor of the municipality and against the registered owner or the lessee for the amount indicated in the final determination of parking, standing, or compliance violation, plus costs. The judgment shall have the same effect and may be enforced in the same manner as other judgments for the recovery of money.

(Source: P.A. 92-695, eff. 1-1-03.)