2024 Code of Alabama
Title 45 - Local Laws.
Chapter 57A - Russell County Municipalities.
Article 6 - Phenix City.
Part 5 - Public Safety and Courts.
Subpart 3 - Phenix City Red Light Safety Act.
Section 45-57A-64.55 - Power and Jurisdiction of Municipal Court; Contesting Liability; Fines and Costs; Affirmative Defenses.
Section 45-57A-64.55
Power and Jurisdiction of Municipal Court; Contesting Liability; Fines and Costs; Affirmative Defenses.
(a)
The Phenix City Municipal Court is vested with the
power and jurisdiction to hear and adjudicate the civil violations provided
for in this subpart, and to issue orders imposing
the civil fines and costs set out in this subpart.
(b)
A person who receives a violation may contest the imposition of the civil fine by submitting a request for a
hearing on the adjudication of the civil violation, in writing, within 15 days
of the 10th day after the date the notice of violation is mailed. Upon receipt of a timely request, the city
shall notify the person of the date and time of the adjudicative hearing.
(c)
Failure to pay a civil penalty or to contest
liability in a timely manner is
an admission of liability in the full amount of the civil fine assessed in the
notice of violation.
(d)
The civil fine and court costs shall not be assessed
if, after a hearing, the Phenix City municipal judge enters a finding of no
liability.
(e)
If an adjudicative hearing is requested, the city shall
have the burden
of proving the traffic signal violation by a preponderance of the
evidence. The reliability of the
photographic traffic signal enforcement system used to produce the recorded
image of the violation may be attested to by affidavit of a trained technician. An affidavit of a trained technician that
alleges a violation based on an inspection of the pertinent recorded image is admissible
in a proceeding under this act and is evidence of the facts contained in the affidavit.
(f)
The notice of violation, the recorded and reproduced
images of the traffic signal
violation, regardless of the media on which they are recorded, accompanied by a
certification of authenticity of a trained technician, and evidence of
ownership of a vehicle as shown by copies or summaries of official records,
shall be admissible into evidence without foundation unless the municipal court
finds there is an indication of untrustworthiness, in which case the city shall
be given a reasonable opportunity to lay an evidentiary foundation.
(g)
All other matters
of evidence and procedure not specifically addressed
in this subpart shall be subject to the rules of evidence and the rules
of procedure as they apply in the small
claims courts of this state,
except that on any appeal to the Russell County
Circuit Court for trial de novo the evidence and procedures shall be as for any
civil case in the circuit court except as otherwise provided in this subpart.
(h)
A person who is found liable for the civil violation
after an adjudicative hearing or who requests an adjudicative hearing
and thereafter fails to appear at the time and place of the
hearing is liable for court costs and fees set out herein in addition to the amount
of the civil fine assessed
for the violation. A person who is found liable for a civil violation after an adjudicative
hearing shall pay the civil fine and costs within 10 days of the hearing.
(i)
Whenever payment of a civil fine is owed to the city,
the amount of the civil fine as set by ordinance may not be increased,
decreased, or remitted by the municipal court,
and the liability may be satisfied only by payment.
(j)
It shall be an affirmative defense to the imposition of civil liability
under this subpart, to be proven by a preponderance of the evidence,
that:
(1) The
traffic-control signal was not in proper position and sufficiently visible to
an ordinarily observant person.
(2) The
operator of the motor vehicle was acting in compliance with the lawful order or
direction of a police officer.
(3) The
operator of the motor vehicle violated the instructions of the traffic-control
signal so as to yield the right-of-way to an immediately approaching authorized
emergency vehicle.
(4) The motor
vehicle was being operated as an authorized emergency vehicle under Sections
32–5A–7 and 32–5–213, and that the operator was acting in compliance with that
chapter.
(5)
The motor vehicle was stolen or being operated by a person other than the owner of the vehicle
without the effective consent of the owner.
(6)
The license plate
depicted in the recorded image
of the violation was a stolen plate and being displayed on a
motor vehicle other than the motor vehicle for which the plate had been issued.
(7)
The presence of ice, snow, unusual amounts
of rain, or other unusually hazardous road conditions existed that would
make compliance with this
subpart more dangerous under the circumstances than noncompliance.
(8)
The person who received the notice of violation was not the owner of
the motor vehicle at the time of the violation.
(k) To demonstrate that at the time of the violation the motor vehicle
was a stolen vehicle or the
license plate displayed on the motor vehicle was a stolen plate, the owner must
submit proof acceptable to the hearing officer that the theft of the vehicle
or license plate,
prior to the time of the violation, had been timely
reported to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
(l) Notwithstanding anything in
this subpart to the contrary, a person who fails to pay the amount of a civil fine or to contest
liability in a timely manner is entitled to an adjudicative
hearing on the violation if:
(1)
The person files an affidavit with the hearing officer stating the date
on which the person received the notice of violation that was mailed to the
person, if not received by the 10th day after same is mailed as set out in
subsection (a) of Section 45–57A–64.54.
(2)
Within 15 days of the date of actual receipt, the person requests an administrative
adjudicative hearing.
(Act 2012–326, p. 758, § 6.)
