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HomeMy WebLinkAbout042 03STATE OF WASHINGTON County of Jefferson In the Matter of re-establishing the County Policy on the Complaint Review RESOLUTION NO 42-03 and Enforcement WHEREAS, Jefferson County enacted a Complaint Review and Enforcement Policy by passage of Resolution No. 29-03 on June 23, 2003 to enforce locally adopted codes and ordinances in order to achieve compliance with the public policy; and, WHEREAS, this policy was enacted because the County realizes that in the course of enforcement and compliant investigations, employees may encounter circumstances that require the employee to make decisions on how to proceed that could have the potential to impinge on property owner privacy and/or property rights and this policy is to provide employees with specific instructions on what is expected of them in the performance of their duties and how to conduct themselves when approaching a potential violation, conducting an investigation or responding to a citizen complaint; and, WHEREAS, it was found that Attachment A which was part of Resolution No. 29-03 was not updated to incorporate changes made by the Board of Commissioners to address citizen concerns with the original document and those changes are necessary. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Board of County Commissioners that Resolution No. 29-03 (and Attachment A to it) is hereby repealed. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Jefferson County Policy on Complaint Review and Enforcement has been updated with the requested changes embodied in AttanbmentA which is hereby incorporated as part of this resolution. BE IT FINALLYRESOLVED, that this Policy on Complaint Review and Enforcement will be reexamined for applicability and desired outcomes in July of 2004. APPROVED -1 ADOPTED this 28th day ofJul y, 2003. �1�y�J SEAL: "'` r. JEFFERSON COUNTY f BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ATTEST: t O a Dan itterness, Chair Lorna Delaney, CMC Clerk of the Board len Huntingford ember (Vacant) Commissioner District No. 3 ATTACHMENT "A" JEFFERSON COUNTY POLICY ON COMPLAINT REVIEW & ENFORCEMENT POLICY STATEMENT: It is the policy of Jefferson County to enforce locally adopted codes and ordinances in order to achieve compliance with the public policy embodied within the regulation. Jefferson County employees, in carrying out this policy, will respect the privacy and property rights of citizens and will work with the alleged violation to find an amenable administrative solution before punitive measures are initiated. SECTION 1.0 — Subject This policy details the policies to be followed by all Jefferson County departments when responding to complaints and enforcing provisions of Jefferson County's Regulatory Ordinances as these regulations apply to all persons, and/or entities. SECTION 2.0 — Purpose A policy to provide general guidelines for responding to citizen complaints, basic enforcement procedures for complaint abatement, and how to proceed in the occasional instance when the County must seek damages from an individual or other entity, if it is found that there is a clear and present violation of applicable codes. 2.1 Goal: Code compliance rather than punitive measures are the goal. Jefferson County intends to achieve Code compliance through education rather than punitive measures. Employees dealing with violations will seek all possible recourse BEFORE issuing a ticket for a civil infraction. 2.2 General Guidelines: Jefferson County commits to the following guidelines when approaching a potential violation: a) Respect the rights of private property when conducting an investigation. b) Respect "No Trespassing" notices. c) Conduct interviews concerning potential violations at a neutral site. d) Review and affirm validity of each case before beginning a full-scale field investigation. Field inspection will include, to the greatest degree possible, use of the telephone and mail in lieu of site visits. e) Use a friendly and helpful approach using good common sense and reasoning. SECTION 3.0 — Affected Offices and Departments 3.1 Jefferson County offices and departments responsible for enforcement of Jefferson County codes, ordinances and regulations, and/or applicable State of Washington laws administered at the local level, except uniformed law enforcement personnel. Attachment A to Resolution No. 42-03 Policy on Complaint Review and Enforcement Page 1 of 6 ATTACHMENT "A" SECTION 4.0 — References 4.1 Jefferson County Code, ordinances and regulations 4.2 Revised Code of Washington 4.3 Washington State Administrative Code 4.4 Washington State Constitution 4.5 United States Constitution SECTION 5.0 — Definitions 5.1 Complaint: Any written, verbal or other communication reported to the County concerning the possible violation of a code, regulation or ordinance. Said communication to be valid must comply with Section 6.1 of this policy. 5.1.1 Actionable Complaint: Any complaint for which a code, regulation or ordinance violation has been verified or validated. 5.1.2 Emergency Complaint: Any actionable complaint where significant damage, severe injury or death has occurred or is imminent if the situation is not corrected immediately. 5.2 The County: The municipal corporation known as Jefferson County, Washington State and/or its agencies, divisions, departments, employees, representatives and agents. 5.3 Enforcement Authority: The person(s) assigned responsibility to bring final closure to cases of documented code violation and for non-compliance with Notice and Order to Correct Violation or failure to fulfill the terms and conditions of Correction Agreements. The Enforcement Authority and the Enforcement Officer may be the same person or persons. 5.4 Enforcement Officer: The person(s) authorized to enforce and utilize the provisions of Title 7 RCW, any other applicable state law, state regulation or Ordinance of this County. The Enforcement Officer may also be the Enforcement Authority unless the circumstances, statutes or regulations dictate otherwise. 5.5 Offices and Departments: For the purpose of this policy, this shall include all Jefferson County departments, their divisions, subdivisions, ancillary offices, and employees. 5.6 Reviewing Department: Shall mean the department, and its employees, under whose jurisdiction and responsibility the code, ordinance or regulation, which is alleged to be violated, is administered. SECTION 6.0 — Complaint Review and Enforcement 6.1 Complaint or Report Receipt: Most suspected violations are reported to County departments by telephone calls or letters. The inspector or person Attachment A to Resolution No. 42-03 Policy on Complaint Review and Enforcement Page 2 of 6 ATTACHMENT "A" receiving the complaint should determine if it falls under their department's jurisdiction and if it does not, the receiving department shall take all reasonable steps to refer the reporting party to the correct agency, division or department of the County. 6.1.1 Complaint must be recorded onto a sequentially numbered Jefferson County Complaint Form. Record the following information: i) Date and time the complaint is received ii) Type of complaint iii) Name, address, zip code, and phone number of the reporting party 6.1.2 Emergency and confidential complaints or reports require special consideration and handling. 6.1.3 The complainant will be notified in writing of the receipt of the complaint and be given the complaint file number to facilitate their future follow-up. 6.2 Confidential Complaints: It is the policy of Jefferson County to accept and evaluate complaints received from confidential reporting parties. 6.2.1 The name of the confidential informant or confidential reporting party must be revealed to the County employee, however, the name and information from confidential reporting parties will not be shown in the complaint file, but shall be kept in a separate data file that can be cross- referenced. 6.2.2 Jefferson County shall not act on complaints received from anonymous reporting parties. 6.3 Complaint Review and Referral: Program staff will respond only to a reported or suspected violation of code, ordinance, or regulation within their area of jurisdiction. Certain complaints or reports will need to be referred to other agencies or County Departments with primary responsibility for that type of complaint. 6.4 Complaint Type All complaints shall be reviewed and a determination made that they are a emergency, actionable or non -actionable complaint. 6.4.1 Emergency Complaints or Reports include any report of an incident where significant ecological damage, severe injury or death has occurred or is imminent if the situation is not corrected immediately. i) If the complaint is determined to be an emergency, the supervisor will handle it. 6.4.2 Actionable Complaint is a determination by the appropriate County Department that there is a violation of code, regulation or ordinance. Such determination may include but not be limited to: acknowledgement by the violating party and/or their representative, site inspection, photo documentation, or other such verifiable means or measures. i) If the complaint is determined to be actionable, but not of an emergency, nature it shall be processed by the Department in due course. Attachment A to Resolution No. 42-03 Policy on Complaint Review and Enforcement Page 3 of 6 ATTACHMENT "A" 6.4.3 Non -Actionable Complaint is a determination by the appropriate County Department that there is no clear violation or that the County is not the appropriate agency to respond. i) If the complaint is determined to be non -actionable the file will be closed. 6.5 Complaint Coordination: Many complaints received by County Departments will involve multiple issues and require coordination with another agency. 6.5.1 If the complaint involves a situation handled by another jurisdiction, i) The reporting party should be told to whom we are forwarding the complaint, and be given a contact person and telephone number. ii) Record information given to reporting party from first bullet on the complaint form iii) Staff must advise the contact at the other jurisdiction of any known or potentially hazardous situation regarding the complaint. iv) The complaint should then be logged -off the complaint database as "forwarded." 6.6 Site Inspection: The purpose of the site inspection is to document facts related to the complaint. 6.6.1 Jefferson County picture ID must be worn AT ALL TIMES when employee is in the field. The ID should be visible to the citizenry or shown to them if requested. 6.6.2 County staff shall always attempt to contact the property owner or custodian by phone before conducting a site visit, unless the violation is a clear and compelling risk to public health and/or safety. 6.6.3 In all cases, an inspection can occur only after: i) Obtaining consent (preferably in writing on a Consent form) from a responsible party (owner or tenant), or ii) Making observations from a location where the inspector may legally be without consent, or from a place he/she has consent to be, or iii) With a search warrant signed by a judicial officer 6.7 Post -Inspection Documentation 6.7.1 Inspection Report - The inspection report is often the most important piece of evidence in a complaint investigation. i) The inspection report should include each and every piece of information, evidence, observation, or item that might someday be taken to court in order to prove that the violator did in fact violate a State law, regulation, or local ordinance. For this reason always err on the side of being overly inclusive and detailed rather than being brief or omitting items. 6.8 Administrative Enforcement: First step in the enforcement process for non- emergency compliance. Attachment A to Resolution No. 42-03 Policy on Complaint Review and Enforcement Page 4 of 6 ATTACHMENT "A" 6.8.1 Warning Letter: A warning letter is appropriate in situations where: i) The violation warrants education rather than enforcement ii) The offense is the first for the violator and does not constitute a public threat 6.8.2 Notice and Order to Correct Violation (NOCV): Upon verification of a violation as the result of a site inspection, the inspector shall issue a written Notice and Order to Correct Violation, unless the violating party has entered into a Compliance Agreement. The NOCV will outline the necessary corrective action and will detail a timeframe for corrective action to be completed. The violating party may enter into a Compliance Agreement to satisfactorily abate the violation. 6.8.3 Compliance Agreement: The reviewing department and the violating party may enter into a Compliance Agreement following a full inspection. The Compliance Agreement fulfills all the requirements of a Notice and Order to Correct Violation (NOCV.) 6.9 Legal Enforcement: Second step in the enforcement process for non- emergency complaints. 6.9.1 Enforcement Authority or Enforcement Officer: Cases not resolved at the administrative level will be turned over to the Enforcement Authority who is responsible for follow-up and preparing the case of eventual adjudication or the Enforcement Officer if circumstances so dictate. The Enforcement Authority or Enforcement Officer will work with the reviewing department to prepare and document the violation case in a manner that would prepare and organize the case for possible litigation in a court of competent jurisdiction, should such a course of action be needed. The case may be referred, if all other routes to obtain enforcement or compliance have failed, to the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney for possible criminal or civil prosecution should the Prosecuting Attorney, or his or her designated Deputy, at their complete discretion, determine litigation is necessary or proper. 6.9.2 Code Infraction Coordination: The Enforcement Authority shall from time to time coordinate among various affected departments review of alleged or documented infractions to assure a coordinated and systematic approach is used in violation abatement. 6.9.3 Coordination Meeting: The Enforcement Authority or Enforcement Officer shall convene at least quarterly a meeting of representatives from the reviewing departments, the Office of the Sheriff, the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, the Risk Manager and other appropriate parties to review code enforcement and compliance issues. 6.9.4 Letter from the Prosecuting Attorney: The Prosecuting Attorney, or his or her designated Deputy, may, at his or her complete discretion, write a letter to the person or entity that is allegedly in violation which outlines the consequences of not coming into compliance. Attachment A to Resolution No. 42-03 Policy on Complaint Review and Enforcement Page 5 of 6 ATTACHMENT "A" 6.9.5 Notice of Civil Infraction (Ticket): The Enforcement Authority and/or the Enforcement Officer shall have the authority to issue a Notice of Civil Infraction (also known as "ticketing" a person or entity for code violations in compliance with adopted policy and procedures.) Should a Notice of Civil Infraction be tried before a court of competent jurisdiction, the presence of a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney at said trial will be optional. 6.9.6 Other Legal Enforcement Options: All lawful enforcement options, including judicial solutions, may be used to enforce state law or regulation or any local Ordinance, the use of same to be at the full discretion of the Prosecuting Attorney, or his or her designated Deputy. SECTION 7.0 - Conflicts To the extent that this "Policy on Complaint Review and Enforcement" conflicts with any portion, section, language or term of any state law or regulation or any local Ordinance, then the applicable portion, section, language or term of that law, regulation or Ordinance shall prevail and be controlling. This section makes pre-eminent any applicable laws, regulations and/or Ordinances whether they are enacted or adopted before or after this Policy "becomes an official policy of Jefferson County." Attachment A to Resolution No. 42-03 Policy on Complaint Review and Enforcement Page 6 of 6