County clarifies rules

Goodhue County commissioners on Tuesday OK'd a revised citation ordinance, which gives certain Land-use Management employees the authority to write petty misdemeanor tickets to residents who violate some county laws.

The document outlines general administrative procedures for citing county ordinance violations, like those relating to solid waste, zoning and public health nuisances.

Some commissioners were worried staff writing petty misdemeanor tickets for certain ordinance violations could abuse the power if proper safeguards were not put in place.

Land-use Management Director Lisa Hanni said the ordinance addresses those concerns by requiring department heads to issue specific authorization before an employee issues a citation. Employees also must be trained to issue tickets.

Ticket writing is not used often, but staff say it helps encourage people to comply with certain laws.

Assistant Goodhue County Attorney Carol Lee said the procedure "was designed to be an intermediate stop between dealing with people administratively and sending them a misdemeanor complaint."

Hanni said tickets are only written after contact is made several times with property owners and that tickets can also be used as evidence if the county is forced to take someone to court to deal with an ordinance violation.

Tags: local government, goodhue county board, communities, politics