Document text
3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW President candidate says SOU must be enterprising ... Lake Shasta college party routinely turns wild ... Scuba trip to Belize nearly fatal for Rogue River man ... President candidate says SOU must be enterprising ... Lake Shasta college party routinely turns wild ... Scuba trip to Belize nearly fatal for Rogue River man ... Ashland weighs municipal court changes Proposal would remove much of the sitting judge's discretion on fines City officials are grappling with whether to make changes to the Ashland Municipal Court that could improve its efficiency, but also take away from its flexible and sometimes quirky nature. By Vickie Aldous MailTribune.com By Vickie Aldous Posted Mar. 16, 2010 @ 12:05 am By Vickie Aldous Posted Mar. 16, 2010 @ 12:05 am » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> City officials are grappling with whether to make changes to the Ashland Municipal Court that could improve its efficiency, but also take away from its flexible and sometimes quirky nature. Anyone who breaks a city law now faces a penalty of up to $500 plus fees — whether it's walking a dog without a leash, or abandoning a refrigerator that could suffocate a child who climbs inside. City Attorney Richard Appicello is proposing a new classification system in which offenses would be assigned different fines based on their severity. A person caught walking a dog without a leash would pay a fine of $97 plus fees. A person who abandoned a refrigerator would pay $427 plus fees. Ashland Municipal Court Judge Pam Burkholder Turner would be able to reduce those fines by 25 percent, but she would lose her ability to fine people anywhere from nothing up to $500 plus fees. The fine categories would be $97, $145, $242 and $427, plus fees. Appicello said assigning different fines for various violations could make the system more efficient, not only for the court, but for people who are cited. For example, a person who illegally has a dog in an Ashland park would be fined $97 plus fees and could mail in the payment. "For the person who gets a ticket, you can decide, 'Is it worth my time to take off a day from work or a half day to see the judge, or just send in the amount?' " he said. Ashland Police Chief Terry Holderness said a maximum fine of $500 plus fees is clearly not consistent with the nature of some violations. "Sometimes it seems silly that the fines are the same for behavior that has different impacts on the community," he said. Holderness said he thinks that assigning different fines for different violations could reduce the court's workload. He said many people who know they're guilty are going to court to fight citations because potential fines are so high. "I think reordering the fines to make them more in line with the severity of offenses is a good idea and will have a positive impact on enforcement and the community," Holderness said. Turner said she's not opposed to assigning different maximum fines to different violations based on their severity. But she said she should still have the option of reducing a fine to nothing, rather than only being able to trim a fine by 25 percent. Turner said every case is different, even if it involves the same violation. She said sometimes fines don't do much good when it comes to young people — especially when it's their parents who write the checks. Ordering youths to perform community service can be more meaningful, she said. She said she sometimes has to consider the impact of a fine on a person based on that person's financial situation. A fine could be quite a hardship on a person living on Social Security, for example. "If a person can't pay, then it goes to collections and it ruins their credit," she said. As for increasing the efficiency of the court, Turner said she can't predict whether more people will simply mail in their payments rather than coming in to talk to her in court in person. If the judge can decrease a fine by only 25 percent, more people may ask for trials in hopes of being judged not guilty, Turner said. On the other hand, they may give up on the idea of going to court entirely, she said. "I guess once they found out there was no point in talking to a judge because the judge can't do anything, then maybe they would stop coming," Turner said. "They would think, 'It's one more of those things that government has done that I can't do anything about.' " Turner said the proposed changes are so substantial that the issue should be taken to voters through a city ballot measure. The City Council is scheduled to consider the proposals April 20. "Right now, people of this community believe they can come in and talk to the judge and there's some discretion, flexibility and creativity there — and this ordinance would remove that," Turner said. "I think there would be a great loss to the community." The proposed fine classification system would not affect speeding tickets or citations for possessing less than an ounce of marijuana or being a minor in possession of alcohol. Though those common violations are heard in Ashland Municipal Court, they fall under state law, not the Ashland Municipal Code. Vickie Aldous is a reporter for the Ashland Daily Tidings. She can be reached at 541-479-8199 or [email protected]. By Vickie Aldous MailTribune.com By Vickie Aldous Posted Mar. 16, 2010 @ 12:05 am » Comment or view comments Terms of Service /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2016 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. MailTribune.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501