Ord 2013-075/Amending section 82.010 to establish a civil penalty for the offense of passing a stopped school bus and providing for a civil fine of $300 per violation

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(a) Every hearing for the adjudication of a school bus stop arm violation charge under this article must be scheduled for a hearing date held before a hearing officer not later than the 30th day within 30 days after of the department receives receiving a request for an administrative adjudication hearing. The director shall notify, in writing, the person requesting a hearing of the date, time, and location of the hearing. (b) A person may make a request to reset a scheduled administrative adjudication hearing. A scheduled administrative adjudication hearing may not be reset more than once unless the vehicle owner pays to the director an amount equal to the applicable civil fine for the school bus stop arm violation, with any additional penalties and costs. The director shall issue a receipt for any amounts paid under this subsection. After presentation of the receipt, all amounts paid will be refunded to the vehicle owner if the hearing officer, or a municipal court on appeal, finds that the owner is not liable for the school bus stop arm violation. (c) At a hearing, the civil school bus stop arm citation and the recorded image produced by the photographic school bus stop arm enforcement system are prima facie proof of the school bus stop arm violation, and the enforcement officer or other authorized person who issued the citation is not required to be present unless requested by the vehicle owner charged or by the hearing officer. A vehicle owner's request to have the enforcement officer, or other authorized person who issued the citation, present at the hearing must be in writing and received by the hearing officer as part of the person's request for an administrative adjudication hearing. Failure to timely make this request constitutes a waiver of the vehicle owner's right to require the presence of the enforcement officer or other authorized person at the hearing. (d) At a hearing, the hearing officer shall hear and consider evidence presented by the city and by the vehicle owner. The formal rules of evidence do not apply to a hearing under this article, and the hearing officer shall make a decision based upon a preponderance of the evidence presented at the hearing, after giving due weight to all presumptions and prima facie evidence established by this article or other applicable law. (e) At a hearing, the reliability of the photographic school bus stop arm enforcement system used to produce the recorded image of the school bus stop arm violation may be attested to by affidavit of an officer or employee of the city, or of the entity with which the city contracts to install or operate the system, who is responsible for inspecting and maintaining the system. An affidavit of an officer or employee of the city that alleges a school bus stop arm violation based on an inspection of the pertinent recorded image is admissible in a proceeding under this article, is evidence of the facts contained in the affidavit, and is prima facie evidence of the violation alleged in the school bus stop arm citation. (f) At the conclusion of the hearing, the hearing officer shall immediately render an order or decision, either by: