[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Lancaster 6-29-1976 by L.L. No. 16-1976 (Ch. 36 of the 1976
Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 325.
The Village Board of Trustees of the Village of Lancaster, wishing
to assist the residents of the Village and the Justice Court in the
disposition of offenses relating to traffic and parking violations,
does hereby create a Traffic Violations Bureau pursuant to Article
14-B of the General Municipal Law.
The Traffic Violations Bureau shall be authorized to dispose
of any violations of the traffic laws, ordinances and rules and regulations
when such offenses shall not constitute the traffic infraction known
as speeding or a misdemeanor or felony.
A.
Any individual may plead guilty to an offense within the jurisdiction
of the Traffic Violations Bureau by a written document in such form
as prescribed by the Traffic Violations Bureau, waiving the right
to trial, and inclusion with said document of the payment of such
fine as shall be designated by the Justice Court for said offense,
provided that such fines are within the limits established as penalties
for such offense.
B.
Within the time specified on the summons, a person may appear personally
or by designated person or by written power of attorney, in such form
as prescribed by the Traffic Violations Bureau, before the Traffic
Violations Bureau to answer the violation alleged. Said violation
may be satisfied by payment of the prescribed fine and a writing waiving
a court hearing. Fulfillment of said conditions shall presumptively
be considered a plea of guilty, which plea the Bureau Director shall
be authorized to enter.
C.
Fulfillment of said conditions shall be deemed complete satisfaction
for the violation, and the violator shall be given a receipt which
so states.
[Added 6-13-1977 by L.L. No. 4-1977]
A.
Payment of parking fines. Notwithstanding any of the other provisions of this chapter, an owner of a motor vehicle charged with a parking violation, as said term is defined in the New York Vehicle and Traffic Law or in Chapter 325 of the Code of the Village of Lancaster, may pay any fine directly attributable to said alleged violation by placing said fine in a sealed envelope to be deposited with the Village Clerk/Treasurer of the Village of Lancaster or in the night slot provided in the Village Clerk/Treasurer's office for after-hours payment of water and tax bills. The payment of said fine by the owner of a motor vehicle shall be presumptively considered a plea of guilty of the violation in question, which plea the Bureau Director and/or the Justice Court of the Village of Lancaster shall be authorized to enter upon its official records.
B.
Delivering fines collected. The Village Clerk/Treasurer shall turn
over any envelope deposited with his office to facilitate the payment
of parking fines to the Village of Lancaster Justice Court and/or
the Bureau Director on a daily basis, if possible. In the event that
the daily delivery of said envelopes should place an unreasonable
burden upon the Village Clerk/Treasurer's office, the Bureau Director
or the Village of Lancaster Justice Court, the Village Clerk/Treasurer's
office may turn over such envelopes to the Village of Lancaster Justice
Court and/or the Bureau Director no less often than once a week. The
Village of Lancaster Justice Court and/or the Bureau Director shall
then open sealed envelopes received by the Village Clerk/Treasurer's
office in payment of parking fines and shall maintain a proper record
of all such fines received, giving credit to those individuals who
have elected to make payment by this method.
If a person charged with a traffic violation does not answer
to the violation, as prescribed in § 36-4, within the time
specified in the notice of violation, the Bureau shall cause a complaint
to be entered against said person, and a warrant to be issued for
said person's arrest and appearance before the court.
Any person who shall have been, within the preceding 12 months,
guilty of a number of parking violations in excess of a maximum number
to be established by the court or three or more violations other than
parking violations will not be permitted to appear and answer to a
subsequent violation before the Traffic Violations Bureau, but must
appear in court at a time specified by the Bureau.
The Traffic Violations Bureau shall not be authorized to deprive
a person of his right to counsel or to prevent him from exercising
his right to appear in court to answer to, explain or defend any charge
of a violation of any traffic law, ordinance, rule or regulation.
[Amended 11-25-2013 by L.L. No. 7-2013]
The Justice Court shall designate the fines to be paid for offenses
which may be satisfied at the Bureau, as provided in this chapter,
provided that such fines are in the amount of or are within the limits
established as penalties for such offenses.
A.
The Traffic Violations Bureau shall keep a record of all violations
of which each person has been guilty, whether such guilt was established
in court or in the Bureau, and shall also keep a record of all fines
collected and the disposition thereof.
B.
The Bureau shall also perform such other or additional duties and
keep such other or additional records as shall be prescribed by the
court and/or the Village Board.
