[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors
of Grant County 8-19-2003 by Ord. No. 45; amended 3-22-2005. Subsequent
amendments noted where applicable.]
The following words have the following definitions
in this chapter:
Anything manufactured, processed or packaged for exploding,
emitting sparks or combustion which does not have another common use
but does not include any of the following:
Fuel or a lubricant.
A firearm cartridge or shotgun shell.
A flare used or possessed or sold for use as
a signal in an emergency or in the operation of a railway, aircraft,
watercraft or motor vehicle.
A match, cigarette lighter, stove, furnace,
candle, lantern or space heater.
A cap containing not more than 1/4 grain of
explosive mixture, if the cap is used or possessed or sold for use
in a device which prevents direct bodily contact with a cap when it
is in place for explosion.
A toy snake which contains no mercury.
A model rocket engine.
Tobacco and a tobacco product.
A sparkler on a wire or wood stick not exceeding
36 inches in length that is designed to produce audible or visible
effects or to produce audible and visible effects.
A device designed to spray out paper confetti
or streamers and which contains less than 1/4 grain of explosive mixture.
A fuseless device that is designed to produce
audible or visible effects or audible and visible effects and that
contains less than 1/4 grain of explosive mixture.
A device that is designed primarily to burn
pyrotechnic smoke-producing mixtures, at a controlled rate, and that
produces audible or visible effects, or audible and visible effects.
A cylindrical fountain that consists of one
or more tubes and that is classified by the Federal Department of
Transportation as a Division 1.4 explosive, as defined in 49 CFR 173.50.
A cone fountain that is classified by the Federal
Department of Transportation as a Division 1.4 explosive, as defined
in 49 CFR 173.50.
An individual, more than one individual, partnership, corporation,
firm, organization, association, sole proprietorship, or any other
entity.
This chapter shall not apply in any city, village
or town in Grant County that has enacted an ordinance regulating fireworks.
A.
No person may possess or use fireworks in Grant County without a fireworks user permit from the mayor of the city, president of the village or chairperson of the town in which the possession or use is to occur or from an official or employee of that municipality designated by the mayor, president, or chairperson. No person may use fireworks or a device listed under the definition of "fireworks" in § 140-1, Subsections E to G or I to N, in Grant County while attending a fireworks display for which a fireworks user permit has been issued to a person or entity listed in § 167.10(3)(c)(1) through (6), Wis. Stats., if the display is open to the general public.
A.
No wholesaler, dealer, or jobber may store or handle
fireworks in premises unless the premises are equipped with fire extinguishers
approved by the fire official of the municipality where the premises
are located.
B.
No person may smoke where fireworks are stored or
handled.
C.
A person who stores or handles fireworks shall notify
the fire official of the municipality in which the fireworks are stored
or handled of the location of the fireworks.
D.
No wholesaler, dealer or jobber may store fireworks
within 50 feet of a dwelling.
E.
No person may store fireworks within 50 feet of a
public assemblage or a place where gasoline or volatile liquid is
dispensed in quantities exceeding one gallon.
Section 140-3A of this chapter does not apply to the following:
A.
A city, village or town, but municipal fire and law
enforcement officials shall be notified of the proposed use of fireworks
at least two days in advance.
B.
The possession or use of explosives in accordance
with rules or general orders of the Department of Commerce.
C.
The disposal of hazardous substances in accordance
with rules adopted by the Department of Natural Resources.
D.
The possession or use of explosive or combustible
materials in any manufacturing process.
E.
The possession or use of explosive or combustible
materials in connection with classes conducted by educational institutions.
F.
A possessor or manufacturer of explosives in possession
of a license or permit under 18 U.S.C. §§ 841 to 848
if the possession of the fireworks is authorized under the license
or permit.
G.
The possession of fireworks in any city, town or village while transporting the fireworks to a city, town or village where the possession of the fireworks is authorized by permit or ordinance. However, § 140-3A does apply to a person transporting fireworks under this subsection if, in the course of transporting the fireworks through a city, town or village, the person remains in that city, town or village for a period of at least 12 hours.
Any person found violating any of the provisions of § 140-3 or 140-4 of this chapter in Grant County may be issued a citation by any law enforcement officer of Grant County, Wisconsin. Any citation shall provide for the following:
A.
The name and address of the alleged violator.
B.
The factual allegations describing the alleged violation.
C.
The time and place of the offense.
D.
The section of the ordinance violated.
E.
The designation of the offense in such manner that
can be readily understood by a person making reasonable effort to
do so.
F.
The time at which the alleged violator may appear
in court.
G.
A statement which in essence informs the alleged violator
that:
(1)
The alleged violator may make a cash deposit of a
specified amount to be mailed to a specified official within a specified
time.
(2)
If the alleged violator makes such a deposit, he or
she need not appear in court unless subsequently summoned.
(3)
If the alleged violator makes a cash deposit and does
not appear in court, he or she either will be deemed to have tendered
a plea of no contest and submitted to a forfeiture, plus costs, fees
and the surcharges imposed under Ch. 814, Wis. Stats., not to exceed
the amount of the deposit or will be summoned into court to answer
the complaint if the court does not accept the plea of no contest.
(4)
If the alleged violator does not make a cash deposit
and does not appear in court at the time specified, the court may
issue a summons or a warrant for the defendant's arrest or consider
the nonappearance to be a plea of no contest and enter judgment or
Grant County may commence an action against the alleged violator to
collect the forfeiture, plus costs, fees and surcharges imposed under
Ch. 814, Wis. Stats.
(5)
If the court finds that the violation involves an
ordinance that prohibits conduct that is the same as or similar to
conduct prohibited by state statute punishable by fine or imprisonment
or both, and that the violation resulted in damage to the property
of or physical injury to a person other than the alleged violator,
the court may summon the alleged violator into court to determine
if restitution shall be ordered under § 800.093, Wis. Stats.
H.
A direction that if the alleged violator elects to make a cash deposit, the alleged violator shall sign an appropriate statement which accompanies the citation to indicate that he or she read the statement required under Subsection G and shall send the signed statement with the cash deposit;
I.
Such other information as may be deemed necessary.
The District Attorney's Office is authorized
to handle the prosecution of any citation action filed for violation
of this chapter.
B.
If the violator is under 17 years of age, the forfeiture shall be $50. However, if a law enforcement officer determines that a parent or legal guardian of a violator under 17 years of age who violated § 140-3 or 140-4 of this chapter consented to the use of fireworks by the minor, the law enforcement officer can issue a citation to the consenting parent or guardian of the violator under age 17 years of age and the parent or legal guardian shall forfeit the sum of not more than $1,000.
[Amended 12-18-2012 by Ord. No. 64; 6-16-2015]
A.
C.
The cash deposit which can be posted for a violation of § 140-3 or § 140-4 of this chapter for a violator who is over 14 years of age but under 17 years of age is a deposit of $50 plus statutory costs totaling $200.50.
(1)
Statutory costs include but are not limited to the jail assessment,
the penalty assessment, the crime laboratories and drug assessment,
court costs, the court support services fee, and the justice information
fee.
D.
Cash deposits, costs and assessments shall be paid to the Grant County
Clerk of Circuit Court in Lancaster, Wisconsin. The Clerk of Circuit
Court for Grant County shall issue receipts for cash deposits, costs
and assessments paid under this chapter.
A parent, foster parent, treatment foster parent,
family-operated group home parent or legal guardian of a minor who
consents to the use of fireworks by the minor in Grant County is liable
for damages caused by the minor's use of the fireworks.
Fireworks stored, handled, sold, possessed or
used by a person who violates this chapter may be seized by any law
enforcement officer in Grant County. The fireworks seized shall not
be destroyed until conviction has occurred for violating this chapter,
except as provided in § 968.20(4), Wis. Stats. If the fireworks
pose a danger to life or other property in storage, transportation
or use and the fireworks are not required for evidence or further
investigation, they shall be safely disposed of upon command of the
person in whose custody they are committed by detonating them in a
safe and reasonable manner. Except as provided under § 968.20(4),
Wis. Stats., fireworks that are seized as evidence of a violation
for which no conviction results shall be returned to the owner in
the same condition as they were when seized, to the extent practicable.
A person issued a fireworks user permit for
crop protection shall erect appropriate warning signs disclosing the
use of fireworks for crop protection.
This chapter does not prohibit a resident wholesaler
or jobber from selling fireworks to a person outside of Grant County
or to a person or group granted a fireworks user permit. A resident
wholesaler or jobber that ships the fireworks sold under this section
shall package and ship the fireworks in accordance with applicable
state and federal laws.
