The Chief of Police shall establish the form of notice to be utilized by enforcement personnel.
[Adopted effective 3-6-1989 (Art. XIV and Appendix A of the General Bylaws)]
The noncriminal notice form, at the discretion of the enforcing agent, may be utilized as an alternative to initiating criminal proceedings for violations of any Town bylaw or any rule or regulation of any Town officer, board or department, the violation of which is subject to a specific penalty and which is included in § 1-4.
The enforcing agent shall be as previously designated by the Select Board and as listed in § 1-4 for each bylaw.
Penalties for violations shall be follows:
[Amended 5-10-2022 ATM by Art. 18]
The provisions of this bylaw shall be deemed severable, and in case any section, paragraph or part of this bylaw shall be held to be invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, the decision of such court shall not affect or impair the validity of any other section, paragraph or part of this bylaw.
[Amended 5-10-2022 ATM by Art. 18]
Proceedings held pursuant to this article and MGL c. 40, § 21D, shall not be deemed to be criminal proceedings nor shall a conviction for such a violation be shown to affect the credibility of a witness.
[Amended 5-10-2022 ATM by Art. 18]
This bylaw shall be effective on March 6, 1989.
A.
Violation citation issued by the enforcing officer for each designated bylaw infraction;
B.
Citation and copies dropped off at the Norfolk Police Department each day;
C.
Police Department sends/brings these citations to Wrentham District Court;
D.
Incident report filed with the violation citation clarifying details of the citation;
E.
The enforcing officer shall, if possible, deliver to the offender a copy of the citation at the time and place of the violation. If it is not possible to deliver a copy of the citation to the offender, the copy of the citation shall be mailed or delivered by the enforcing officer, or other designated person, within 15 days after the violation, to the last known address of the offending party. The copy of the citation will be mailed certified mail, return receipt requested. The letter to the offending party, if mailed, will contain instructions or explanation as to how the ticket is paid;
F.
Within 21 days of the citation, the person may appear before the Clerk Magistrate of the Court, or mail the citation with a check in the proper amount of the fine assessed to the Clerk of Courts; and, once paid, this will be considered final disposition of the case;
G.
If a person receiving a citation contests the validity of the citation, that person may request a hearing within 21 days of the date of the citation notice. The request for a hearing must be in writing. Any hearing requested shall not be considered a criminal hearing, and the decision of the hearing officer will be the final disposition of the hearing;
H.
If the citation remains unpaid after 21 days, a second notice will be sent to the offender, allowing an additional 10 days to pay the fine;
I.
If the citation remains unpaid after the second ten-day period and no hearing has been requested, the Clerk shall notify the enforcing officer who issued the original complaint for the violation, who shall determine whether to apply for the issuance of a criminal complaint for the violation;
J.
These proceedings, if handled under the noncriminal disposition of violation, will have no impact on probation records nor shall be noted on probation records.