Louisiana § RS 13:2571 - Parking violations; administrative adjudication; procedure; appeal; penalties

§ RS 13:2571. Parking violations; administrative adjudication; procedure; appeal; penalties

A.  The city of Lafayette, the city of Gretna, and any municipality having a population of twenty-five thousand or more may prescribe civil fines for violation of ordinances prohibiting parking, stopping, or standing in certain areas of the municipality pursuant to the procedures for administrative adjudication provided in this Chapter.

B.  The city of Lafayette, the city of Gretna, and each municipality with a population of twenty-five thousand or more may adopt an ordinance establishing an administrative adjudication hearing procedure under the provisions of this Chapter.  Each ordinance shall provide a time period for persons charged with violating a parking, stopping, or standing ordinance to have a hearing under the provisions of this Chapter.  The ordinance shall provide for appointment of hearing officers who shall have been licensed to practice law in Louisiana for five years and who shall have authority to administer oaths and affirmations and to issue orders compelling the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents.  Any order compelling the attendance of witnesses or the production of documents may be enforced by the city court of the municipality, the parish court, or the district court in which the municipality is located.  Except in municipalities having a population of four hundred eighty-five thousand or more persons, the ordinance may provide for a legal presumption that the vehicle's registered owner was the operator at the time of the charged violation.  Any municipality having a population of four hundred eighty-five thousand or more persons which has by ordinance provided for an administrative hearing pursuant to the provisions of this Section shall bear the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the person receiving the ticket or summons committed the parking, stopping, or standing violation.

C.(1)  If the ordinance provides for an instanter hearing at any time within fifteen days of the alleged violation for those denying liability for the violation, then the ticket or summons shall inform the person ticketed of the right to and place of such instanter hearing; however, the officer issuing the summons or ticket need not be present and the ticket shall be prima facie proof of its contents.

(2)  The ticket or summons shall also provide information as to the time and place of an administrative adjudication hearing, at which the officer issuing the summons, citation, or ticket is present.  The failure of any person charged with a violation to appear at the hearing shall be considered an admission of liability for the charged violation.  The original summons, citation, ticket, or any carbon, machine, or true copy thereof is a record kept in the ordinary course of business of the municipality, and shall be rebuttable proof of the facts contained therein.

D.  Any administrative adjudication hearing held under the provisions of this Chapter shall be conducted in accordance with the rules of evidence of the Administrative Procedure Act.  Testimony by any person shall be taken under oath or by affirmation.  The person charged with the ordinance violation may present any relevant evidence and testimony at such hearing; however, his physical presence shall not be required at the hearing if documentary evidence is submitted to the hearing officer prior to the date of the hearing.

E.  The hearing officer shall issue an order stating whether or not the person charged is liable for violation of the parking, stopping, or standing ordinance and the amount of any fine, penalty, costs, or fee assessed against him, which order may be filed with the clerk of the governing authority.  Any such order filed with this clerk may be enforced by immobilization of the offending vehicle.

F.  Any order or decision of the hearing officer filed under the provisions of this Chapter with such clerk shall be maintained in a separate index and file.  These orders or decisions may be recorded utilizing computer printouts, microfilm, microfiche, or other similar data processing techniques.

G.  The ordinance shall provide for the amount and disposition of fines, penalties, costs and fees.

H.  Any person determined by the hearing officer to be in violation of a parking, stopping, or standing ordinance may appeal this determination to the appropriate district court.  Such appeal shall be instituted by filing, within thirty days of the filing of the hearing officer's order, a petition with the clerk of court for the district court along with payment of such reasonable costs as may be required by the clerk.  After filing a petition for appeal the clerk of court of the district court shall schedule a hearing and notify all parties of the date, time, and place of such hearing.  Service of notice of appeal under this Subsection shall not stay the enforcement and collection of the judgment unless the person who files the appeal posts bond prior to filing notice of appeal with the agency of the municipality designated by ordinance to accept payments of violations of parking, stopping, or standing ordinances.

Acts 1986, No. 978, §1, eff. July 14, 1986; Acts 1987, No. 170, §1, eff. June 19, 1987; Acts 1987, No. 428, §1, eff. July 8, 1987; Acts 1988, No. 432, §1; Acts 1991, No. 752, §1; Acts 2010, No. 297, §1.