HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Read Before Packet - 8/8/2017 - Powerpoint Presentation - Charter Amendment: Municipal Court Jurisdiction - Agenda Item #38/8/2017
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Agenda Item No. 3 -- 8-8-17
CHARTER AMENDMENT: MUNICIPAL COURT JURISDICTION
HOME RULE POWERS
• Article XX, § 6.c. of the Colo. Constitution grants home rule
municipalities power to create municipal courts and to define
and regulate their “jurisdiction, powers and duties.”
• In Town of Frisco v. Baum (2004), Colo. Supr. Ct. confirmed
that, if granted by charter or ordinance, home rule municipal
courts have jurisdiction to consider not just violations of a
municipality’s charter and ordinances, but also other matters
of local concern arising under its charter or ordinances, such
as appeals of land use decisions.
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CURRENT CHARTER
• City Charter Article VII, § 1 vests Municipal Court with
“original jurisdiction of all causes arising under the City’s
Charter and ordinances,” so not just violations of Charter
and ordinances.
• The kind of civil actions not involving Charter or
ordinance violations that can now be filed in Municipal
Court are also the kind of civil actions routinely filed in
District Court (i.e., challenges to land use decisions).
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RECENT CIVIL ACTION FILED IN MUNICIPAL COURT
• Until a challenge to a Council land use decision was filed
in Municipal Court recently, such civil actions have
always been filed in District Court.
• The experience of this lawsuit has shown that the
Municipal Court is not well-suited to hearing these kinds
of civil actions, which are very different from all other
matters coming before the Court.
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OTHER AVAILABLE JUDICIAL REVIEW
• Larimer County District Court has jurisdiction to review City
actions and decisions under Rule 106 of the Rules of Civil
Procedure.
• Any civil action filed and decided in Municipal Court must
first be appealed to and heard in District Court before being
appealed to Colorado’s appellate courts.
• Civil actions in Municipal Court adds a layer of judicial
review to a system that has functioned well and is adequate,
and adds significant potential delay and disruption.
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PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT
• The amendment limits the Municipal Court’s jurisdiction to just
hearing and deciding the prosecution of violations of the City
Charter and ordinances.
• Charter Article VII, § 1 would be amended as follows:
There shall be a Municipal Court vested with original
jurisdiction of all causes arising under the City's Charter and
ordinances. There shall be a Municipal Court with the
jurisdiction to hear and try all alleged violations of the Charter
and ordinances of the City prosecuted by the City. (…)
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RECOMMENDED ACTION
• Proposed Charter change would reduce the potential for
unnecessary delays due to multiple levels of quasi-
judicial and judicial review of City matters.
• The City Attorney, City Manager and Municipal Judge
recommend that Council adopt the proposed ordinance
setting a Charter amendment ballot question for the
November 7, 2017, Special Municipal Election.
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PUBLIC OUTREACH EFFORTS
• Staff distributed and posted a news release and an FAQ
document regarding the proposed charter change.
• This information was also provided to the Home Builders
Association and posted at the Development Review
counter.
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QUESTIONS?
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