HomeMy WebLinkAbout113 - 09/02/2003 - AMENDING THE CITY CODE RELATING TO GENERAL PROVISIONS AND REPEALING IDENTICAL SECTIONS CONTAINED ELS ORDINANCE NO. 113, 2003
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
AMENDING CHAPTER 1 OF THE CODE OF THE
CITY OF FORT COLLINS RELATING TO GENERAL PROVISIONS AND REPEALING
IDENTICAL SECTIONS CONTAINED ELSEWHERE IN THE CODE
WHEREAS,state and common law principles of complicity and corporate liability apply to
all criminal offenses; and
WHEREAS, the current provisions of the City Code apply these principles only to the
offenses contained in Chapter 17 and Section 12-99(e); and
WHEREAS, there are other offenses under the City Code such as sales tax and licensing
violations, environmental regulation violations, fire code and noise violations, which cannot
presently be prosecuted under the principles of complicity or corporate liability; and
WHEREAS, there is a need to apply complicity and corporate liability principles to all
violations of the City Code to be consistent with state law and to ensure effective enforcement of
all Code provisions; and
WHEREAS, once the complicity and corporate liability provisions are made applicable to
all offenses under the Code,the provisions currently contained in Sections 17-4, 17-5, 17-6,and 12-
99(e) would be redundant and should be repealed.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT
COLLINS as follows:
Section 1. That Chapter I of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended so
as to add new Sections,to be numbered as shown below,and to renumber the existing Section 1-19
as Section 1-22:
Sec. 1-19. Accountability; behavior of another; complicity.
(a) A person is guilty of an offense described in this Code committed by the
behavior of another individual if-
(1) Such person is made accountable for the conduct of that other individual
by the Section in this Chapter which defines the violation or by any other
specific provision of this Code or other ordinance of the City; or
(2) Such person acts with the culpable mental state sufficient for the
commission of the offense in question and causes an innocent individual
to engage in such behavior. For the purpose of this subsection, innocent
individual shall mean any individual's behavior, because of duress, legal
incapacity or exemption, or because such individual was unaware of the
illegal nature of the conduct in question or of the defendant's criminal
purpose, or because of any other factor which precludes the mental state
required for the commission of the offense in question.
(b) A person is legally accountable as principal for the behavior of another
constituting an offense described in this Code if,with intent to promote or facilitate
the commission of the offense,such person aids,abets,or advises or encourages the
other individual in planning or committing the offense.
(c) It shall be an affirmative defense under Subsection (b) of this Section, if
prior to the commission of the offense,the defendant terminated his or her efforts to
promote or facilitate its commission and either gave timely warning to law
enforcement authorities or gave timely warning to the intended victim.
(d) In any prosecution for an offense in which criminal culpability or civil
liability is based upon the behavior of another, it is no defense that the other person
has not been prosecuted for, or convicted of any offense based upon the behavior in
question or has been convicted of a different offense, or the defendant belongs to a
class of persons who by definition of the offense is legally incapable of committing
the offense in an individual capacity.
Sec. 1-20. Liability of corporation.
(a) A corporation is guilty of, or liable for, an offense described in this Code
if:
(1) The conduct constituting the offense consists of an omission to discharge
a specific duty of affirmative performance imposed on corporations by law;
or
(2) The conduct constituting the offense is engaged in, authorized, solicited,
requested,commanded,or knowingly tolerated by the board of directors or
by a high managerial agent acting within the scope of his or her
employment or on behalf of the corporation.
(b) As used in this Section, agent means any director, officer or employee of
a corporation, or any other person who is authorized to act on behalf of the
corporation, and high managerial agent means an officer of a corporation or any
other agent in a position of comparable authority with respect to the formulation of
corporate policy or the supervision in a managerial capacity of subordinate
employees.
Sec. 1-21. Liability of an individual for corporate conduct.
A person is guilty of, or liable for, conduct constituting an offense described in
this Code which he or she performs or causes to occur in the name of or in behalf of
a corporation to the same extent as if that conduct were performed or caused by him
or her in his or her own name or on his or her own behalf.
Section 2. That Sections 17-4, 17-5, and 17-6 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins
are hereby repealed in their entirety.
Section 3. That Section 12-99(e)of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby repealed
in its entirety.
Introduced,considered favorably,and ordered published this 19th day of August A.D.2003,
and to be presented for final passage on the 2nd day of September, A.D. 2003.
' Mayor
ATTEST:
City Clerk
Passed and adopted on final reading this 2nd day of September, A.D. 2003.
Mayor
ATTEST:
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City Clerk