HB107ENROLLED
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ZGVQKR-3
By Representatives Givan, Treadaway (N & P)
RFD: Public Safety and Homeland Security
First Read: 07-Mar-23
2023 Regular Session
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Enrolled, An Act,
Relating to Jefferson County; to prohibit certain
forms of street racing and exhibition driving; to authorize
the county commission to assess civil penalties for
violations; to authorize the towing and impoundment of a motor
vehicle for a violation; to provide for the administration and
enforcement procedures; and to provide adjudicative and
appellate procedures.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. (a) This act shall only apply to Jefferson
County.
(b) As used in this act, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) COUNTY COMMISSION. The Jefferson County Commission.
(2) MOTOR VEHICLE BURNOUT. The practice of
intentionally keeping a motor vehicle stationary by using the
brake pedal or parking brake of the vehicle, while
simultaneously engaging the gas pedal to allow one set of
wheels to spin. The practice may result in the vehicle tires
being heated to a sufficient degree so as to cause smoke to
appear.
(3) MOTOR VEHICLE DONUT. The intentional and
unnecessary operation of a motor vehicle in a manner that
causes the vehicle to move in a zigzag or circular course or
to gyrate or spin around. The term does not include
maneuvering the otherwise lawfully operated vehicle when
necessary to avoid collision, injury, or damage.
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(4) MOTOR VEHICLE SPEED CONTEST. The operation of two
or more vehicles at accelerated speeds from a starting point
to an ending point in a competitive attempt to outdistance
each other, or the operation of one or more vehicles over a
common selected course from a starting point to an ending
point for the purpose of comparing the relative speeds or
power of acceleration of such vehicle or vehicles within a
certain distance or time limit. The term includes drag racing.
(5) MOTOR VEHICLE EXHIBITION OF SPEED. The operation of
one or more vehicles from a starting point to an ending point,
or over a common selected course, for the purpose of
exhibiting the speed or power of the vehicle.
(6) MOTOR VEHICLE SIDESHOW. An event in which one or
more persons perform motor vehicle stunts, including burnouts,
donuts, motor vehicle speed contests, motor vehicle
exhibitions of speed, or reckless driving, for spectators.
(7) OFF STREET PARKING FACILITY. Any public or private
lot, building, or space used for the parking of motor
vehicles, regardless of whether charges are made for the use
thereof.
(8) TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT OFFICER. Any parking
enforcement officer or traffic enforcement officer, as
designated by the Jefferson County Commission or a
municipality within Jefferson County, who is not required to
be certified by the Alabama Peace Officers' Standards and
Training Commission; and any law enforcement officer.
Section 2. A person may not engage in, or aid or abet
the furtherance of, any of the following on a public road or
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highway, off street parking facility, or any other parcel of
public or private property, without the consent of the owner
of that property:
(1) A motor vehicle speed contest.
(2) A motor vehicle exhibition of speed.
(3) A motor vehicle sideshow.
(4) A motor vehicle burnout, motor vehicle donut, or
other reckless driving maneuver.
Section 3. (a) Where an automated photographic or video
traffic enforcement system is authorized to be used by
existing law, the traffic enforcement system may be used to
assist in the detection and recording of violations of this
act. A traffic enforcement officer may issue notices of civil
violations by mail and prosecute civil violations for the
recorded or observed violations which occur within the county
limits.
(b) In addition, the county commission, by resolution,
may provide for a civil penalty to be assessed upon an
adjudication of a violation of this act.
Section 4. (a) A traffic enforcement officer who
observes a violation of this act, or who obtains proof of a
violation through the use of an automated photographic or
video traffic enforcement system, may cause a motor vehicle
operated in violation of this section to be towed and
impounded at the registered owner's expense as follows:
(1) On a first violation, for a period of 10 days.
(2) On a second violation, for a period of 20 days.
(3) On a third or subsequent violation, for a period of
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30 days.
(b) The traffic enforcement officer making the
impoundment shall direct an approved towing service to tow the
vehicle to the garage of the towing service, storage lot, or
other place of safety and maintain custody and control of the
vehicle for the required amount of time. Thereafter, the
registered owner or authorized agent of the registered owner
may claim the vehicle by paying all reasonable and customary
towing and storage fees for the services of the towing
company. The vehicle shall then be released to the registered
owner or an agent of the owner.
(c) Any towing service or towing company removing the
vehicle at the direction of a traffic enforcement officer in
accordance with this act shall have a lien on the motor
vehicle for all reasonable and customary fees relating to the
towing and storage of the motor vehicle. This lien shall be
subject and subordinate to all prior security interests and
other liens affecting the vehicle whether evidenced on the
certificate of title or otherwise. Notice of any sale or other
proceedings relative to this lien shall be given to the
holders of all prior security interests or other liens by
official service of process at least 15 days prior to any sale
or other proceedings.
(d) Subject to the requirements of this act, the
provisions of Chapter 13 of Title 32, Code of Alabama 1975,
relating to the impoundment and sale of abandoned motor
vehicles, shall apply to any person in possession of a motor
vehicle impounded pursuant to this section.
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(e) Notwithstanding anything in this section to the
contrary, a person who is adjudicated to have not committed a
violation of this section shall not be required to pay any
reasonable and customary towing and storage fees for the
services of the towing company. All reasonable and customary
towing and storage fees shall be paid to the towing company by
the governing body employing the traffic enforcement officer
who directed the vehicle to be towed as required by Section
4(b).
Section 5. (a) The district court is vested with the
power and jurisdiction to hear and adjudicate the civil
violations provided for in this act, and to issue orders
imposing any civil penalty authorized by the county
commission, and to order the towing and impoundment of a motor
vehicle in violation of this act.
(b) A person who receives a notice of violation may
contest the imposition of the civil penalty or the towing and
impoundment of the motor vehicle by submitting a request for a
hearing on the adjudication of the civil violation, in
writing, within 15 days of the 10th day after the date the
notice of violation is mailed. Upon receipt of a timely
request, the county commission shall notify the person of the
date and time of the adjudicative hearing.
(c) Failure to pay a civil penalty or to contest
liability as provided in the notice of violation.
(d) The civil penalty and court costs shall not be
assessed if, after a hearing, the court enters a finding of no
liability. In addition, the person shall not be required to
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pay any costs or fees or the towing or impoundment of the
motor vehicle.
(e) If an adjudicative hearing is requested, the county
commission shall have the burden of proving the violation by a
preponderance of the evidence. The reliability of a
photographic traffic signal enforcement system used to produce
the recorded image of the violation may be attested to by
affidavit of a trained technician. An affidavit of a trained
technician that alleges a violation based on an inspection of
the pertinent recorded image is admissible in a proceeding
under this act and is evidence of the facts contained in the
affidavit.
(f) The notice of violation, the recorded and
reproduced images of the traffic signal violation, regardless
of the media on which they are recorded, accompanied by a
certification of authenticity of a trained technician, and
evidence of ownership of a vehicle as shown by copies or
summaries of official records shall be admissible into
evidence without foundation unless the court finds there is an
indication of untrustworthiness, in which case the county
commission shall be given a reasonable opportunity to lay an
evidentiary foundation.
(g) All other matters of evidence and procedure not
specifically addressed in this part shall be subject to the
rules of evidence and the rules of procedure as they apply in
the small claims courts of this state, except that on any
appeal to the circuit court for trial de novo the evidence and
procedures shall be as for any civil case in the circuit court
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except as otherwise provided in this act.
(h) A person who is found liable for the civil
violation after an adjudicative hearing or who requests an
adjudicative hearing and thereafter fails to appear at the
time and place of the hearing is liable for court costs and
fees set out herein in addition to the amount of the civil
penalty assessed for the violation. A person who is found
liable for a civil violation after an adjudicative hearing
shall pay any civil penalty and court costs assessed by the
court within 10 days of the hearing.
(i) Whenever payment of a civil penalty is owed to the
county commission, the amount of the civil penalty as set by
resolution may not be increased, decreased, or remitted by the
court, and the liability may be satisfied only by payment.
Section 6. (a) It shall be an affirmative defense to
the imposition of civil liability under this act, to be proven
by a preponderance of the evidence, that:
(1) The motor vehicle was stolen or being operated by a
person other than the owner of the vehicle without the
effective consent of the owner.
(2) The license plate depicted in the recorded image of
the violation was a stolen plate and being displayed on a
motor vehicle other than the motor vehicle for which the plate
had been issued.
(3) The person who received the notice of violation was
not the owner of the motor vehicle at the time of the
violation.
(b) To demonstrate that at the time of the violation
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the motor vehicle was a stolen vehicle or the license plate
displayed on the motor vehicle was a stolen plate, the owner
must submit proof acceptable to the hearing officer that the
theft of the vehicle or license plate, prior to the time of
the violation, had been timely reported to the appropriate law
enforcement agency.
Section 7. Notwithstanding anything in this act to the
contrary, a person who fails to pay the amount of a civil
penalty or to contest liability in a timely manner is entitled
to an adjudicative hearing on the violation if:
(1) The person files an affidavit with the hearing
officer stating the date on which the person received the
notice of violation that was mailed to the person, if not
received by the 10th day after same is mailed.
(2) Within 15 days of the date of actual receipt, the
person requests an administrative adjudicative hearing.
Section 8. (a) Following an adjudicative hearing, the
court shall issue an order stating:
(1) Whether the person charged with the civil violation
is liable for the violation; and
(2) If so, the amount of the civil penalty assessed
against the person, along with any other fees and costs of
court.
(b) The orders issued under this section may be filed
in the office of the Judge of Probate of Jefferson County, and
shall operate as a judicial lien in the same manner and with
the same weight and effect as any other civil judgment filed
therein.
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(c) A person who is found liable after an adjudicative
hearing may appeal that finding of civil liability to the
circuit court, by filing a notice of appeal with the clerk of
the municipal court. The notice of appeal must be filed not
later than the 14th day after the date on which the municipal
court judge entered the finding of civil liability. The filing
of a notice of appeal shall stay the enforcement of the civil
penalty. An appeal shall be determined by the circuit court by
trial de novo.
Section 9. The circuit court hearing an appeal shall
use the procedures that apply to criminal proceedings with the
following qualifications:
(1) The proceedings shall retain their civil nature on
appeal with the circuit court applying the preponderance of
the evidence standard.
(2) If the person is adjudicated by the circuit court
to be responsible for payment of a civil penalty, circuit
court costs shall be owed by the person adjudicated
responsible, with 100 percent of those court costs retained by
the circuit court. Court costs in the circuit court shall be
calculated as are court costs for criminal appeals from the
municipal court, and in the event the circuit court finds the
person appealing to not be responsible, no court costs shall
be owed to the county commission.
(3) Regardless of the civil nature of the proceedings,
the circuit court, in its discretion and for its
administrative convenience, may assign case numbers as for
criminal appeals and place the appeals on criminal dockets
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(4) The circuit court shall sit as trier of both fact
and law in the civil proceedings in the circuit court.
(5) The county commission shall be responsible for
providing an attorney to represent the county commission and
to prosecute the civil proceedings in the circuit court.
Section 10. In the event the evidence produced by a
photographic traffic signal enforcement system does not
produce an image of the license plate with sufficient clarity
for a traffic enforcement officer to determine the identity of
the owner, and if the identity cannot otherwise be reliably
established, then no notice of violation may be issued
pursuant to this act. If, however, a notice of violation is
issued, to the degree constitutionally allowed, those issues
related to the identity of the vehicle or its owner shall
affect the weight to be accorded the evidence and shall not
affect its admissibility.
Section 11. This act shall become effective on the
first day of the third month following its passage and
approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.
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________________________________________________
Speaker of the House of Representatives
________________________________________________
President and Presiding Officer of the Senate
House of Representatives
I hereby certify that the within Act originated in and
was passed by the House 06-Apr-23, as amended.
John Treadwell
Clerk
Senate 03-May-23
Passed
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