2003 House Bill 5216 - Michigan Votes

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2003 House Bill 5216

Public Act 316 of 2003

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Introduced by Rep. Steve Tobocman (D) on October 30, 2003, to allow cities to enforce ordinances designated as "quality of life violations" through an alternative adjudication system which would bypass clogged district courts (such as the 36th district which serves Detroit). A city could establish an administrative hearings bureau, which would not be bound by the formal rules of evidence would that apply in criminal courts. The bureau could not impose jail sentences, but could impose civil fines of up to $10,000. Rulings by the bureau could be appealed to district court. Quality of life violations could include violations of local zoning laws, building or construction codes, building or property maintenance codes, fire prevention codes, illegal dumping and solid waste disposal laws, noxious weeds ordinances, and local laws dealing with vehicle abandonment, inoperative vehicles, and vehicle impoundment. This is part of a legislative package comprised of House Bills 5216 to 5220, 5223, and 5224.
- Referred to the House Judiciary Committee on October 30, 2003.
  - Reported in the House on November 6, 2003, with the recommendation that the substitute (H-1) be adopted and that the bill then pass.
- Amendment offered by Rep. Jim Howell (R) on December 2, 2003, to include and municipal vehicle licensing as one of the violations covered by the proposed bureaus. The amendment passed in the House by voice vote on December 2, 2003.
- Amendment offered by Rep. Jim Howell (R) on December 2, 2003, to prohibit cities with rental housing inspection programs from issuing citations under the proposed alternative system to landlords during inspections, unless the landlord is first given a written correction notice and a reasonable opportunity to correct the violation, or the violation represents an immediate health and safety emergency. The amendment passed in the House by voice vote on December 2, 2003.
- Substitute offered in the House on December 2, 2003, to replace the previous version of the bill with one which eliminates the enforcement of construction codes from the proposed alternative adjudication system. The substitute passed in the House by voice vote on December 2, 2003.
- Substitute offered by Rep. Jim Howell (R) on December 2, 2003, to replace the previous version of the bill with one which replaces references to “quality of life” violations with the term “blight violations”. The substitute passed in the House by voice vote on December 2, 2003.
- Amendment offered by Rep. Jim Howell (R) on December 2, 2003, to clarify the provision governing appointment of hearing officers in the proposed bureaus. The amendment passed in the House by voice vote on December 2, 2003.
- Amendment offered by Rep. Ken Bradstreet (R) on December 2, 2003, to narrow the scope of the bill to only allow the alternative adjudication system in cities with a population of 7,500 or more. The amendment passed in the House by voice vote on December 2, 2003.
Passed in the House (91 to 16) on December 2, 2003, to allow cities to enforce ordinances designated as "blight violations" through an alternative adjudication system which would bypass clogged district courts (such as the 36th district which serves Detroit). A city could establish an administrative hearings bureau, which would not be bound by the formal rules of evidence would that apply in criminal courts. The bureau could not impose jail sentences, but could impose civil fines of up to $10,000. Rulings by the bureau could be appealed to district court. Blight violations could include violations of local zoning laws, building or property maintenance codes, fire prevention codes, illegal dumping and solid waste disposal laws, noxious weeds ordinances, and local laws dealing with vehicle abandonment, inoperative vehicles, and vehicle impoundment. This is part of a legislative package comprised of House Bills 5216 to 5220, 5223, and 5224. [Vote Details and Comments]
Received in the Senate on December 4, 2003.
- Referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on December 4, 2003.
  - Reported in the Senate on December 11, 2003, with the recommendation that the substitute (S-1) be adopted and that the bill then pass.
- Substitute offered in the Senate on December 16, 2003, to replace the previous version of the bill with one which establishes that the bill would apply to cities with a population of at least 7,500, or for Wayne County a population of at least 3,300, and which incorporates technical changes that do not affect the substance of the bill as previously described. The substitute also clarifies that a person could not be made subject to both a blight citation and civil prosecution for the same offence. The substitute passed in the Senate by voice vote on December 16, 2003.
Passed in the Senate (38 to 0) on December 17, 2003, to allow cities above a certain size to enforce ordinances designated as "blight violations" through an alternative adjudication system which would bypass clogged district courts (such as the 36th district which serves Detroit). A city could establish an administrative hearings bureau, which would not be bound by the formal rules of evidence would that apply in criminal courts. The bureau could not impose jail sentences, but could impose civil fines of up to $10,000. Rulings by the bureau could be appealed to district court. Blight violations could include violations of local zoning laws, building or property maintenance codes, fire prevention codes, illegal dumping and solid waste disposal laws, noxious weeds ordinances, and local laws dealing with vehicle abandonment, inoperative vehicles, and vehicle impoundment. This is part of a legislative package comprised of House Bills 5216 to 5220, 5223, and 5224. [Vote Details and Comments]
Received in the House on December 17, 2003.
Passed in the House (94 to 14) on December 18, 2003, to concur with the Senate-passed version of the bill. [Vote Details and Comments]
Signed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm on January 8, 2004.

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1) Property Rights to Shrink? [by Anonymous Citizen on December 18, 2003]
Although I can't say for sure how the "Quality of Life" package (HB's 5216-5220) would work, I have the uneasy feeling that it's going to make it a lot easier for municipal governments to drive people out of their homes if they're in the way of redevelopment schemes.

This package will make it easier to enforce building codes and zoning ordinances. The announced intention is to make easier to force absentee owners of blighted properties to clean up or repair their properties, and help turn the tide of decay in places like Detroit, where building codes and nuisance ordinances are unenforced by the city and the courts. Under this package, a special class of administrative hearings officers would be created to hear code cases, kind of like the magistrates that hear traffic cases. These hearings bureaus could apply liens to the property of persons who fail to remedy code violations, or pay zoning fines.

There's nothing necesssarily wrong with that, but I can visualize these hearings bureaus turning into kangaroo courts and moving against unpopular individuals' property, especially if the city has designs on their land. Imagine the old geezer with a yard full of junk, or a tumble-down house, who ignores building code tickets and judgments. In cases like that, a city government can easily start think like, "This guy's property is a mess, his neighbors hate all those junk cars in the yard, and he ain't been right in the head since he came home from the war and would probably be happier in some kind of home, so let's slap a lien on his land for unpaid tickets, force him out, and get one of our friends to build the latte shop we want to see on that corner."

That kind of case will get a different treatment in a jury trial than in an administrative hearing before a politically-connected pseudo-judge, so I'm suspicious of the "decriminalization" of zoning and building-code offenses under this package, in which homeowners will no longer have the right to a jury trial before losing rights in their land.
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