By Scott Smith
At first, there seemed to be eagerness among Kokomo Common Council members to pass the so-called “local ticket” ordinance, but questions are beginning to mount.
First proposed in July and put on the back burner until earlier this month, the proposal is aimed at increasing revenues for city government.
City controller Jim Brannon estimated this week the city could raise up to $200,000 annually by writing “local tickets,” based on the number of moving violations tickets issued by the Kokomo Police Department each year.
The proposal involves rewriting the city’s traffic code to include moving violations. That way, violators (including speeders) can be written up for violating a local ordinance.
Currently, they are charged with violating state law, and only $3 from each ticket ends up going to the city. The rest goes to the state and to the county.
At the Nov. 9 council meeting, the measure passed unanimously on first reading. Several council members expressed enthusiasm for using fines collected under the new system for purchasing police equipment.
Still, Kokomo Police Chief Rob Baker raised alarms among council members that evening when he suggested the new ordinance — which must still pass two more readings to become law — might be an “incentive” to officers to write more tickets.
Baker quickly backtracked away from the comment, but council members have been asking questions ever since.
A council committee of the whole will take up the issue at 3 p.m. Tuesday in the first floor conference room, City Hall, 100 S. Union St.
Councilman Ralph Baer, R-6th, who will chair the meeting, said the issue of fairness needs to be discussed.
“We have to think of the officers, what the perception might be if [the department] keeps the money they get from writing tickets,” Baer said.
Councilman Mike Karickhoff, R-At Large, said his questions will include the topic of how the violations will be administered.
For instance, Karickhoff said, will violators have to pay extra if they go to court and lose?
Under the city’s proposal, that’s exactly what would happen.
City attorney Derek Sublette said in July he expected there would be some questions on the ordinance.
“The law allows you to write local ordinance tickets instead of state tickets,” Sublette said in July. “But the administrative structure is the complex part.
“We don’t have a city court anymore, so we’re trying to figure out how to possibly use small claims court to prosecute offenders for non-payment,” he added.
Under the initial version of the ordinance, failure to pay a local ordinance violation would have to be addressed through small claims court.
That would be a change from the threat held over the heads of state ticket violators, who can have their licenses suspended for missing court dates.
There is also the larger question of whether the city would be as diligent in reporting points from traffic violations.
According to the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, locals are responsible for reporting violations to the state, so that points may be attached to a violator’s driving record.
In other words, if the locals don’t report the ticket, the points don’t go on the license.
When points are recorded, and a violator breaks the law enough times, the state can prosecute that person as a habitual traffic violator, a felony charge.
Making sure the new ordinance won’t allow those poor drivers to escape consequences is another important question, Karickhoff said.
Council president Mike Kennedy, D-At Large, said Monday he wants the questions answered and the bill back on the council agenda at the next council meeting, Dec. 14.
• Scott Smith is a Kokomo Tribune staff writer. He may be reached at 765-454-8569 or via e-mail at scott.smith@kokomotribune.com
