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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4487 (2) ORDINANCE NO. 4487 AN ORDINANCE of the City Council of the City of Kent, Washington, amending sections 9.36.140 and 9.36.150 of the Kent City Code to incorporate state legislative changes adopted through ESHB 2384 that take effect June 6, 2024. RECITALS A. During the 2024 legislative session, the state adopted Engrossed Substitute House Bill (ESHB 2384), which made a number of changes to the laws concerning traffic safety cameras. The bill expanded the uses for which traffic safety cameras could be used, placed limits on how revenue generated from some traffic safety camera violations could be used, revised the fine amounts that apply to traffic safety camera violations, and reduced fine amounts for first-time violators who receive state public assistance. B. The City of Kent currently uses traffic safety cameras to detect speed violations in school zones and red-light traffic control violations. Because the Kent City Council previously took action to limit how revenue generated from these camera violations could be used within the City of Kent, the state legislature exempted revenue from those cameras from the use limitations set out in ESHB 2384. As a result, the City of Kent may 1 Amend KCC 9.36 - Re: Traffic Safety Camera Violations, Incorporate ESHB 2384 continue to dedicate revenue generated from violations of its existing traffic safety camera program to fund personnel, programs, services, and equipment related to the enforcement and processing of traffic and criminal laws within the City of Kent. C. RCW 46.63.170(2) currently provides that traffic safety camera violations are to be assessed a fine that does not exceed the fine amount assessed for parking violations within the jurisdiction. Fines assessed in Kent for parking violations range between $30 and $450. As such, fines for traffic safety camera violations in Kent were set within that range. The current fine amount is $136, and for traveling at a speed of 30 mph or more in a school zone, the fine is $248. The base fine of $136 for traffic safety camera violations was last adjusted on December 11, 2018, through Ordinance No. 4298. No adjustments have been made to those fine amounts to account for inflation. D. Through ESHB 2384, the state legislature repealed RCW 43,63.170 and enacted a new statute that uncouples fines for traffic safety camera violations from parking violations, and simply provides fines may not exceed $145, as that amount may be adjusted for inflation by the state Office of Financial Management every five years, beginning January 1, 2029, based upon changes in the consumer price index during that time period. The legislature further provided authorization for the fine amount to double for speed violations within school zones, which is consistent with fines assessed for school zone violations that are on-viewed by police officers. E. For those registered owners of vehicles who receive state public assistance or benefits through the Washington Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, ESHB 2384 requires they be granted, upon request, a reduction in the fine assessed for traffic safety camera violations 2 Amend KCC 9.36 - Re: Traffic Safety Camera Violations, Incorporate ESHB 2384 to an amount that is 50% of the original fine amount. However, this fine reduction applies only to such registered owner's first traffic safety camera violation, and subsequent traffic safety camera violations that occur within 21 days of issuance of the first violation notice. F. 'This ordinance increases the base fine for traffic safety camera violations from $136 to $145. Further, instead of doubling the fine for all school zone speed violations captured by traffic safety cameras as authorized by ESHB 2384, violations would only be subject to an increased fine amount if the vehicle was traveling at a speed of 30 mph or more, i.e. 10 mph over the posted 20 mph zone. These fine amounts would thereafter increase consistent with any adjustments provided for by the state Office of Financial Management as provided for by ESHB 2384. NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENT, WASHINGTON, DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: ORDINANCE SECTION 1. - Amendment KCC 9.36.140. Section 9.36.140 of the Kent City Code, entitled "School speed zone traffic safety cameras", is hereby amended as follows: Sec. 9.36.140. School speed zone traffic safety cameras. A. Authorized use of automated traffic safety cameras. Pursuant to the authority provided for by Ch. 46.63 RCW ef RGW 46.63.170, the city is authorized to use automated traffic safety cameras and related automated systems in order to detect, record, and enforce and prosecute school speed zone violations. B. Limitation on photos - Use of photos. 3 Amend KCC 9.36 - Re: Traffic Safety Camera Violations, Incorporate ESHB 2384 1. Limitation on photos. Automated traffic safety cameras may only take pictures of the vehicle and vehicle license plate and only while an infraction is occurring. The picture must not reveal the face of the driver or of passengers in the vehicle. 2. Use of photos. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all photographs, microphotographs, or electronic images prepared under this section are for the exclusive use of law enforcement in the discharge of duties under this section and are not open to the public and may not be used in a court in a pending action or proceeding unless the action or proceeding relates to a violation under this section. No photograph, microphotograph, or electronic image may be used for any purpose other than enforcement of violations under this section nor retained longer than necessary to enforce this section. C. Infraction processing - Responsibilities - Presumption. 1. In general. Infractions detected through the use of automated traffic safety cameras are not part of the registered owner's driving record under RCW 46.52,101 and 46.52.120. Additionally, infractions generated by the use of automated traffic safety cameras shall be processed in the same manner as parking infractions, including for the purposes of RCW 3.50.100, 35.20.220, 46.16A.120, and 46.20.270(23). 2. Notice of infraction. A notice of infraction must be mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle within 14 days of the violation, or to the renter of a vehicle within 14 days of establishing the renter's name and address under subsection (C)(4) of this section. The law enforcement officer issuing the notice of infraction shall include with it a certificate or facsimile thereof, based upon inspection of photographs, microphotographs, or electronic images produced by an automated traffic safety camera, stating the facts supporting the notice of infraction. This certificate or facsimile is 4 Amend KCC 9.36 - Re: Traffic Safety Camera Violations, Incorporate ESHB 2384 prima facie evidence of the facts contained in it and is admissible in a proceeding charging a violation under this section. Any citation or notice of infraction issued pursuant to this section may be initiated by electronic signature of the issuing police officer. The photographs, microphotographs, or electronic images evidencing the violation must be available for inspection and admission into evidence in a proceeding to adjudicate the liability for the infraction. A person receiving a notice of infraction based on evidence detected by an automated traffic safety camera may respond to the notice by mail. 3. Registered owner responsible - Rental car business. The registered owner of a vehicle is responsible for an infraction issued pursuant to this section unless the registered owner overcomes the presumption in subsection (C)(5) of this section, or, in the case of a rental car business, satisfies the conditions under subsection (C)(4) of this section. If appropriate under the circumstances, a renter identified under subsection (C)(4) of this section is responsible for an infraction. 4. Rental cars. If the registered owner of the vehicle is a rental car business, the law enforcement agency shall, before a notice of infraction is issued under this section, provide a written notice to the rental car business that a notice of infraction may be issued to the rental car business if the rental car business does not, within 18 days of receiving the written notice, provide to the issuing agency by return mail: a. A statement under oath stating the name and known mailing address of the individual driving or renting the vehicle when the infraction occurred; or b. A statement under oath that the business is unable to determine who was driving or renting the vehicle at the time the infraction occurred because the vehicle was stolen at the time of the infraction. A 5 Amend KCC 9.36 - Re: Traffic Safety Camera Violations, Incorporate ESHB 2384 statement provided under this subsection must be accompanied by a copy of a filed police report regarding the vehicle theft; or C. In lieu of identifying the vehicle operator, the rental car business may pay the applicable penalty. Timely mailing of the statements described in subsections (C)(4)(a) and (b) of this section to the issuing law enforcement agency relieves a rental car business of any liability under this section for the notice of infraction. 5. Presumption. Pursuant to RCW 46.63.075, in a traffic infraction case involving an infraction detected through the use of an automated traffic safety camera under this section, proof that the particular vehicle described in the notice of traffic infraction was in violation of a law enforced through the use of the automated traffic safety camera, together with proof that the person named in the notice of traffic infraction was at the time of the violation the registered owner of the vehicle, constitutes in evidence a prima facie presumption that the registered owner of the vehicle was the person in control of the vehicle at the point where, and for the time during which, the violation occurred. This presumption may be overcome only if the registered owner states, under oath, in a written statement to the court or in testimony before the court that the vehicle involved was, at the time, stolen or in the care, custody, or control of some person other than the registered owner. D. Infraction - Penalty. It shall be an infraction to exceed the posted speed limit in a school speed zone enforced through the use of an automated traffic safety camera. The penalty for an infraction committed in a school speed zone which is detected through the use of an automated traffic safety camera shall be 145 6; provided, the penalty shall be 290$248 for a violation in which the vehicle was operated at a speed of 30 miles per hour 6 Amend KCC 9.36 - Re: Traffic Safety Camera Violations, Incorporate ESHB 2384 or more. In addition to the fines provided herein, a violator may be assessed any costs and assessments as required or permitted by state law or court rule. The penalty assessed under this section shall adjust consistent with those inflation adjustments made by the state Office of Financial Management every five years beginning January 1 2029 based upon changes in the consumer price index during that time period, as provided for by Laws of 2024, Ch. 207 � 16. Registered owners of vehicles who receive notices of infraction for automated traffic safety camera-enforced infractions and are recipients of public assistance under Title 74 RCW or participants in the Washington Women Infants and Children (WIC) program, and who request reduced penalties for infractions detected through the use of automated traffic safety camera violations, must be granted reduced penalty amounts of 50% of what would otherwise be assessed for a first automated traffic safety camera violation and for subsequent automated traffic safety camera violations issued within 21 days of issuance of the first automated traffic safety camera violation Eligibility for medicaid under RCW 74 09.510 is not a qualifying criterion under this subsection. E. Signs - Payment to vendor - Alternative enforcement. 1. School zones must be signed. All locations where an automated traffic safety camera is used must be clearly marked at least 30 days prior to activation of the camera by placing signs in locations that clearly indicate to a driver that he or she is entering a zone where traffic laws are enforced by an automated traffic safety camera. 2. Payment made to vendor. The compensation paid by the city to the manufacturer or vendor of the automated traffic safety camera equipment must be based only upon the value of the equipment and services provided or rendered in support of the system, and may not be based upon 7 Amend KCC 9.36 - Re: Traffic Safety Camera Violations, Incorporate ESHB 2384 a portion of the fine or civil penalty imposed or the revenue generated by the equipment. 3. Alternative enforcement. Nothing in this section prohibits a law enforcement officer from issuing a notice of traffic infraction to a person in control of a vehicle at the time a violation occurs pursuant to RCW 46.63.030(1)(a), (b), or (c). F. Use of funds. Funds derived from the use of automated traffic safety cameras shall be used to pay the costs of administering the automated traffic safety camera program, including but not limited to personnel costs, vendor costs, and equipment costs. Funds in excess of these costs may be used to fund personnel, programs, services, and equipment related to the enforcement and processing of traffic and criminal laws within the city. G. Definition. For the purposes of this section "automated traffic safety camera" means a device that uses a vehicle sensor installed to work in conjunction with an intersection traffic control system, a railroad grade crossing control system, or a speed measuring device, and a camera synchronized to automatically record one or more sequenced photographs, microphotographs, or electronic images of the front or rear of a motor vehicle at the time the vehicle fails to stop when facing a steady red traffic control signal or an activated railroad grade crossing control signal, or exceeds a speed limit in a school speed zone as detected by a speed measuring device; and "school speed zone" shall have the same meaning as described in RCW 46.61.440 (1) and (2).. SECTION 2. - Amendment KCC 9.36.150. Section 9.36.150 of the Kent City Code, entitled 'Stoplight traffic safety cameras", is hereby amended as follows: 8 Amend KCC 9.36 - Re: Traffic Safety Camera Violations, Incorporate ESHB 2384 Sec. 9.36.150. Stoplight traffic safety cameras. A. Authorized use of automated traffic safety cameras. Pursuant to the authority of Ch. 46.63 RCW 46 63 17G, the city is authorized to use automated traffic safety cameras and related automated systems in order to detect, record, and enforce and prosecute stoplight violations. B. Limitation on photos - Use of photos. 1. Limitation on photos. Automated traffic safety cameras may only take pictures of the vehicle and vehicle license plate and only while an infraction is occurring. The picture must not reveal the face of the driver or of passengers in the vehicle. 2. Use of photos. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all photographs, microphotographs, or electronic images prepared under this section are for the exclusive use of law enforcement in the discharge of duties under this section and are not open to the public and may not be used in a court in a pending action or proceeding unless the action or proceeding relates to a violation under this section. No photograph, microphotograph, or electronic image may be used for any purpose other than enforcement of violations under this section nor retained longer than necessary to enforce this section. C. Infraction processing - Responsibilities - Presumption. 1. In general. Infractions detected through the use of automated traffic safety cameras are not part of the registered owner's driving record under RCW 46.52.101 and 46.52.120. Additionally, infractions generated by the use of automated traffic safety cameras shall be processed in the same manner as parking infractions, including for the purposes of RCW 3.50.100, 35.20.220, 46.16A.120, and 46.20.270(3). 9 Amend KCC 9.36 - Re: Traffic Safety Camera Violations, Incorporate ESHB 2384 2. Notice of infraction. A notice of infraction must be mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle within 14 days of the violation, or to the renter of a vehicle within 14 days of establishing the renter's name and address under subsection (C)(4) of this section. The law enforcement officer issuing the notice of infraction shall include with it a certificate or facsimile thereof, based upon inspection of photographs, microphotographs, or electronic images produced by an automated traffic safety camera, stating the facts supporting the notice of infraction. This certificate or facsimile is prima facie evidence of the facts contained in it and is admissible in a proceeding charging a violation under this section. Any citation or notice of infraction issued pursuant to this section may be initiated by electronic signature of the issuing police officer. The photographs, microphotographs, or electronic images evidencing the violation must be available for inspection and admission into evidence in a proceeding to adjudicate the liability for the infraction. A person receiving a notice of infraction based on evidence detected by an automated traffic safety camera may respond to the notice by mail. 3. Registered owner responsible - Rental car business. The registered owner of a vehicle is responsible for an infraction issued pursuant to this section unless the registered owner overcomes the presumption in subsection (C)(5) of this section, or, in the case of a rental car business, satisfies the conditions under subsection (C)(4) of this section. If appropriate under the circumstances, a renter identified under subsection (C)(4) of this section is responsible for an infraction. 4. Rental cars. If the registered owner of the vehicle is a rental car business, the law enforcement agency shall, before a notice of infraction is issued under this section, provide a written notice to the rental car business that a notice of infraction may be issued to the rental car business 10 Amend KCC 9.36 - Re: Traffic Safety Camera Violations, Incorporate ESHB 2384 if the rental car business does not, within 18 days of receiving the written notice, provide to the issuing agency by return mail: a. A statement under oath stating the name and known mailing address of the individual driving or renting the vehicle when the infraction occurred; or b. A statement under oath that the business is unable to determine who was driving or renting the vehicle at the time the infraction occurred because the vehicle was stolen at the time of the infraction. A statement provided under this subsection must be accompanied by a copy of a filed police report regarding the vehicle theft; or C. In lieu of identifying the vehicle operator, the rental car business may pay the applicable penalty. Timely mailing of the statements described in subsections (C)(4)(a) and (C)(4)(b) of this section to the issuing law enforcement agency relieves a rental car business of any liability under this section for the notice of infraction. 5. Presumption. Pursuant to RCW 46.63.075, in a traffic infraction case involving an infraction detected through the use of an automated traffic safety camera under this section, proof that the particular vehicle described in the notice of traffic infraction was in violation of a law enforced through the use of the automated traffic safety camera, together with proof that the person named in the notice of traffic infraction was at the time of the violation the registered owner of the vehicle, constitutes in evidence a prima facie presumption that the registered owner of the vehicle was the person in control of the vehicle at the point where, and for the time during which, the violation occurred. This presumption may be overcome only if the registered owner states, under oath, in a written statement to the court or in testimony before the court that the vehicle involved was, at the time, 11 Amend KCC 9.36 - Re: Traffic Safety Camera Violations, Incorporate ESHB 2384 stolen or in the care, custody, or control of some person other than the registered owner. D. Infraction - Penalty. A driver facing a steady red traffic control signal shall stop and shall remain stopped until an indication to proceed is shown. It shall be an infraction to proceed through a stoplight at the intersections of two arterials enforced through the use of an automated traffic safety camera. The penalty for a stoplight infraction detected through the use of an automated traffic safety camera shall be 145". In addition to the fine provided herein, a violator may be assessed any costs and assessments as required or permitted by state law or court rule. The penalty assessed under this section shall adiust consistent with those inflation adiustments made by the state Office of Financial Management every five years, beginning January 1 2029 based upon changes in the consumer price index during that time period as provided for by Laws of 2024 Ch. 207 � 16. Registered owners of vehicles who receive notices of infraction for automated traffic safety camera-enforced infractions and are recipients of public assistance under Title 74 RCW or participants in the Washington Women Infants and Children (WIC) program and who request reduced penalties for infractions detected through the use of automated traffic safety camera violations must be granted reduced penalty amounts of 50% of what would otherwise be assessed for a first automated traffic safety camera violation and for subsequent automated traffic safety camera violations issued within 21 days of issuance of the first automated traffic safety camera violation Eligibility for medicaid under RCW 74 09 510 is not a qualifying criterion under this subsection. E. Signs - Payment to vendor - Alternative enforcement. 1. Stoplight locations must be signed. All locations where an automated traffic safety camera is used must be clearly marked at least 30 12 Amend KCC 9.36 - Re: Traffic Safety Camera Violations, Incorporate ESHB 2384 days prior to activation of the camera by placing signs in locations that clearly indicate to a driver that he or she is entering a zone where traffic laws are enforced by an automated traffic safety camera. 2. Payment made to vendor. The compensation paid by the city to the manufacturer or vendor of the automated traffic safety camera equipment must be based only upon the value of the equipment and services provided or rendered in support of the system, and may not be based upon a portion of the fine or civil penalty imposed or the revenue generated by the equipment. 3. Alternative enforcement. Nothing in this section prohibits a law enforcement officer from issuing a notice of traffic infraction to a person in control of a vehicle at the time a violation occurs pursuant to RCW 46.63.030(1)(a), (b), or (c). F. Use of funds. Funds derived from the use of automated traffic safety cameras shall be used to pay the costs of administering the automated traffic safety camera program, including, but not limited to personnel costs, vendor costs, and equipment costs. Funds in excess of these costs may be used to fund personnel, programs, services and equipment related to the enforcement and processing of traffic and criminal laws within the city. G. Definition. For the purposes of this section_,—''automated traffic safety camera" means a device that uses a vehicle sensor installed to work in conjunction with an intersection traffic control system, a railroad grade crossing control system, or a speed measuring device, and a camera synchronized to automatically record one or more sequenced photographs, microphotographs, or electronic images of the rear of a motor vehicle at the time the vehicle fails to stop when facing a steady red traffic control signal or an activated railroad grade crossing control signal, or exceeds a speed limit in a school speed zone as detected by a speed measuring device:.and 13 Amend KCC 9.36 - Re: Traffic Safety Camera Violations, Incorporate ESHB 2384 "school speed zone" shall have the same meaning as described in RCW 46.61.440 () and (2). SECTION 3. - Severability. If any one or more section, subsection, or sentence of this ordinance is held to be unconstitutional or invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion of this ordinance and the same shall remain in full force and effect. SECTION 4. - Corrections by City Clerk or Code Reviser. Upon approval of the city attorney, the city clerk and the code reviser are authorized to make necessary corrections to this ordinance, including the correction of clerical errors; ordinance, section, or subsection numbering; or references to other local, state, or federal laws, codes, rules, or regulations. SECTIONS. - Effective Date. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force thirty days from the time of final passage as provided for by law. May 7, 2024 DANA RALPH, MA OR r-7) Date Approved ATTEST: May 7, 2024 KIMBERLEY KOMOTO, CITY CLERK Date Adopted May 10, 2024 Date Published APR VED A TO FORM: TA WHITE, CITY ATTORNEY 14 Amend KCC 9.36 - Re: Traffic Safety Camera Violations, Incorporate ESHB 2384 Kent Reporter Affidavit of Publication State of Washington} County of King } ss Rudi Alcott being first duly sworn, upon oath deposes and says: that he/she is the legal representative of the Kent Reporter a weekly newspaper. The said newspaper is a legal newspaper by order of the superior court in the county in which it is published and is now and has been for more than six months prior to the date of the first publication of the Notice hereinafter referred to, published in the English language continually as a weekly newspaper in King County, Washington and is and always has been printed in whole or part in the Kent Reporter and is of general circulation in said County, and is a legal newspaper, in accordance with the Chapter 99 of the Laws of 1921, as amended by Chapter 213, Laws of 1941, and approved as a legal newspaper by order of the Superior Court of King County, State of Washington, by order dated June 16, 1941, and that the annexed is a true copy of KEN995757 ORDS 4487 & 4488 as it was published in the regular and entire issue of said paper and not as a supplement form thereof for a period of 1 issue(s), such publication commencing on 05/10/2024 and ending on 05/10/2024 and that said newspaper was regularly distributed to its subscribers during all of said period. The amount of the fee for such publication is $115.56. Z4� Subscribed and sworn before me on this [r day of DExp T,Q� aNry Public in and for the State of .NO.TARY Washington. N �• City ofKcnt,City Clerk-LEGAL ADS 1Sd1}1J3'_ i PUBLIC •:O�� KIA1 KOMOTn ++rrr��rar(1,t� Classified Proof CITY OF KENT NOTICE OF ORDINANCES PASSED BY THE KENT CITY COUNCIL The following are sum- maries of ordinances passed by the Kent City Council May 7,2024. ORDINANCE NO. 4487 — AN ORDINANCE of the City Council of the City of Kent, Washing- ton, amending sections 9.36.140 and 9.36.150 of the Kent City Code to incorporate state legisla- tive changes adopted through ESH8 2384 that take effect June 6,2024. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force thirty days from and after its passage,as provided by law. ORDINANCE NO. 4488 —AN ORDINANCE of the City Council of the City of Kent, Washington, amending Chapter 9.02 of the Kent City Code, entitled"Criminal Code," to(i)adopt by reference misdemeanor crimes en- acted by the state legis- lature during its 2024 session for application and enforcement in the City of Kent; (ii) adopt other misdemeanor crir.-m:s not previously adopted by specific ref- erence; and (iii) remove references to sections of the RCW repealed by the state legislature dur- ing its 2024 session. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force thirty days from the time of final passage,as pro- vided by law. A copy of the complete text of any ordinance will be mailed upon request of the City Clerk. Kimberley A. Komoto, City Clerk Proofed by Jennifer Tribbett,05/03/2024 10:43:51 am Page:2 i Classified Proof Kkomoto@KentWA.gov 253-056-5725 KEN995757 5110124 Proofed by Jennifer Tribbett,05/03/2024 10:43:51 am Page:3