3.f Discussion on proposed amendment to Ordinance 185 Dogs
Staff Report
Date of Meeting: January 2, 2019
To: City Council
From: Neil Soltis, Administrator
Re: Dog Ordinance
Background: The County Court has noted that Minn. Stat. § 412.231 limits the penalties for ordinance
violations to misdemeanors (“The council shall have the power to declare that the violation of any
ordinance shall be a penal offense and to prescribe penalties therefor. No such penalty shall exceed a
fine of $1,000 or imprisonment in a city or county jail for a period of 90 days, or both, but in either case
the costs of prosecution may be added.”). In the current ordinance regulating dogs there are references
to gross misdemeanors. The proposed amendment would strike the word “gross” where it appears in
Ord. 185, Section 20, D, E, and F.
This draft ordinance is presented for Council review. Based on suggested changes the proposed
ordinance will be posted for the requisite 10-day public review and added to the agenda for the January
15 Council meeting for action by the Council.
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CITY OF SCANDIA
ORDINANCE NO. xxx
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 185 PROVIDING FOR
IDENTIFICATION, REGULATION, CONFINEMENT AND DISPOSITION OF DOGS
WITHIN THE CITY OF SCANDIA AND PRESCRIBING PENALTIES FOR THE
VIOLATION THEREOF
The City Council of the City of Scandia, Washington County, Minnesota does hereby
ordain as follows:
Section 1. AMENDMENT: Ordinance 185, Section 20 shall be amended as follows:
Section 20. PENALTIES:
A. Any person who shall violate sections 2,3, or 5 of this Ordinance shall
be guilty of a petty misdemeanor. Each day that a person shall own,
harbor, keep or have custody of a dog over six months of age within
this City without an identification tag and rabies tag shall be
considered a separate violation.
B. Any person who shall violate any of the terms and provisions of
Sections 4, 6, 7, 15A, 15D, 15E and 18 of this Ordinance shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor. In addition, after a finding of a court of proper
jurisdiction that a dog is a public nuisance as defined in Section 6, the
Court may order that the dog be destroyed or that the owner or
custodian remove it from the City or keep it confined in a designated
place.
C. It is a misdemeanor to remove a microchip from a dangerous or
potentially dangerous dog, to fail to renew the registration of a
dangerous dog, to fail to account for a dangerous dog’s death or
change of location where the dog will reside, to sign a false affidavit
with respect to a dangerous dog’s death or change of location where
the dog will reside, or to fail to disclose ownership of a dangerous dog
to a property owner from whom the person rents property.
D. A person who is convicted of a second or subsequent violation of
Sections 15A, 15D or 15E is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
E. An owner who violates section 17(A) is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
F. Any household member who knowingly violates Section 17B is guilty
of a gross misdemeanor.
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Section 2. EFFECTIVE DATE: This ordinance shall take effect and be in force from and
after its passage and publication according to law.
Adopted by the City Council of the City of Scandia this 15th day of January, 2019.
Christine Maefsky, Mayor
ATTEST:
Neil Soltis, Clerk/Administratora