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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. 1 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. 2 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