BISMARCK – Powers of home rule cities to charge whatever they want for traffic fines should not be periodically attacked by district judges, representatives of cities told a Senate committee Friday.
They want the Legislature to clarify a decades-old law they say gives them that power – and they want that permission applied retroactively. That is what Senate Bill 2392 would do.
Fargo Police Chief Keith Ternes told the Senate Political Subdivisions Committee that Fargo has charged higher traffic fines than the state for 20 years or more, noting that the Fargo city fine for a stop sign violation 20 years ago was $30, while the state fine for drivers outside the city limits was and still is $20 for the same offense. Several years ago, the Fargo fine went to $60 and last year was set at $100, he said.
Fargo is not the only home rule city with traffic fees higher than the state schedule, he said. Bismarck City Administrator Bill Wocken and League of Cities representative Connie Sprynczynatyk also testified for the bill.
Ternes told the senators it’s critical that Fargo be able to assess higher fees for careless drivers. And low fines don’t make streets safer, he said.
The bill is needed because of a conflict between two sections of law passed decades ago. One says municipal courts can’t charge higher traffic fees than in the state schedule. Another gives home rule cities broad powers to pass ordinances that vary from state law. The bill would make it clear that home rule cities can set their own fee schedules.
The bill was filed in January after East Central District Judge Steve McCullough ruled Fargo’s municipal fines are illegal because they exceed state fines. It was the third time since 2001 that a Fargo district judge has made such a ruling.
Friday’s bill hearing came one day after Fargo was served with a federal lawsuit based on the three district judges’ decisions. It may become a class action suit.
“I would think every home rule city that has a fine structure could be exposed (to such a suit),” Fargo City Attorney Eric Johnson told the senators. That could cost each city hundreds of thousands of dollars in fine refunds.
Despite district court decisions against the city since 2001, Fargo continues charging higher fines, Johnson said, because Municipal Judge Thomas Davies and other district judges have enforced the city’s higher fines. They don’t have to comply with the rulings against the city fines, he said.
The state Supreme Court hasn’t settled the conflict because traffic cases can’t be appealed to the North Dakota Supreme Court by any party, Johnson said.