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REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION Meeting Date _ February 5. 1991 Ar ry DA SECTION 1TE%i: CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORT Prosecution Procedures: Carl Blondin AIL 10B. ORiG►NATING DEPARTMENT: By: APPROVED FOR AGENDA BY: There have been concerns raised in the past that "In the 30 mph zone on Lake Elmo Avenue N., traffic is allowed to travel at 39 mph or less without receiving a citation. This fact was attested to by two officers from the Washington County Sheriff's Department, the reason given is that the County Judges throw these cases out of court if contested by the offender because the City of Lake Elmo will not prosecute these cases due to the expense involved." (See August 9, 1990 memo to Mayor and City Council from Richard A. Acree). I have met with Mr. Blondin, our prosecuting attorney, and he has explained in detail the procedure for getting a traffic violation to court. That procedure is as follows: 1. Violator speeds in Lake Elmo 2. Deputy or state patrol officer may or may not observe violation. 3. If observed, the deputy or state patrol officer mak -�s a decision whether or net to stop violation. Observation could be made by radar, airplane clock, or accar computer, which is used by the state patrol. 4. If deputy or state trooper stops violator, he/she makes a decision whether or not to issue citation. 5. If issued a citation, the vast majority of violators pay fine and never appear in court. 6. If citation is challenged, violator appears at arraignment (first appearance) in district court. 7. .Judge asks for a guilty or not guilty plea. The judge has no authority to reduce charges without consulting prosecutor. S. If violator pleads not guilty, the matter is set for trial (if petty misdemeanor, a pretrial conference is set). 9. Our attorney does not plea bargin, but will suggest a reduced fire of about $10.00 for a guilty plea. 10. Our attorney will also suggest a reduced fine if for some reason the citir.a officer is unavailable to testify. This happens on very rare occassions because an officer retires, moves, or has an emergency that would prevent them from testifying. - -1. Our attorney has approximately a 95`: conviction rate. 12. If a judge arbitrarily "tosses out" a case, on his/her own accord, the judge can be disciplined. Mr. Blondin has indicated he would not hesitate in bringing disciplinary action against a judge if he thought it appropriate. Mr. Blondin will be at the meeting to address any concerns may have on this procedure. y