§ 11-13. Hearing procedures.

(a)

No board member or special magistrate shall act in any case in which that member or special magistrate has a conflict of interest.

(b)

All hearings of the board or special magistrate shall be open to the public, and any person whose interests may be affected by the matter before the board or special magistrate shall be given an opportunity to be heard at the time the alleged violation is heard by the special magistrate. Official minutes of all board and special magistrate hearings shall be kept.

(c)

Hearings shall be informal and need not be conducted according to technical rules relating to evidence and witnesses. They shall, however, be conducted in accordance with accepted parliamentary procedures relative to motions, votes and decisions. Fundamental due process shall be observed and shall govern all hearings.

(d)

All relevant evidence shall be admitted if, in the opinion of the board or special magistrate, it is the type of evidence upon which reasonable and responsible persons would normally rely in the conduct of business affairs, regardless of the existence of any common law or statutory rule which might make such evidence inadmissible over objections in civil actions. The chairperson of the board or special magistrate may exclude irrelevant or unduly repetitious evidence.

(e)

Hearsay evidence may be accepted for the purpose of supplementing or explaining any direct evidence, but such hearsay evidence shall not in and of itself be considered sufficient to support a finding or decision unless the evidence would be admissible over objections in a civil action.

(f)

Each party to the hearing shall have the right to call and examine witnesses, introduce exhibits, cross-examine opposing witnesses, impeach witnesses and rebut evidence.

(g)

The alleged violator may be represented by an attorney or may be represented by another person upon providing a notarized statement by alleged violator to allow such representation at any board or special magistrate hearing.

(h)

All testimony before the board or special magistrate shall be under oath and shall be recorded. The alleged violator or the city may cause the proceedings to be recorded by a certified court reporter or by a certified recording instrument.

(i)

The burden of proof shall be with the code inspector to show by the greater weight of evidence that a code violation exists and that the alleged violator committed, or was responsible for maintaining or permitting the violation to continue.

(j)

If notice has been provided pursuant to section 11-16 prior to the hearing, a hearing may be conducted and an order rendered in the absence of the violator.

(k)

The board or the special magistrate may, for good cause shown, postpone or continue a hearing. The board may so act upon a majority vote of those members present and voting.

(l)

The clerk shall be custodian of the tangible evidence submitted which shall be retained by the clerk until time for an appeal has expired or otherwise required by law.

( Ord. No. C-08-36, § 1, 7-15-08 )