Town of Chelmsford, MA Chapter 1 General Provisions

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Chelmsford as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]

Article I Acceptance of Bylaws

[Warrant articles accepting Part 1, Bylaws, of the Code of the Town of Chelmsford and making certain substantive changes to the chapters in Part 1 were adopted by the Town Meeting on October 21, 1999. See Warrant Articles 30 through 48 of the October 1999 Town Meeting.]

Article II General Penalty

[Adopted 1926 ATM; amended Oct. 1973 STM by Art. 3]

§ 1-1 Violations and penalties.

[Amended 10-21-1999 ATM by Art. 32]

Any violation of these bylaws shall be punishable by a fine of not less than $5 nor more than $300, or any such other amount as may be authorized, from time to time, under the General Laws.

§ 1-2 Noncriminal disposition.

[Added 5-21-1979 ATM by Art. 39]

A. Any person taking cognizance of a violation of a specific ordinance, bylaw, rule or regulation which he or she is empowered to enforce, hereinafter referred to as the "enforcing person," as an alternative to initiating criminal proceedings, may, pursuant to MGL c. 40, § 21D, give the offender a written notice to appear before the Clerk of the District Court of Lowell, or any other court having jurisdiction thereof, at any time during the office hours, not later than 21 days after the date of such notice.

(1) Such notice shall be in triplicate and shall contain the name and address, if known, of the offender, the specific offense charged and the time and place for his or her required appearance. Such notice shall be signed by the enforcing person and shall be signed by the offender whenever practicable in acknowledgment that such notice has been received.

(2) The enforcing person shall, if possible, deliver to the offender a copy of said notice at the time and place of the violation. If it is not possible to deliver a copy of said notice to the offender at the time and place of the violation, said copy shall be mailed or delivered by the enforcing person, or by his or her commanding officer or the head of his or her department or by any person authorized by such commanding officer, department or head, to the offender's last known address within 15 days after said violation.

(3) Such notice as so mailed shall be deemed sufficient notice, and a certificate of the person so mailing such notice that it has been mailed in accordance with this section shall be prima facie evidence thereof.

(4) When enforced through this noncriminal disposition procedure, the penalty for violation of any Town bylaw, rule or regulation shall be as follows: a written warning for the first offense, $100 for the second offense, $200 for the third offense, and $300 for the fourth and subsequent offenses. Each day upon which a violation exists shall be deemed to be a separate offense.

[Added 10-22-2007 ATM by Art. 12]

B. At or before the completion of each tour of duty, or at the beginning of the first subsequent tour of duty, the enforcing person shall give to his or her commanding officer or department head those copies of each notice of such violation he or she has taken cognizance of during such tour which have not already been delivered or mailed by him or her as aforesaid. Said commanding officer or department head shall retain and safely preserve one copy and shall, at a time not later than the next court day after such delivery or mailing, deliver the other copy to the clerk of the court before which the offender has been notified to appear. The Clerk of the District Court shall maintain a separate docket of all such notices to appear.

C. Any person notified to appear before the Clerk of the District Court as hereinbefore provided may so appear and confess the offense charged, either personally or through a duly authorized agent or by mailing to the Town Clerk of the municipality within which the violation occurred, together with the notice, such specific sum of money not exceeding $300 as the town shall fix as penalty for violation of the ordinance, bylaw, rule or regulation. Such payment shall, if mailed, be made only by postal note, money order or check. Upon receipt of such notice, the Town Clerk shall forthwith notify the District Court Clerk of such payment, and the receipt by the District Court Clerk of such notification shall operate as a final disposition of the case. An appearance under this subsection shall not be deemed to be a criminal proceeding. No person so notified to appear before the Clerk of the District Court shall be required to report to any probation officer, and no record of the case shall be entered in any probation records. If any person so notified to appear desires to contest the violation alleged in the notice to appear, he or she may avail himself or herself of the procedure established in MGL c. 40, § 21D.

[Amended 4-27-1992 STM by Art. 6]

{END OF CHAPTER}