A change to Alabama law last year has put at risk Huntsville’s authority to issue “summons and complaint” notices including traffic tickets to citizens, the City Council learned Thursday night. The details:
A change to Alabama law last year has put at risk Huntsville’s authority to issue “summons and complaint” notices including traffic tickets to citizens, the City Council learned Thursday night.
Huntsville already has wide summons and complaint authority and has been considering expanding that to replace arrests for simple possession of small amounts of marijuana. The city’s ordinance allows Huntsville police to issue summons to municipal court where city judges rule on cases and impose fines or send people to jail if guilty. But the change to the law says citation authority only applies to municipalities that do not employ a full-time municipal judge. The city of Huntsville has three full-time municipal judges meaning its summons and citation authority is now questionable.
Deputy Police Chief Dewayne McCarver said the Police Department supports a fix. One implication is the city’s noise ordinance, McCarver said. “If we leave this the way it is, our officers will have to arrest every person who plays their music too loud,” McCarver said. “The way the law is written right now, we should be making those arrests.” McCarver made it clear the police don’t want to make those arrests.
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