13.04.222 Park Exclusion.
A. Any City Police Officer may, by delivering an exclusion notice in person to the offender, or by First Class Mail and Certified Mail to the offender at the offender’s last known address, exclude from a City park, anyone who within a City park:
1. Violates any provision of this chapter; or
2. Violates any park rule; or
3. Violates any provision of the Snohomish Municipal Code or Revised Code of Washington.
The offender need not be charged, tried, or convicted of any crime or infraction in order for an exclusion notice to be issued or be effective. The exclusion may be based upon observation by the Police Officer or upon civilian reports that would ordinarily be relied upon by police officers in the determination of probable cause. The exclusion shall not take effect until seven days after delivery of the exclusion notice to the offender; provided that, if the offender files a request for a hearing as provided in Subsection E, the exclusion shall not take effect until directed by the hearing examiner.
B. If the offender:
1. Has not been excluded from any City park by an exclusion notice issued within one year prior to the violation and the current violation is not a weapon violation, then the exclusion notice may exclude the offender from the City park in which the current violation occurred for a period not exceeding seven days from the date of the exclusion notice.
2. Has been the subject of only one prior exclusion notice issued within one year prior to the current violation and neither the current nor the past violation was a weapon violation, then the exclusion notice may exclude the offender from any or all City parks for a period of ninety days from the date of the exclusion notice.
3. Has been the subject of two or more prior exclusion notices issued within one year prior to the current violation, or if the current violation is a weapon violation, then the exclusion notice may exclude the offender from any or all City parks for a period of one year from the date of the exclusion notice.
C. The exclusion notice shall be in writing and shall contain the date of issuance. The exclusion notice shall specify the length and places of exclusion. It shall be signed by the issuing Police Officer. Warning of the consequences for failure to comply shall be prominently displayed on the notice.
D. Only the hearing examiner after a hearing may rescind, shorten, or modify an exclusion notice.
E. An offender receiving an exclusion notice may seek a hearing to have the exclusion notice rescinded, the period of exclusion shortened, or the areas of exclusion reduced. The request for a hearing shall be delivered to the Police Department or postmarked no later than seven days after the issuance date of the exclusion notice. The request for hearing shall be in writing and shall be accompanied by a copy of the exclusion notice on which the hearing is sought. The Police Department shall take reasonable steps to notify the offender of the date, time, and place of the hearing.
F. At the hearing, the violation must be proved by a preponderance of the evidence in order to uphold the exclusion notice. If the exclusion notice was issued because of the alleged violation of any criminal law, the offender need not be charged, tried, or convicted for the exclusion notice to be upheld. The exclusion notice establishes a prima facie case that the offender committed the violation as described. The hearing examiner shall consider a sworn report or a declaration made under penalty of perjury, written by the individual who issued the exclusion notice, without further evidentiary foundation. The certifications authorized in Rule 6.13 of the Criminal Rules for Courts of Limited Jurisdiction shall be considered without further evidentiary foundation. The hearing examiner may consider information that would not be admissible under the evidence rules in a court of law but which the hearing examiner considers relevant and trustworthy.
G. If the violation is proved, the exclusion notice shall be upheld; but upon good cause shown, the hearing examiner may shorten the duration of the exclusion or reduce the areas covered by the exclusion. If the violation is not proved by a preponderance of the evidence, the hearing examiner shall rescind the exclusion. If the hearing examiner rescinds an exclusion, the exclusion shall not be considered a prior exclusion for the purposes of subsection B of this section.
H. The decision of the hearing examiner is final. An offender seeking judicial review of hearing examiner’s decision must file an application for a writ of review in the Snohomish County superior court within fifteen days of the date of that decision.
I. The exclusion shall remain in effect during the pendency of any administrative or judicial proceeding.
J. No determination of facts made by a person conducting a hearing under this section shall have any collateral estoppel effect on a subsequent criminal prosecution or civil proceeding and shall not preclude litigation of those same facts in a subsequent criminal prosecution or civil proceeding.
K. This section shall be enforced so as to emphasize voluntary compliance with laws and park rules, and so that inadvertent minor violations that would fall under subsection B.1 can be corrected without resort to an exclusion notice. (Ord. 2168, 2009)