Thursday, Mar. 26, 2009
City's bike rule process catches flak from court
Justice turns up her nose at hearings plan
A memo from the state Supreme Court says Myrtle Beach's new administrative hearing process, set up to deal with infractions cited under its new ordinances targeting the May motorcycle rallies, is repugnant and unconstitutional.
Chief Justice Jean Toal on Monday issued a one-paragraph memo to county and city administrators, attorneys and council leaders that said she received information that some counties and municipalities "are attempting to create by local ordinance another tier of courts, typically designated as 'administrative hearing courts'" to deal with smoking bans and other local ordinance violations.
The city last year passed 15 ordinances and amendments, one of which sets up an administrative hearing system, and others that create administrative infractions, including the local bike-helmet ordinance.
Toal called the administrative hearing system "repugnant" to the state's uniform judicial system and said setting up administrative hearing courts violates articles V and VIII of the state constitution.
Her memo also said the administrative infractions will have to be heard in municipal court by the magistrate, which would mean adding to an already crowded municipal court docket.
The administrative hearing process began with cities that passed local bans on smoking in public places, and the city used the state court's support for those bans as a foundation for arguing it could implement a local helmet ordinance.
Myrtle Beach City Attorney Tom Ellenburg and City Manager Tom Leath received the memo Wednesday morning, and Leath said there will be discussions among city officials and attorneys about what the memo means and how the city will deal with it.
The helmet ordinance went into effect Feb. 28, and a group of motorcyclists held a protest ride along Ocean Boulevard, receiving the first citations under the city's new law.
Leath said the first of the administrative hearings on those tickets are scheduled for April 21, and he's not sure if Toal's memo will affect those hearings.
Because the constitutionality of an issue is a decision usually made by state high courts anyway, Leath said he would have expected challenges and appeals to be heard there.
Toal is simply "stepping out early and giving her opinion," he said.
Mike Shank, owner of Festival Promotions, who promotes the Harley-Davidson Spring Cruisin' the Coast rally that takes place at the beginning of each May, is one business owner who filed suit against the city to stop it from enforcing some of the ordinances, including the helmet ordinance. His suit, filed in federal court, also challenges the administrative hearing process.
After reading the memo Wednesday morning, Shank said he sees it as a victory, though he said he couldn't say much because his case is still pending in court.
"All I can really say is that this is a positive development, and we are looking forward to bike week," Shank wrote in an e-mail.
Greg Hembree, 15th Judicial Circuit solicitor, said he had read the memo and that it wouldn't change his role in certain cases, but it could affect what the city is doing.
"It appears it would have some impact on the efforts the city is making," Hembree said. "But it's not something that's under my jurisdiction."
Hembree said the county deals with an influx of cases each spring after the rallies that draw almost half a million people to the Grand Strand and take up most of May.
Violations that happen within the city are hashed out in municipal court, and Hembree said that won't change.
"The city of Myrtle Beach, in particular, is expert at handling the seasonal fluctuations in court cases, so I am sure they will deal with this," he said.
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