Hedglin, 041417 MSAGO, AGO 2017-57

• Case Date: April 14, 2017
• Court: Mississippi

John Hedglin, City Attorney AGO 2017-57 No. 2017-00057 Mississippi Attorney General Opinions April 14, 2017          AUTH: James Y. Dale          RQNM: John Hedglin          SUBJ: Courts          SBCD: 56          TEXT: John Hedglin, City Attorney          P. O. Box 40          Madison, MS 39130-0040          Re: Violation of Municipal Ordinance          Dear Mr. Hedglin:          Attorney General Jim Hood has received your request and has assigned it to me for research and reply.          In your letter, you pose the following question and state, in part:

“I would like to request an official opinion regarding the authority of a municipal employee who is not a sworn law enforcement officer, as described in Section 45-6-3 of the Mississippi Code to issue citations requiring the recipient to appear in municipal court for violation for a municipal ordinance (such as a zoning ordinance, building code, fire code or property maintenance ordinance/code) or, alternatively, to pay a fine in lieu of such appearance in municipal court.

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My Mayor and Board would like specific clarification as to whether a civilian employee of the City (as opposed to a sworn law enforcement officer as described above) could be designated to issue citations to appear in municipal court with respect to the type of violation described above without the necessity of signing a criminal affidavit and presenting the same to the municipal court judge.”

         RESPONSE          Only a certified law enforcement officer, as described in Section 45-6-3 of the Mississippi Code, can issue citations or warrants for misdemeanors, (which include non-civil/criminal violations of municipal ordinances), to be heard in municipal court. Municipal court is limited to hearing criminal matters, with...