LEGAL
DIVISION
The City Attorney has two primary
responsibilities. First, he is the
legal advisor to the City Council, the City Manager, Department Heads and
employees on all matters relating to the City. During 2001 the Legal Department
issued numerous legal opinions on all phases of the City's operation. Secondly, the City Attorney is responsible
for all petty misdemeanor, ordinance and misdemeanor violations occurring
within the City of Albert Lea. The
prosecution of those offenses in 2001 resulted in approximately $131,937 of
fines and costs being remitted to the City Treasury. Given that the Court Administrator’s Office now has a Court
collector who has been more persistent in collecting unpaid fines, it is likely
that this amount will increase over the next year or two.
The civil workload during 2001 included many varied projects on behalf of the City. These projects included the purchase of the bank building, collection and eviction actions, a contract for the Skate Park, several loan agreements involving Mrs. Gerry’s Kitchen and other economic development projects, several real estate closings in which the City was purchasing property, several lease agreements and some employment issues including a Veteran’s preference hearing. While not resolved prior to the end of 2001 the City Attorney’s Office was involved in the Farmland situation given the fire at that location and the subsequent problems involving clean up and insurance proceeds.
In 2001 there was a very slight
decrease in the number of DWI arrests being handled by the City Attorney. The
total cases handled in 2001 were 88 misdemeanor cases which was a slight
decrease from the prior year. However,
there were many cases involving illegal consumption which operating a motor
vehicle. This offense applies to
individuals 18 to 20 years of age who are operating a motor vehicle after
having consumed any amount of alcohol.
This provision and offense carries with it a license revocation or
suspension and as such is generally litigated by defense counsel because of the
civil and criminal penalties.
During 2001 the Albert Lea
Police Department was very aggressive in having compliance checks for both
tobacco and alcohol in the City of Albert Lea.
There were multiple checks done and as a result individuals were
prosecuted for the illegal sale of tobacco and alcohol in the City of Albert
Lea. In addition, the City Attorney’s
Office gets involved in not just the criminal charges but also the civil
penalties for the license holders for both alcohol and tobacco. This includes negotiating civil penalties
and/or closings as a consequence of the illegal sales.
As in past years 2001 was a busy
year in the drafting of formal criminal complaints. The Legal Department drafted a total of 843 total complaints
which included 481 bad check complaints and 362 miscellaneous complaints
covering charges such as DUI, assault, school bus stop arm violations, theft
and numerous other traffic offenses.
This compares to a total of 751 total complaints for the prior
year. It should also be noted that the
Legal Department received and reviewed approximately 1,802 police reports.
The City in 2001 took an
aggressive stance with regards to dilapidated property in the City of Albert
Lea. At any given time the City
Attorney’s Office was pursuing three or four property owners in an effort to
require them to either demolish or repair their property. The City Attorney’s Office would draft an
agreement which would allow the property owner to consent to the City
demolishing the property and assessing the costs to the lot. Those that are contested the City Attorney’s
Office takes to the Albert Lea City Council and subsequently to District Court. It is believed that the City and the City
Attorney’s Office will both be pursuing additional houses in the upcoming year
as complaints are received by the Inspection Department.
In addition to being the
attorney for the City of Albert Lea the City Attorney is responsible for
providing legal advice to the Albert Lea Housing Authority and Albert Lea Port
Authority. During 2001 the Port
Authority was involved in substantial economic development in the City of
Albert Lea and the City Attorney’s Office was involved in drafting agreements,
leases and also doing some collection work on behalf of the Port Authority for
non-performing
loans. With regards to the Housing
Authority the City Attorney’s Office was involved with various legal issues
involving landlord/tenant law and responding to complaints from its various
tenants.
A new and growing function of
the City Attorney’s Office is the handling of certain civil forfeitures. These forfeitures relate to vehicles that
are being forfeited to the City of Albert Lea as a result of a DUI charge. At any given time the City Attorney’s
Office had at least six forfeitures pending.
Much time and effort was spent on forfeiting these vehicles to the City
of Albert Lea. As a result of these
forfeitures thousand’s of dollars have become available to be used by the City
for various training and other purposes.
The largest single forfeiture resulted in a $10,000 check being
delivered to the City of Albert Lea. It
is anticipated that forfeitures will continue to be a large part of the Legal
Department’s workload.
A change that occurred in 2001
involving the City Attorney’s Office was obtaining some assistance from the
Crime Victim Witness Coordinator position which had previously worked only with
the County Attorney’s Office. This individual will now work with the City
Attorney’s Office on a part-time basis to assist crime victims in the City of
Albert Lea. As indicated this
individual previously worked exclusively with the County Attorney’s Office but
given the fact that the City of Albert Lea has half of the residents of
Freeborn County it was determined that this individual would work at the City
Attorney’s Office to assist crime victims within the City of Albert Lea. The types of crimes that will be assisted by
this individual include domestic violence, orders for protection, victims of
hit-n-run accidents and any other crime victim.
Lawsuits involving the City of
Albert Lea are generally handled by the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance
Trust. However, during the year 2001,
the City Attorney’s Office got involved with several minor lawsuits that were
filed in Conciliation Court in Freeborn County. The City Attorney’s Office also got involved in some of the
larger lawsuits that were handled by the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance
Trust. The City Attorney’s Office works
as a contact person with regards to those lawsuits and the City Attorney and
City Manager were both involved in dealing with those lawsuits including
mandatory mediation and the drafting of discovery documents. Lawsuits against municipalities will
continue to be a major concern for municipalities especially since the
legislature and the courts are continually eroding the City’s immunity against
such lawsuits.
2001 was the first full year of
a new program involving the diversion of certain traffic offenses. The City Attorney’s Office, working with the
County Attorney and the local Judges, as well as the probation officers
established a program involving the diversion of certain cases. These cases including insurance and driver’s
license matters. The purpose of the
program was to get individuals who previously were not licensed or insured to
get their license and purchase insurance. It was felt that public safety would
be better served if these individuals finally got licenses and purchased
insurance. The program was initially
started in the year 2000 and following a full year in 2001 it is quite obvious
that the program has been very successful.
A very high percentage of the individuals have complied and it is
believed that the public interest and public safety have been served quite well
by this program.
Lastly, in addition to the work referred to above, the Legal Department was involved in some community activities for the benefit of the City. These activities included serving on the Tenth District Bar Association Ethics Committee to handle complaints against attorneys and serving as a local judge in the State Mock Trial Program. The City Attorney also worked closely with the Crime Victim’s Crisis Center and is currently attending monthly meetings as part of the Family Violence Focus Group. The City Attorney’s Office also routinely handles training with regards to the Crime Victims Crisis Center and the Women’s Resource Center. This training is very important since it allows the proper filing of Orders for Protection and Harassment Restraining Orders subsequently resulting in easier prosecutions for the City of Albert Lea.