HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution 23-017-CCBOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Grant County, Washington
ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING A NEW ORDINANCE No. 23- 6 I 'l -CC
SECTION OF GRANT COUNTY CODE
CHAPTER 6.46 TITLED "TRESPASS ON
COUNTY OWNED PROPERTY"
WHEREAS, the health and safety of Grant County Citizens, employees and visitors is the
preeminent concern of the County; and
WHEREAS, on occasion, people have come to Grant County Property and engaged in behavior
that interferes with the public and staffs' ability to safely and effectively conduct business; and
WHEREAS, Grant County Employees have a right to work free from unreasonable harassment
and abuse; and
WHEREAS, the public has the right to appropriate use of County facilities free from dangerous,
illegal and/or disruptive behavior; and
WHEREAS, the public has the right to free speech and to petition the government, within
constitutional limits and
WHEREAS, a careful balancing of these rights is necessary to provide a safe environment for the
pubic and employees, while still respecting free speech and petition rights of the public,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED, the Board of Grant County Commissioners,
adopts Chapter 6.46, titled "TRESPASS ON COUNTY OWNED PROPERTY" as follows:
Chapter 6.46
TRESPASS ON COUNTY OWNED PROPERTY
6.46.010 Purpose, authority, and applicability.
A. The purpose of this policy is to adopt a legally sound process for being able to exclude from
County Property individuals whose behavior is dangerous, unsafe, illegal, or unreasonably
disruptive to other users or employees. It is further the purpose of thisolic to provide for a
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specific method to allow for the issuance of trespass warnings to such individuals, including
placing limitations on trespass warnings and providing procedures for such individuals to
promptly appeal the issuance of trespass warnings to protect their right to engage in legitimate
activities protected by the State and Federal constitutions.
B. This policy is enacted as an exercise of the County's authority to protect and preserve the
public health, safety and welfare.
C. This policy shall apply to all County owned property in Grant County ("County"). This
chapter shall not apply to public streets and sidewalks. Enforcement action shall only be taken
for conduct violating rules in this chapter or specific rules adopted for the location in which the
conduct occurs, except that law enforcement may take enforcement action based on violations of
other county codes, state statutes, and government rules or regulations.
D. This chapter shall be enforced to emphasize voluntary compliance with laws and County
property rules and so that inadvertent minor violations of this section can be corrected without
resort to a trespass warning.
6.46.020 Definitions
A. Behavior that is "dangerous" is behavior that creates an imminent and unreasonable risk of
injury or harm to either persons or property of another or the actor.
B. Behavior that is "illegal" is behavior that is prohibited by the laws of the United States,
Washington State, Grant County, or the other governmental rules and regulations applicable to
the County owned property and that includes, but is not limited to, any of the following types of
behavior:
1. Threatening another person by communicating either directly or indirectly to another
person the intent to cause bodily injury in the future to the person threatened or to any other
person; or
2. Selling or using alcohol or drugs; or
3. Threatening or harassing behavior (e.g., fighting or threatening to fight, brandishing a
weapon, stalking, verbally threatening to harm others or their property); or
4. Assaulting staff or other patrons; or
5. Sexual misconduct or harassment (e.g., indecent exposure, offensive touching, sexual
acts).
C. Behavior that is "unreasonably disruptive to other users" is behavior that is not
constitutionally protected and that, in consideration of the nature, scope, use and purpose of the
publicly owned property in question, unreasonably interferes with others' use and enjoyment of
publicly owned property. Examples of behavior that may unreasonably interfere with others' use
and enjoyment of publicly owned property include, but are not limited to, any of the following:
1. Use of unreasonably hostile or aggressive language or gestures; or
2. Unreasonably loud vocal expression or unreasonably boisterous physical behavior; or
3. Using electronic or other communication devices in a manner that is unreasonably
disruptive to others; or
4. Unreasonably interfering with the free passage of staff or patrons in or on public
property; or
5. Behavior that is unreasonably inconsistent with the normal use for which the publicly
owned property was designed and intended to be used (e.g., bathing, shaving, or washing
clothes in a public bathroom or skating/skateboarding in a public parking area or plaza, or
camping on County Property where these activities are not appropriate).
D. Any constitutionally protected action or speech is excluded from the prohibited behavior
listed in this section.
E. "County owned property" means any part of a building, park, trail, parking lots or open space
that are owned or controlled by the county.
F. "Authorized Person" means employees of the County the Board of County Commissioners
have designated to enforce this ordinance.
The Board designates as authorized persons elected officials other than the Board of County
Commissioners, Department Heads, the Clerk of the Board and other County Employees the
Board may designate by resolution.
6.46.030 Authority to issue trespass warnings — Service.
A. Authorized Persons are authorized to issue a trespass warning to any individual who they
have probable cause to believe has violated any County ordinance, state statute, or government
rule or regulation relating to or prohibiting conduct that is dangerous, illegal, or unreasonably
disruptive to other users of public property, as defined in this policy, while such individual is on
or within any County or other publicly owned facility, building, or outdoor area that is open to
the general public.
B. Trespass warnings may be delivered in person to the individual by an authorized person or
someone designated by an authorized person, to include law enforcement, or to the individual by
first class mail at the individual's last known address.
C. The individual need not be charged, tried, or convicted of any crime or infraction for the
trespass warning to be issued or be effective. The warning may be based upon observations of an
Authorized Person or a county or other government employee or may be based upon a civilian
report that would ordinarily be relied upon by law enforcement in the determination of probable
cause.
6.46.040 Duration of exclusion.
The duration of exclusion shall be as follows. If the individual:
A. Has not been excluded from County owned property by a trespass warning issued within one
year prior to the violation, then the warning may exclude the individual for a period not
exceeding seven days from the date of the warning.
B. Has been the subject of only one prior trespass warning issued within one year prior to the
current violation, then the warning may exclude the individual for a period of more than seven
days but not more than 90 days from the date of the current warning.
C. Has been the subject of two or more prior trespass warnings issued within one year prior to
the current violation, or a yearlong trespass warning within the last two years, then the warning
may exclude the individual for a period of more than 90 days but not more than one year from
the date of the current warning.
D. Has been excluded from County owned property by a trespass warning, and a published rule
or regulation applicable to such property establishes a different period of time for an individual
to be excluded, the time period under such rule or regulation shall apply notwithstanding the
provisions of this section.
6.46.050 Content of trespass warning.
The trespass warning shall be in writing, shall contain the date of issuance, shall describe the
behavior that is the basis for the trespass warning, shall specify the length and place(s) of
exclusion, shall be signed by the issuing authorized person and/or police officer, shall state the
consequences for failure to comply, and shall state the procedures for obtaining review of the
trespass decision.
6.46.060 Review procedure.
A. For good cause, the Chair of Board of County Commissioners or his designee may rescind,
shorten or modify a trespass warning issued.
1. A written request for review of a trespass warning must be delivered to the Clerk of
Board of County Commissioners no later than seven business days after it is issued;
2. The Chair of Board of County Commissioner or a specified designee will, within one
business day of receipt of a request for review of any trespass warning that excludes the
individual for seven or fewer days, review the decision;
3. The Chair of the Board of County Commissioners or a specified designee will, within
two business days of receipt of a request for review of any trespass warning that excludes
the individual for more than seven days, review the decision;
4. The Clerk of the Board will notify the individual of the date, time, and place or
telephone number at which the review will be conducted;
S. The review decision shall be communicated no later than two business days following
the review;
6. As a follow-up to verbal communication, specify how a written decision will be served
on the individual; and
7. At the end of every written decision, inform the individual that he/she has the right to
seek judicial review of the decision and that the time frame for seeking judicial review runs
from the date of service of the written decision.
B. For purposes of this section, "good cause" to rescind, shorten or modify a trespass warning
shall be found where:
1. The individual demonstrates by a preponderance of the evidence that his or her conduct
was expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment; or
2. The individual was not given warning that the conduct in question was subject to a
trespass warning; or
3. The trespass warning was based solely upon the statement of a third party, was not
observed personally by the issuing officer or a county or other government employee,
would not ordinarily be relied upon by police officers in the determination of probable
cause, and the individual claims that he or she did not commit the action for which he or
she was warned; or
4. In the judgment of the Chair of the Board or his/her designee, the circumstances warrant
a modification or rescission of the trespass warning.
5. The Chair of the Board or his/her designee shall rescind the trespass warning if,
considering all the circumstances, he or she finds that reasonable minds could differ on the
question of whether the conduct in question was unreasonably disruptive to others on the
same public property at that time.
C. At the review hearing, the violation must be proved by a preponderance of the evidence to
uphold the trespass warning. The Chair of the Board of County Commissioners or designee shall
consider a sworn report or declaration or testimony from the authorized person who issued the
trespass warning or upon whose observation the trespass warning was based, without further
evidentiary foundation, as prima facie evidence that the individual committed the violation as
described. The individual trespassed may also provide evidence to the Chair of the Board or
Designee. The Chair of the Board or designee may consider information that would not be
admissible under the evidence rules in a court of law but that the Chair of the Board or designee
considers relevant and trustworthy. If the warning was issued because of the alleged violation of
any criminal law, the individual need not be charged, tried, or convicted for the warning to be
upheld.
D. If the Chair of the Board or designee rescinds an exclusion, for good cause or because the
violation was not proved, the exclusion shall not be considered a prior trespass warning for
purposes of this section.
E. The decision of the Chair of the board or designee will be the county's final decision. An
individual seeking judicial review of the county's final decision must file an application for a
writ of review in Grant County Superior Court within 15 days of receipt of the county's final
decision.
F. The trespass warning shall remain in effect during the pendency of any administrative or
judicial proceeding.
G. No determination of facts made by the Chair of the Board or designee 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 civilroceedin .
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H. The authorized person who issued the trespass warning retains the ability to modify the
trespass notice in favor of the individual trespassed.
6.46.070 Violation — Penalty.
A. Any person who is found on county publicly owned property in violation of a trespass
warning issued in accordance with this chapter may be arrested for trespassing, except as
otherwise provided in this section.
B. An individual who has received a trespass warning according to this chapter may submit to
the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners a request to enter County owned property to
exercise his or her First Amendment rights or to conduct government business, if there is no
other reasonable alternative location to exercise such rights or conduct such business. Such
request shall be submitted no later than 2 business days prior to time the individual wishes to
appear on County Property. The Clerk shall provide the request to an authorized individual to
review and provide authorization as appropriate. Authorization must be in writing to the Clerk
of the Board of County Commissioners and specify the duration of the authorization, business to
be conducted and any conditions thereof.
C. The authorized person shall issue a decision on a request for entry onto public property by the
recipient of a trespass warning during a period of exclusion no later than 48 hours after receipt of
the request
6.46.080 Severability
If any provision of this ordinance or its application to any person or circumstance is held
invalid, the remainder of this ordinance or the application of the provisions to other person or
circumstances is not affected.
6.46.090 - Chapter cumulative.
The provisions of this chapter are not intended to repeal any other ordinance or statute involving
the same subject matter.
6.46.1.00 Effective Date
This ordinance becomes effective -upon signature by the Board of County Commissioners.
DATED this day of Fzbrk08 2023.
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Yea Nay
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Abstain GRANT COUNTY, WASHINGTON
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ATTEST:
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Clerk of the-, aV
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Cindy C'Arter,Vice--Chair,
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