Public Health Ordinance Changes
Saint Paul - Ramsey County Public Health occasionally proposes updates to Ramsey County ordinances. These proposed changes are posted for public feedback. Community feedback is provided through surveys and/or listening sessions.
The county is currently proposing changes to the administrative ordinance and is seeking community feedback through surveys and listening sessions.
Administrative ordinance
Food establishments, public swimming pools, hotels, manufactured home parks, solid waste haulers and facilities, hazardous waste generators and facilities, and other businesses are licensed by the county. Licenses include a variety of rules. The administrative ordinance sets the rules for enforcement and penalties.
Under the current administrative ordinance, the first penalty for breaking the rules is a misdemeanor citation. This includes a fine and is considered a crime. The person who receives the misdemeanor citation then has a criminal record.
Ramsey County is proposing:
- To add a step of enforcement BEFORE a criminal misdemeanor citation.
- This new step would be a civil citation; it includes a fine only and would not be considered a crime nor create a criminal record.
Please read the information below to learn more.
Key information about changes
Why is the county proposing these changes?
The county’s goals are to:
- Develop a fair and effective tool for enforcing county ordinances.
- Reduce the number of misdemeanor citations issued and criminal records created for those who are cited.
- Resolve violations more quickly.
- Ensure penalties reflect the risk to public health or the environment.
How will civil citations be used to enforce county ordinances?
Ramsey County takes steps to help licensees correct violations before giving citations or increasing penalties. If a violation is found during a routine inspection, county staff will:
- Educate license holders and their employees about the rule broken.
- Work with license holders to correct the violations and conduct up to three follow-up visits to review corrections.
- If corrections are not made, a civil citation would be issued; for dangerous, repeated or intentional violations, a misdemeanor (criminal) citation may be issued, or further legal action taken by the county.
How can someone appeal a civil citation?
- A civil citation may be appealed within 15 business days by contacting the county department that issued the citation.
- The county will assign the appeal to a hearing officer, who is not a county employee and is obligated to make a neutral decision.
- At the meeting, the hearing officer is provided with information from both sides and decides if an ordinance was violated. If the hearing officer finds there was no violation, the civil citation and fine are canceled; if it was violated, the civil citation fine must be paid.
What is the fine for a civil citation?
- Fines for violations are set by the County Board based on the risk to public health or the environment. Risk is determined by law and county policies that consider how dangerous something is and how likely it is to cause illness, injury or environmental damage.
- Fines would range from $100 for a lower-risk violation (such as a missing a “no smoking” sign on a building entrance) up to $1000 for a higher-risk violation (such as keeping a swimming pool open with dangerous amounts of chemicals in the water after being ordered to close the pool).
Timeline and community engagement
Timeline
The timeline for implementing the proposed civil citations is as follows:
- Aug. 10 through Sept. 6 - Staff gathered feedback from license holders.
- Oct. 19 and Nov. 9 (two readings) - Staff presents the proposed changes and fine schedule for approval by the county board.
- Nov. 23 - County board adopts a revised ordinance and fine schedule.
- November through December - County contracts with neutral party hearing officers to handle appeals; staff update county procedures to incorporate civil citations.
- Jan. 7, 2022 - Revised ordinance changes take effect.
Commitment to community engagement core values
Community engagement for this project:
- Is based on the belief that those who are affected by a decision have a right to be involved in the decision-making process.
- Means stakeholder contributions will influence the decision.
- Promotes sustainable decisions by recognizing and communicating the needs and interests of all participants, including decision makers.
- Seeks out the involvement/input of those potentially affected by or interested in a decision.
- Seeks input from participants in designing how they participate.
- Provides participants with the information they need to participate in a meaningful way.
- Shows participants how their input affected the decision.
Source: Adapted from the International Association for Public Participation, www.iap2.org
This project is following a community engagement code of ethics.
Community engagement results
Stakeholder feedback was collected Aug. 10 through Sept. 6 via online and mailed surveys. A final report with an analysis and compilation of the feedback provided is presented in the following report. Thank you to all of the stakeholders who provided their input to help shape these proposed changes.
As a result of stakeholder feedback received from this engagement, the following changes will be made to the proposed ordinance language or incorporated into administrative policies:
- Civil citation appeal timeframe in the proposed ordinance revision language (Section 6.02.B.5.a) was lengthened from 10 to 15 county working days.
- The new hearing officer contracting and selection procedures will reflect the key concerns and priorities.
- Existing enforcement procedures will be updated to incorporate clear and objective steps for issuing civil citations.
- Regulatory staff will provide clear and detailed information about the regulations, enforcement process, and risk-based approach to fine, and fine amounts for cited violations if they are not corrected.