The City Council approved recommended changes updating Derby’s traffic codes. In Derby, misdemeanor cases are handled by city court whereas felony cases are undertaken by the county court. But sometimes that procedure snarls a case. Earlier this year, a situation arose in Derby municipal court and, because the ordinance didn’t contain a mechanism for handling misdemeanor third DUI charges, the case had to be dismissed and refiled in district court.
Certain third DUI cases are classified as misdemeanor offenses because of their age.
“Addition of the proposed language will allow Derby municipal court to handle such cases in the future,” Butler said.
In addition, a new offense concerning littering from a vehicle is proposed to offer law enforcement more flexibility in enforcement of littering offenses by authorizing citation of the driver of the vehicle. This would apply when there are multiple occupants in a vehicle in which littering was witnessed.
(Read more: Derby News | derbyinformer.com)