County Ordinances

Magistrate Court presides over all county ordinance violations such as animal control violations and violations of zoning ordinances.

Animal Control & Codes Violations Hearings

When you are served with a citation from animal control or for violation of a county ordinance, the citation will list your charge(s) as well as a court date. You may be required to pay a fine or comply with the ordinance. This depends on the severity of the violation that has occurred.

Failure to Appear

If you fail to appear for your arraignment, trial, or compliance hearing, a bench warrant will be issued for your arrest. Please be on time and ready for your case.

Court Process

On your court date, when your case is called, you will have an opportunity to plead guilty or not guilty.

If you plead not guilty, the case will proceed to trial at a date determined by the Magistrate Judge.

If you plead guilty, then the judge will have you pay a fine, comply with the ordinance, etc. depending on what the violation is.

Compliance Orders

In some incidences, the judge may issue an order that you would have to comply with, such as have a fence put up to ensure animals are restrained or have the property cleaned if there are unsanitary conditions.

If you are given a Compliance Order, a second court date will be issued to see if there is compliance with the order. Animal Control or County Inspectors will return to your premises to see if efforts have been made to comply with the court order.

Failure to comply with this order can result in probation, fines, and/or incarceration.