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City could face civil
rights lawsuit if ordinance enforced
By
Bob Robinson
GREENVILLE
– “If we brought
action under this ordinance they would counter-sue.”
According
to Greenville
City Law Director Camille L. Baker, Greenville resident John Graham and
his
attorney, Jeff Slyman, Vandalia, made this clear to the city.
Baker
said she wanted to
make sure if someone actually did fall under this ordinance, would it
be
enforceable?
At
the time City Ordinance
11-10 was passed, Baker understood the city’s insurance company had
told them
it wasn’t enforceable, that they would not cover it and if there was a
judgment
against the city, they would not pay it. The city set aside $60,000.
“That
might pay for one day
in court,” Baker added. Since she didn’t become law director until nine
months
after the fact, she said she wanted to find out exactly if the
ordinance could
be enforced. The city council and city administrative team sought the
opinion
of Pickrel, Schaeffer & Ebeling of Dayton, municipal law
specialists.
Their
10-page opinion
concluded the ordinance could not be enforced.
Baker
said it is difficult
to determine the amount of money for which the city might be liable if
challenged.
“If
they could show we knew
the ordinance could not be enforced they could go after punitive
damages.” If
Baker was to file a complaint in Common Pleas court, the other party
could
counter-file in state court, then file a 1983 Civil Rights action in
federal
court.
“We’d
be dealing with two
courts at the same time,” she said. “There’s a cap on pain and
suffering
damages; there’s no cap on civil rights damages.
“To
put the city in that
kind of situation would be… well… close to criminal.”
The
city’s ordinance
expanded on the Ohio Revised Code requiring sex offenders to reside
outside of
a 1,000 foot radius from a school. Greenville’s ordinance expanded the
zone to
1,500 feet and included schools, playgrounds, city parks, libraries and
day
care centers.
It
allowed few areas left
in Greenville where a sex offender falling under the ordinance could
live.
However neither the Ohio Revised Code nor the city ordinance restricted
a sex
offender from being in or near any of these locations. Just having a
residence
there.
Baker
said there were
rumblings shortly after she took office that the ordinance wasn’t being
enforced.
“At
the time no one was
living in violation of the ordinance as all were residents prior to the
ordinance being passed,” Baker added. “Since then there were two people
in
Greenville who fit the parameters; the offense was committed after the
ordinance was passed. One has since left.”
Greenville’s
sex offender
ordinance was passed in 2011 after debate and public pressure over
residences
in Greenville where Graham allowed sex offenders to live in a
controlled
environment. Concerned residents in the impacted neighborhoods noted
both
public safety and loss of property value.
“The
question isn’t do we
want one (a sex offender law) on the books?” Baker said. “The question
is is
this one enforceable?
“As
long as there is the
Ohio Revised Code, we have to have a reason for expanding on it. We
didn’t even
speak to that.”
Baker
said since she now
has an opinion that this ordinance cannot be enforced, she can’t bring
a
complaint on it.
Published
courtesy of The Early Bird
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