Section 1 : How Code Designated and Cited.
The ordinances embraced in this and the following chapters and sections shall constitute and be designated "The Code of the City of Bloomington, Illinois, 1960" and may be so cited. Such ordinances may also be cited as the "Bloomington City Code, 1960".
Section 2 : Definitions and Rules of Construction.
In the interpretation and construction of this Code, the following definitions and rules of construction shall be observed, unless they are inconsistent with the manifest intent of Council or the context clearly requires otherwise:
City. The words "city" or "the city" mean the City of Bloomington in McLean County, State of Illinois, except as otherwise provided.
Council. The words "council" or "the council" mean the Council of the City of Bloomington, Illinois.
County. The words "county" or "the county" mean McLean County in the State of Illinois.
In the City. The words "in the city" or "within the city" mean and include all territory over which the City now has or shall hereafter acquire jurisdiction for the exercise of its police powers or other regulatory powers.
Occupant or tenant. The words "occupant" or "tenant" applied to a building or land mean any person who holds a written or oral lease of or actually occupies the whole or part of such building or land, either alone or with others.
Or, and. "Or" may be read "and", and "and" may be read "or", if the sense requires it.
Owner. The word "owner" applied to a building or land shall include any part owner, joint owner, tenant in common, tenant in partnership, joint tenant of the whole or a part of such building or land.
Person. The word "person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, joint stock association or any city or state or any subdivision thereof; and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal representative thereof.
Personal property includes every species of property except real property as defined in this section.
Preceding, following. The words "preceding" and "following" mean next before and next after, respectively.
Property. The word "property" shall include real and personal property.
Real property shall include lands, tenements, and hereditaments and shall embrace all chattels real.
Sidewalk. The word "sidewalk" means that portion of a street between the curb lines, or the lateral lines of a roadway and the adjacent property lines intended for the use of pedestrians.
State. The words "state" or "the state" mean the State of Illinois.
Street. The word "street" means the entire width between property lines of every way or place of whatever nature when any part thereof is open to the use of the public, as a matter of right for purposes of vehicular traffic.
Tense. Words in the present tense include the future.
Other definitions and rules of construction. In addition to the definitions and rules of construction hereinabove set out, the provisions of Chapter 131, Section 1, et seq. Ill. Rev. Stat. 1959, so far as the same are applicable and not inconsistent with the manifest intent of the City Council, are hereby adopted for the construction of the various provisions of the Code of 1960 and all general ordinances passed hereafter.
Section 3 : Captions of Sections.
The captions of the several sections of this Code printed in boldface type are intended as mere catch words to indicate the contents of the section and shall not be deemed or taken to be titles of such sections, nor as any part of the section, nor unless expressly so provided shall they be so deemed when any such sections, including the captions, are amended or reenacted.
Section 4 : Provisions Construed as Continuations of Existing Ordinances.
The provisions appearing in this Code, so far as they are substantially the same as those of the ordinances existing at the time of the adoption of this Code shall be construed as a continuation thereof and not as new enactments.
Section 5 : Severability of Parts of Code.
Should any section, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this Code be declared invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining words, phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs or sections of this Code, since the same would have been enacted by Council without the incorporation in this Code of any such invalid or unconstitutional word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section.
Section 6 : General Penalty; Continuing Violations.
Whenever in this Code or in any future Ordinance of the City any act is prohibited or is made or declared to be unlawful or an offense, or whenever in such Code or such Ordinance the doing of any act is required or the failure to do any act is declared to be unlawful, where no specific penalty is provided therefore, the violation of any such provision in this Code or any such Ordinance shall be punished by a fine of not less than $50.00 nor more than $500.00. Each day any violation of any provision of this Code or of any such Ordinance shall continue shall constitute a separate offense. (Ordinance No. 2009-51
Section 7 : Suits for Violating Code and Ordinances.
All actions brought to enforce any fine, imprisonment, penalty or forfeiture under this Code or other Ordinances of the City shall be brought in the corporate name of the City as plaintiff. No prosecution, recovery, conviction, or acquittal for a violation of any provision of this Code or any other Ordinance of the City shall constitute a defense to any prosecution of the same party for any other violation of the same provision of the Code or same Ordinance or any Code provision or Ordinance, although the different causes of action existed at the same time, and if united, would not have exceeded the jurisdiction of the court or magistrate.
Section 8 : Process in Ordinance Violation Cases.
In all actions for the violation of any provision of this Code or other Ordinance of the City, the first process shall be an Appearance Notice on a bond form or Complaint, a Notice to Appear, a Summons or a Warrant. If process is accomplished through the service of Summons by a special process server, then the Corporation Counsel or any other attorney representing the City in the matter for which Summons was served, may request the court to tax a $16.00 service fee as a cost in the proceeding. (Ordinance No. 1991-64)
Section 9 : Citations Charging Violation of Certain Ordinances and Settlement by Payment of Minimum Fines or Alternative Disposition.
(a) Any City employee or other person designated by the City Manager may issue citations to persons who are believed to have violated the sections of the Bloomington City Code hereinafter specified. The citations may give the alleged violator the option to settle the case by paying the fine set forth in subsection (f) if payment is made within the time and in the manner set forth in subsection (b) of this section. (Ordinance No. 2009-51)
(b) Payments in settlement of violations set forth in subsection (f) shall be made within fifteen (15) days after the date the citation was issued to the person accused of such violation. Payment shall be made by cash, credit card or check made payable to the City of Bloomington. Failure to make payment within the said fifteen day period will result in referral of the citation to the Legal Department for further action. (Ordinance No. 2009-51)
(c) The original copy of any citation issued pursuant to this section shall be delivered to the Finance Department. The Finance Department shall hold citations for the fifteen (15) day period allowed for settlement by payment of the fine and at the end of that period of time the citation shall be delivered to the Legal Department for the filing of a complaint for ordinance violation in the McLean County Circuit Court.
(d) At the discretion of the corporation counsel or his or her designee, citations may be settled by payment of the fine provided in subsection (f) or by alternative disposition as provided in subsection (g). The corporation counsel or his or her designee may elect to reject the settlement of any violation of the sections of the City Code specified in subsection (f) and proceed to filing a complaint for such violation in the McLean County Circuit Court. (Ordinance No. 2009-51)
(e) The amount stated in subsection (f) shall be the fine for settlement pursuant to the provisions of this section notwithstanding that the fine stated for such violation in another section of the code may be lower than the fine stated in this section. (Ordinance No. 2009-51)
(f) The violations for which citations may be issued and the fines which shall be paid to settle the case are as follows: (Ordinance No. 2009-51)
(g) Any citation for ordinance violation issued pursuant to this section may be settled by alternative disposition. As defined in this section:
(1) “Alternative disposition” shall mean community service, counseling, and/or education programs.
(2) “Community service” shall mean:
(i) any reasonable public service work, including, but not limited to, the picking up of litter in public parks or along public highways or the maintenance of public facilities:
(ii) the performance of hours of service with an agency, organization or school approved for participation in the City of Bloomington Alternative Disposition Program by the corporation counsel or his or her designee.
(iii) each 8 hours of community service shall be the equivalent of $100.00 in fines.
(3) “Counseling” shall mean participation in a drug or alcohol counseling or treatment program approved for participation in the City of Bloomington Alternative Disposition Program by the corporation counsel or his or her designee.
(4) “Education program” shall mean any curriculum, course of study, or class approved for participation in the City of Bloomington Alternative Disposition Program by the corporation counsel or his or her designee. Such programs may include, but are not limited to, job training, literacy, smoking cessation, and general education degree courses. (Ordinance No. 2009-51)
(h) When imposing a sentence following conviction for violation of any ordinance contained in this Code, the Court may, upon recommendation by the corporation counsel, impose a sentence of alternative disposition as defined in subsection (g). Each 8 hours of community service shall be the equivalent of $100.00 in fines. Defendant shall pay all court costs. (Ordinance No. 2009-51)
Click Here to View Table of Offenses and Associated Fine Amounts
Section 10 : Two Copies of Code to be Kept Up to Date by City Clerk.
The City Clerk shall keep two copies of this Code current. These copies shall be printed, pasted, or otherwise mounted on paper sufficiently thick and tough to withstand heavy usage, and shall be preserved by the City Clerk in a book or binder in loose-leaf form, or in such other form as the City Clerk may consider most expedient, so that all amendments thereto and all general Ordinances hereafter passed may be inserted in their appropriate places in such volumes, and all sections of this Code or Ordinances repealed from time to time may be extracted therefrom for the purpose of maintaining such two copies in such condition that they will show all general Ordinances passed up to date at any time in such manner that ready reference may be had thereto.
Section 11 : Filing of Proposed Ordinances Prior to Introduction to Council.
Ten copies of all ordinances of a general and permanent nature shall be submitted to the City Clerk prior to the introduction of such Ordinances to the City Council. One copy of such Ordinance shall be delivered to the Legal Department of the City by the City Clerk, one to the City Manager and one each to the members of the Council.
Section 12 : Enacting Style of Ordinances.
The enacting style of all Ordinances shall be: "Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Bloomington".
Section 13 : Ordinances to be Signed.
All Ordinances passed by the City Council must be signed by the Mayor or by two members of the Council. (Ordinance No. 2004-108)
Section 14 : Record and Memorandum of Ordinances - Required.
The City Clerk shall record, in a book used exclusively for that purpose, all ordinances passed by the City Council. Immediately following each ordinance, the City Clerk shall make a memorandum of the date of the passage and publication, where required, of the ordinance.
This record and memorandum, or a certified copy thereof, shall be prima facie evidence of the contents, passage, and of the publication or posting of ordinances.
Section 15 : Proof of Ordinances.
The contents of all City ordinances, the date of passage, and the date of publication or posting, where required may be proved by the certificate of the City Clerk, under the seal of the City.
Whenever City ordinances are printed in book or pamphlet form, and purport to be published by authority of the City Council, such book or pamphlet shall be prima facie evidence of the contents, passage, and legal publication of such ordinances, as of the dates mentioned in such book or pamphlet, in all courts and administrative tribunals.
Section 16 : Publication of Ordinances; Effective Dates.
All ordinances of the City imposing any fine, penalty, imprisonment or forfeiture, or making any appropriation shall: (1) be printed in book or pamphlet form, published by authority of the City Council; or (2) be published at least once, within ten days after passage, in one or more newspapers published in the City. No such ordinance shall take effect until ten days after it is so published.
All other ordinances, resolutions and motions shall take effect upon their passage unless they otherwise provide.
Section 17 : Custody and Distribution of Copies of Code.
All the printed books containing the revised ordinances shall be in the custody and keeping of the City Clerk. He shall deliver one copy thereof to each officer of the City, and to such other persons as the City Manager may direct. The City Manager shall have authority to extend to, or reciprocate courtesies of other cities, by presenting to them a copy of the revised ordinances bound at the expense of the City in such a manner as to him may seem advisable.
Section 18 : Price and Cost of Ordinances Printed in Books, Etc., Form.
Printed copies containing this Code and any ordinance imposing any fine, penalty, imprisonment, or forfeiture, or making any appropriation which may be printed in book or pamphlet form, published by authority of the City Council, shall so long as such books or pamphlets are in supply be available for distribution to the public. The City Manager may impose a reasonable price commensurate with the cost of the printing thereof for the distribution of such book or pamphlet to the public.
Section 19 : Effect of Repeal of Repealing Ordinance.
When any ordinance repealing a former ordinance, clause or provision shall be itself repealed, such repeal shall not be construed to revive such former ordinance, clause, or provision unless it shall be therein so expressly provided.
Section 20 : Corporate Seal.
A seal or disc in a circular form with the words "City of Bloomington, Illinois" on the outer circle, and in the interior and center of said circle the word "seal" shall be the seal of the City of Bloomington, to be used in all cases that have been or shall hereafter be provided by the laws of the United States, the laws of the several respective states of the United States, and the ordinances of the said City of Bloomington, and in all cases in which by laws and customs of corporations it is necessary to use a seal by a corporation.
Section 21 : Same - Custodian; Official Use.
The City Clerk shall be the custodian of the corporate seal. He shall affix the impression of the corporate seal to all commissions or other official documents required to be issued by him and attest or countersign the same. He shall affix the seal to all official acts of the Mayor which require it and, if necessary, attest the same. He shall also certify, under the corporate seal, copies of any records, ordinances, documents, or papers in his office when required by any city officer or other person. In no case shall the impression of the corporate seal be binding upon the City, unless it be authorized by the laws or ordinances of the City and is attested by the official signature of the City Clerk.
Section 22 : Official Time.
Official time shall be that designated by the law of the State of Illinois.
Section 23 : Grade Datum for City Levels.
Base for City Levels. The permanent grades of streets and alleys in the City hereinafter fixed, are referred to a plane as base or datum for all city levels; said plane referred to is 120.58 feet below the center of an aluminum plate placed near the southeast corner of the McLean County Court House by the United States Geological Survey.
