§ 2-5-145. Penalties.

(a)

If a law enforcement officer responds to a false alarm, the alarm user shall be assessed a fine or given a warning as provided in this section.

(b)

Violations of any provision of this article, including a response to a false alarm, shall be subject to the following penalties:

First violation .....	Warning
Second violation .....	Warning
Third violation .....	$35.00 fine
Fourth violation .....	$60.00 fine
Fifth violation .....	$85.00 fine
Sixth and subsequent violations .....	Notice to appear and a fine of $100.00 to $500.00 and/or imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed 60 days.

 

The Charlotte County Sheriff may impose an administrative fee not to exceed ten dollars ($10.00) in addition to the above described fines.

(c)

Warnings and fines are determined by the number of violations assigned to the bar code. Violations are cumulative, that is, the violator shall pay the next highest fine for the next violation at that bar code without regard to the time that has elapsed since the previous violation, except that:

(1)

if one (1) year passes without a violation at the alarm site that bar code, a "clean slate" status shall be granted to the alarm site that bar code and the next violation shall be considered a first violation, or

(2)

if a new security alarm system is installed at the alarm site, upon notification to the alarm coordinator by an alarm system installation company or alarm monitoring company and the payment of all unpaid penalties and registration fees (including late fees), the security alarm system shall be considered a new system with no prior violations.

(d)

A false alarm violation may be waived by the alarm coordinator in the event the false alarm resulted from any of the following. The burden of showing that a false alarm was due to one (1) of the following shall rest on the alarm user.

(1)

Electrical storms, hurricanes, tornadoes and acts of God, where there is clear evidence of physical damage to the security alarm system;

(2)

Disruption of the telephone circuits beyond the control of the alarm user, responder, alarm installation company or alarm monitoring company;

(3)

Electrical power disruption or failure in excess of two (2) hours;

(4)

Alarms caused by the failure of the equipment of the alarm monitoring company provided written verification is provided by the alarm monitoring company;

(5)

Malicious causes beyond the control of the alarm user or responder.

(e)

The alarm coordinator may grant, in lieu of a fine as described in section 2-5-145(b), a third warning during the registration period to alarm users upon successful completion of an educational program for the prevention of false alarms.

(f)

Each violation of this article shall constitute a separate offense. In addition to the fines and criminal sanctions contained herein, violators may be subject to other legal action, including emergency injunctive action, to enforce the provisions of this article.

(g)

The clerk of the circuit court shall collect the fines established in this section and shall remit the same to the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office monthly, less five (5) percent, which is to be retained as fee income of the office of the clerk of the circuit court.

(Ord. No. 98-059, § 5, 9-15-98; Ord. No. 2002-034, § 5, 9-3-02; Ord. No. 2004-051, § 3, 7-27-04; Ord. No. 2017-045, § 3, 10-10-17)