Responsibility for false alarms under this chapter shall be borne by the person or persons occupying or controlling the premises. For each response by the Office of the Sheriff to any false alarm, the person owning or maintaining such alarm system shall submit such reports as are set forth herein or be guilty of an offense against the city as follows:

(a)     For any six responses by the Office of the Sheriff during any twelve-month period to a premises where a false alarm has occurred, no offense against the city shall be deemed to exist, but the person having or maintaining the burglary or robbery alarm shall, within ten working days after notice to do so, make a written report to the Sheriff on forms prescribed by him, setting forth the cause of such false alarm, the corrective action taken, whether the alarm system has been inspected by an authorized serviceman and such other information as the Sheriff may reasonably require to determine the cause of such false alarm and corrective action necessary.

(b)     Each and every response to a premises during any twelve-month period where there have already occurred six responses during that same period shall be deemed to constitute a violation of this chapter and shall be punishable by a civil penalty of twenty-five dollars, payable as provided herein.

(c)     False alarm violation number thirteen within a twelve-month period shall result in the penalty provided for in subsection (b) of this section, plus the immediate revocation of the decal issued for the alarm system. In order for the alarm system to be reregistered and reactivated, the alarm system shall be serviced by an alarm contractor or the person who is in charge of the alarm system, inspected and certified to the satisfaction of the Alarm Inspection Officer in the Office of the Sheriff and the decal reissued at a re-issuance fee of twenty-five dollars. 

(d)     Use of a non-registered alarm system by any person is unlawful and shall constitute a class D offense against the city.

(e)     Within ten days after a false alarm violation has been committed under subsection (b) or (c) of this section, the Office of the Sheriff shall notify the decal holder of the alarm system from which such false alarm emanated that the false alarm violation has occurred and the amount of the civil penalty due. The notice shall also inform the decal holder of where to pay such civil penalty and of the decal holders right to pay the civil penalty or arrange for a court hearing on the violation. The civil penalty shall be payable within thirty days of the date of the mailing or service of such notice. A request for a court hearing shall act to stay this time period. Any person who fails to pay such civil penalty within the time period stated herein shall be subject to having the decal revoked for the alarm system, which is in violation of this chapter.

(f)     Failure of the Office of the Sheriff to mail or serve the notice provided for in subsection (e) of this section shall preclude the assessment of a false alarm civil penalty for such violation; however, such violation shall still be considered as a violation for the purpose of calculating the number of false alarm violations necessary under subsection (c) of this section to warrant revocation of the alarm system decal.

(Ord. 76-683-400, § 1; Ord. 77-47-10, § 1; Ord. 77-107-521, § 1; Ord. 77-1189-617, § 1; Ord. 83-591-400, § 1; Ord. 88-337-244, § 1)

Note: Former § 323.103