Motorists in Roswell could face stiffer penalties for traffic violations following a vote by the city council at its Sept. 10 meeting.
Mayor Timothy Jennings cast the tie-breaking vote when the 10-member council split after a public hearing on whether to add the higher penalties to the city’s code.
Councilors Cristina Arnold of Ward 1; Riley Armstrong and Juliana Halvorson, both of Ward 2; and Robert Corn and Darrell Johnson, both of Ward 4, voted for the resolution. Voting against it were Councilors Juan Oropesa of Ward 1; Ed Heldenbrand and Kurt Gass, both of Ward 3; and Angela Moore and Carlos Marrujo, both of Ward 5.
The proposal passed the council’s Legal Committee 5-0 in May and the Public Safety Committee 4-0 in June, before reaching the full council, according to a summary of the resolution provided to councilors. The new maximum fines and penalties took effect Wednesday, Sept. 16.
In all, the revisions to the ordinance amend penalties for 68 crimes and traffic offenses in the city’s ordinance code. Josh Narin-Mahan, Roswell city attorney told the council at the Sept. 10 meeting that the penalties for those offenses were too low and insufficient to deter people from committing such infractions.
The revisions are also intended to correct errors made in earlier versions of the code and address funding shortfalls resulting from passage of House Bill 139 in the 2023 legislative session, according to the summary of the resolution. That bill abolished certain “state-mandated, post-adjudication fees assessed in criminal and traffic cases” by the courts, according to a fiscal impact report on House Bill 139.
But Oropesa told the Roswell Tribune that he disagreed with the changes.
“I didn’t support it. I didn’t feel it was necessary to … raise the fines,” he said.
Marrujo, who also voted against the new penalty assessment, said that he believes most fines should not be raised, especially at a time when people are struggling with the rising costs of living.
“People are struggling as it is,” he said.
Most fees and penalties listed in the ordinance code will at least double.
Some offenses, such as speeding, carry maximum fines of $25 to $450, depending on how much a motorist goes over the speed limit. The amended penalties will raise those fines to a range of $50 to $500.
The fine for running a stop sign, known in the code as entering a stop or yield intersection, will increase from $25 to $50, and a first offense for possessing or consuming an alcoholic beverage in a motor vehicle will double from $50 to $100.
Other offenses increased substantially. The fine for a child riding without a safety belt will go from $50 to $150. The largest fine increase is for the offense of street racing and exhibition driving, which will go from a maximum fine of $100 to $500.
The amended penalties also revise language related to the penalty for reckless driving.
Under the new ordinance, a person convicted of reckless driving will be sentenced to between five and 30 days imprisonment on the first offense, and 30 to 60 days imprisonment for any second or subsequent offense. The amended ordinance on reckless driving does not contain fines.
Previously, drivers convicted of reckless driving on the first offense would face imprisonment of between five and 90 days, a fine of $25 to $100 or both. A second or subsequent conviction would face imprisonment of between 10 days and six months, a fine of between $50 and $1,000, or both.
The new ordinance also states that a person convicted of reckless driving will have their vehicle impounded for 30 days. The ordinance contains an exemption if impoundment of the vehicle “poses an imminent danger to the health, safety or employment” of the convicted person’s immediate family or the family of the vehicle’s owner, according to the amended ordinance.
