Meeting With The Mayor

Kati and I have a scheduled meeting with Mayor Honea on Monday. We are in favor of an ordinance similar to California's Kaitlyn's Law. Click here to view Kaitlyn's law. If our town's ordinance had wording similar to this law, I would not personally worry about being in violation of this ordinance.

A violation is an infraction and not a 1st class misdemeanor and carries a punishable fine of one hundred dollars and not $1,000. It also has better age limits and uses the word supervision verses the wording "another person in the motor vehicle who is at least 14 years of age . If you are outside the vehicle, you are supervising! Returning the shopping card, the library books, pulling out a stroller before removing a child from the vehicle, etc. would not be in violation of this.

Their law also states "When the vehicle's engine is running or the vehicle's keys are in the ignition, or both." That is much better wording than "the key to the motor vehicle is located
in the passenger compartment of the motor vehicle."
We also love that California uses 70% of the proceeds from fines to develop and implement community education programs on the issue of leaving children unattended in a vehicle.

We are in 100% agreement that following part of Marana's ordinance should remain as stated:

Section 11-8-2 Protection of children by town

A. Any peace officer is authorized to use whatever force is reasonable and necessary

to remove any child from a motor vehicle whenever it appears that the

child’s life or health is endangered by extreme temperatures, lack of ventilation

or any other condition existing within the motor vehicle.

{00012044.DOC / 3} - 2 - JF 2/3/09

B. No peace officer shall be liable for damages to property caused by the use of

reasonable force to remove a child from a motor vehicle as described in this

section.

I have shown or forwarded several mothers and grandmother's Kaitlyn's law. All agree that an ordinance worded similar to Kaitlyn's law would be preferable. If you have any suggestion, comments, or concerns that you would like us to bring up with the mayor, please call Stephanie at 407-6364.

This is what Marana passed:

Section 11-8-1 Prohibited conduct

“It is unlawful to leave a child who is under ten years of age in a motor vehicle

without supervision by another person in the motor vehicle who is at least 14

years of age if either of the following applies:

A. The conditions tend to present a risk to the child’s health, safety or welfare; or

B. The motor vehicle engine is running or the key to the motor vehicle is located

in the passenger compartment of the motor vehicle.

Section 11-8-2 Protection of children by town

A. Any peace officer is authorized to use whatever force is reasonable and necessary

to remove any child from a motor vehicle whenever it appears that the

child’s life or health is endangered by extreme temperatures, lack of ventilation

or any other condition existing within the motor vehicle.

{00012044.DOC / 3} - 2 - JF 2/3/09

B. No peace officer shall be liable for damages to property caused by the use of

reasonable force to remove a child from a motor vehicle as described in this

section.

Section 11-8-3 Violation; penalty

A. A violation of this chapter is a class 1 misdemeanor.

B. A person convicted of violating this chapter shall be fined not less than

$1,000. The magistrate may not grant probation in lieu of or otherwise suspend

the imposition of the minimum fine prescribed by this paragraph