Ordinance Enforcement Officer

An ordinance to establish the office of Ordinance Enforcement Officer; to prescribe the duties of said office; to authorize the Township Board to appoint any person or persons to said office, and to amend any ordinances of _________ Township which conflict with the provisions hereof.

THE TOWNSHIP OF _________, _________ COUNTY, MICHIGAN, ORDAINS:

Section 1: Ordinance Enforcement Officer
There is hereby established the office of Ordinance Enforcement Officer within the Township of ________, ________ County, Michigan.

Section 2: Appointment
The ________ Township Board is hereby authorized, by resolution, at any regular meeting of said Board, to appoint any person or persons to the office of Ordinance Enforcement Officer for such term or terms as may be designated in said resolution. Said Board may further, by resolution, remove any person from said office, in the discretion of said Board.

Section 3: Duties
The Ordinance Enforcement Officer is hereby authorized to enforce all ordinances of _________ Township, whether currently or hereafter enacted, and whether such ordinances specifically designate a different official to enforce the same or do not designate any particular enforcing officer. Where a particular officer is so designated in any such ordinance, the authority of the Ordinance Enforcement Officer to enforce the same shall be in addition and supplementary to the authority granted to such other specific officer. Any ordinance-enforcing authority of (the Township Supervisor/Superintendent and any other) officers specifically designated in any Township ordinance (or the Charter Township Act, Public Act 359 of 1947, as amended (MCL 42.10)) shall continue in full force and effect and shall in no way be diminished or impaired by the terms of the within ordinance.

Section 4: Definitions
The ordinance enforcement duties herein authorized shall include, among others, the following:

Investigating ordinance violations;

Serving notice of violations;

Serving appearance tickets as authorized under Chapter 4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, Public Act 175 of 1927, as amended (MCL 764.9c);

Appearing in court or other judicial proceedings to assist in the prosecution of ordinance violators, and

Such other ordinance enforcement duties as may be delegated by the Township Supervisor/Superintendent or assigned by the Township Attorney.

Section 5: Saving Clause
The provisions of the within ordinance are hereby declared to be severable and the invalidation of any one or more of the same by any judicial determination or statutory or constitutional provision shall not invalidate the remainder of said provisions or ordinance.

Section 6: Effective Date
This ordinance shall take immediate effect. All ordinances of the Township heretofore or hereafter adopted shall hereafter be supplemented by the terms of the within ordinance.

The purpose of this sample ordinance is to provide a suggested guideline for the types of items that should be included within an ordinance. Certainly, no sample ordinance should be used unless, after careful review, it is the professional judgment of your legal counsel that using the sample will accomplish the particular objectives and intentions of your Township. Although these sample ordinances are the result of much thought and effort, neither the authors nor the Michigan Townships Association assumes any responsibility for the results of using these samples word-for-word in individual cases.