SEC. 2.150. LIMITATION OF ACTIONS.
§ 2.150
This section sets four-year time limits for bringing civil actions and administrative complaints to enforce Chapter 2, with different trigger dates depending on whether the action involves general violations, administrative proceedings, or penalty/fee collection.
The City can sue to enforce this chapter's rules within four years of when the violation happened or when the city learned about it. The Ethics Commission can file administrative complaints within four years of when the events occurred or were discovered. For penalties and late fees, the city has four years from when the Ethics Commission issues a final decision or determines the fee amount (which doesn't happen until any fee waiver request is decided). The clock starts when the lawsuit is officially filed in court or the complaint is officially served.
- Complex:Subsection (c) contains multiple nested conditions about when penalties are considered 'imposed' and when final determinations occur, making it lengthy and difficult to parse.
- Controversial:Statute of limitations rules affect enforcement power and affect individuals subject to city penalties, so they may be subject to legitimate debate about adequacy.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
(a) No civil action shall be brought to enforce this Chapter unless brought within four years after the date the cause of action accrued or the date that the facts constituting the cause of action were discovered by the City Attorney. For the purpose of this Subsection, a civil action is brought when the City Attorney files the action in a court of law.
(b) No administrative action alleging a violation of this Chapter and brought under Charter Section C3.699-13 shall be brought more than four years after the date of events which form the basis of the complaint, or the date that the events constituting the basis of the complaint were discovered by the Ethics Commission. For the purpose of this Subsection, a complaint is brought by the Executive Director of the Ethics Commission upon the date of service of the probable cause report.
(c) A civil action brought to enforce or collect penalties or late filing fees imposed under this Chapter shall be brought within four years after the date on which the penalty or late filing fee was imposed. For purposes of this Subsection, a penalty or late filing fee is imposed when the Ethics Commission has issued a final decision in an enforcement action imposing a penalty for a violation of this Chapter or the Ethics Commission or Executive Director has made a final determination regarding the amount of a late filing fee imposed under this Chapter. The Ethics Commission or Executive Director does not make a final determination regarding the amount of a late filing fee imposed under this Chapter until the Ethics Commission or Executive Director has made a determination to accept or refuse any request to waive a late filing fee where such waiver has been timely requested and is expressly authorized by statute, ordinance, or regulation. For the purpose of this Subsection, a civil action is brought when the City Attorney files the action in a court of law.
(Added by Ord. 71-00, File No. 000358, App. 4/28/2000; amended by Ord. 235-09, File No. 090833, App. 11/10/2009; re-enacted by Proposition D, 3/5/2024, Eff. 4/12/2024, Oper. 10/12/2024)