While they won’t be stopping global warming, Paul Luker hopes that the proposed court will help deal more effectively with code enforcement. West Memphis Councilwoman, Ramona Taylor, believes that the current system is faulty because code violators are tried in the same court as criminal violators. Taylor says this makes the code violations look less serious by comparison.
In my experience, the only code violations I have seen come through the court are having an inoperable car on the premises or failing to mow the yard. While the code should be enforced, I want a court to treat those violators with much more leniency than more violent criminal offenders.
The local court’s current practice is to give the violator a week or two to correct the problem, i.e. move the car or mow the yard, or they receive a monetary penalty. I am not sure what else the proposed court would or should accomplish.
