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Judicial Procedures of the Municipal Court of the City of Montgomery for Indigence/Ability-to-Pay Hearings (Page 8 of 9)

Payment of Fines and Costs
If at any time you cannot pay your fines and costs or perform your community service as ordered by
the Court, you may go before the Court at your Compliance Hearing to discuss your financial situation,
to ask that the Court’s Order be changed (for example, to ask that you pay less) and/or to explain why
you are unable to pay. The time and date of your Compliance Hearing before the Court will be
provided to you in a Court Order given to you at your initial appearance and in subsequent appearances
should further Compliance Hearings be necessary.

If you indicate that you are unable to pay your fines and costs, the Court will order you to complete an
Affidavit of Substantial Hardship and other forms as deemed necessary, and may inquire about your
finances, to include but not be limited to: income, expenses (i.e. rent, childcare, utilities, food, clothing,
medical condition/bills, transportation, etc.), bank accounts, other assets. The Court may also inquire
about your efforts to obtain the money to pay, including your job skills and efforts to apply for jobs.
You should present any documents that you have to the Court during this inquiry.

You cannot be put in jail solely for your inability to pay your fines and costs unless the failure to pay
was willful.

Based on your income, you may be ordered to perform community service or be placed on a monthly
payment plan. You will be given a Compliance Hearing date to return to Court for the Judge to review
your particular case(s). Your appearance at this Compliance Hearing is mandatory.

You may pay the full amount you owe at any time in accordance with the Court’s Order, and at that
point you will not have to continue to make payments, finish your community service, or appear at
your next scheduled Compliance Hearing. You may contact the Court or inquire at a Municipal Court
pay window if you would like to obtain your balance owed.

If the Court determines that you have a disability or illness that would prevent you from performing
community service, you will not be required to perform community service.

After you have been ordered by the Court to pay your fines and court costs or to perform community
service, you will be given a Compliance Hearing date to come back to Court to review your case(s).
This hearing is mandatory. Even if you are unable to pay all of your fines and costs or complete the
hours ordered before that date, you must attend. At this Hearing, you will have the opportunity to
explain to the Court why you have not complied with the Court’s Order(s) and present evidence. You
could be put in jail if the Court determines that you willfully violated the Court’s Order. If you do not
appear at your Compliance Hearing, a warrant will be issued for your arrest.

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The City has a Central Accident Review Board. The purpose of this board will be to review all motor vehicle accidents that involve City of Montgomery employees and City vehicles. The Board, when meeting in an official session, will constitute the “departmental hearing” or the “departmental meeting” and any appeals will be to the Mayor or his/her designee and/or the City County Personnel Board. The employee shall give notice of appeal to the Mayor through the secretary of the Accident Review Board in writing within five business days.

The employee/driver involved in an accident which is to be reviewed shall be given at least two weeks written notice by the Board of the date he/she is to appear before the Board. Employees may be represented by an attorney at the Board meeting, but the attorney shall not participate in the hearing other than to consult with the employee.

The Board review will determine whether an accident was preventable or non-preventable and establish disciplinary action for implementation by the employee’s department head. The Board will use the following criteria to make these decisions.


Number of previous preventable accidents while operating a City vehicle.
Severity of the loss.
Contributing/mitigating circumstances to the accident.
The egregious/wanton nature of the accident.
Previous punishments given for similar offenses.
Consideration of the preventability of the driver’s actions.
The employee’s previous work record.

The improper, careless, negligent, wanton, destructive, or unsafe use or operation of equipment or vehicles can result in disciplinary action, up to and including payment for equipment damage and/or termination of employment.

Decisions of the Board that provide for suspensions of five days or more shall, if not waived by the Employee, be forwarded to the Mayor for scheduling a hearing before the Mayor or his/her designee. Any further appeals shall be done through the procedures outlined in this Personnel Handbook.

The Board will assess a deductible amount to be paid by the employee for a “preventable” accident which involves negligence per se or willful and/or wanton action by the employee. For the purpose of establishing monetary assessments/deductibles the Board shall use the following definitions:

Preventable accident: An accident that occurs because the driver fails to act in a reasonably expected manner to prevent it.

Negligence per se: Negligence which is due to a violation of a law meant to protect the public such as speed limits, traffic signs, rules of the road, etc. The conduct can also include violations of City or departmental rules and regulations. The conduct is automatically considered to be negligence.

Willful and/or Wanton: Conduct committed with an intentional or reckless disregard for the safety of others. This type of action is something more than negligence. It includes actions to the extent of being recklessly unconcerned with the safety of people or property. The term wanton implies a reckless disregard for the consequences of one’s behavior.

The minimum deductible charged back to the employee is $100.00 and the maximum deductible would be 25% of the total damages, including liability, injury, etc.

PROVIDED HOWEVER, IF THE ACCIDENT IS DETERMINED TO BE BECAUSE OF GROSS NEGLIGENCE, INTENTIONAL WILLFULL AND WANTONESS, OR EGREGIOUS CONDUCT, THE EMPLOYEE WILL BE REQUIRED TO REIMBURSE THE CITY FOR ANY AND ALL PROPERTY LOSSES INCURRED AS A RESULT OF HIS/HER ACTIONS. THIS DECISION REQUIRES A FINAL DETERMINATION BY THE MAYOR OR HIS/HER DESIGNEE.

The Board will use the following factors in assessing the amounts as stated above:


Number of previous preventable accidents within the previous five years while operating a City vehicle.
Severity of the loss.
Contributing/mitigating circumstances to the accident.
Degree of negligence by employee.
The egregious/wanton nature of the accident.
Previous amounts assessed to other employees for similar offenses.
Consideration of the preventability of the driver’s actions.
The employee’s previous work record.

An employee can choose to pay the deductible with a one-time payment (in cash) directly to Risk Management within one payday of the date of assessment or elect to pay through payroll deduction (minimum payment schedule will be $25.00 per payday). If employee elects to pay directly to Risk Management and fails to pay within the allotted time, payroll deduction will begin on the next pay period. Funds collected will be deposited by Risk Management into an account set up by the Finance Director and will be used to offset Vehicle Liability expenses.

EMPLOYEES WHO ARE AUTHORIZED TO DRIVE A CITY VEHICLE MAY WANT TO CONSULT WITH HIS/HER INSURANCE COMPANY TO INQUIRE INTO INSURANCE FOR NON-OWNED VEHICLES.

City Wide Backing/maneuvering Policy or Operating Within Close Proximity to Another Vehicle: These procedures apply to large trucks (1 ton and up) all buses, and vans while backing and/or maneuvering in close proximity to other vehicles, buildings or other obstructions.

If the vehicle operator is alone and does not have any other City employees in the area to act as a spotter, he is required to exit the vehicle and perform a walk-around inspection prior to attempting to back.

Backing/maneuvering should not be attempted if any object, person, etc. is in the backing/maneuvering path. By walking around the vehicle the driver is able to assure himself that he has sufficient rear clearances to safely back the vehicle. It is important to re-enter the vehicle and begin backing/maneuvering as soon as the walk-around is accomplished. By backing/maneuvering immediately after the inspection, the driver can safely back the vehicle before the situation changes and his rear clearance is compromised by other vehicles and/or pedestrians.

If there are two employees available, either riding in the vehicle or at the worksite, they will both act as spotters for the driver while /maneuvering.. Both spotters will exit the vehicle and take a position at the rear of the vehicle, on the ground, where they can be seen by the driver. Their responsibilities include checking the rearward path for proper clearance, looking for pedestrians, and other vehicles. They will then use hand signals to guide the driver safely through the backing/maneuvering operation. Backing/maneuvering should not be attempted if any object, person, etc., is in the backing/maneuvering path.

The driver will not back his vehicle until such time as the spotter has positioned himself to the rear of the vehicle and gives the driver the signal to begin backing/maneuvering. The driver will stop immediately if the spotter so signals. The driver must also stop immediately, if for any reason one of the spotters disappears from sight. The driver will not resume movement of the vehicle until; the spotter has reappeared and resumes movement signaling.

If there is only one employee available in the vehicle or at the worksite they will follow the same procedures as listed above with one spotter. Extreme caution must be taken as there is now only one set of “eyes” available. It may be necessary for the spotter to signal the driver to stop so that he can change positions to insure safe backing/maneuvering clearances.

The driver is responsible for the safe operation of the vehicle and as such shall direct an employee(s), if available, to act as a spotter. Any driver who is found in violation of this policy will be subject to the Progressive Disciplinary Policy. In addition, any employee who refuses to act as a spotter or carry out those duties will be subject to the Progressive disciplinary Policy.

Mandatory Defensive Driver Training.

All authorized City drivers will attend a mandatory Defensive Driver Class within 45 days of being certified to operate a City vehicle. The Risk Management Division will conduct classes for all departments other than sworn officers and firefighters (the initial training provided to recruits in the academy will serve to fulfill this requirement). These classes will be scheduled, coordinated, and conducted by the Risk Management Division.
All drivers will complete refresher training every 18 months. The Police and Fire Department will be responsible for coordinating, scheduling, and conducting their refresher training. All other departments’ training will be scheduled, coordinated, and conducted by the Risk Management Division.

All City Drivers who are involved in a preventable accident will attend refresher Defensive Driver Training within 45 days of meeting the Central Accident Review Board. The Police and Fire Department will be responsible for insuring their personnel receive this training. All other departments will have this training scheduled, coordinated, and conducted by the Risk Management Division.

Voter registration is handled at the County Voter Registrar’s Office located at 100 South Lawrence Street. The telephone number is (334) 832-1215.