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Galesburg City Appeal Court Created

T.J. Carson
The administrative adjudication cases would be heard at Galesburg City Hall.

Galesburg residents will soon be able to take cases against them straight to the city.  Aldermen this week approved creation of an administrative adjudication system for appeals of ordinance violations.

Examples of cases that could be heard include building code violations, non-misdemeanor ordinance violations, cases involving dangerous dogs, and more.

City Manager Todd Thompson said the only thing the city has left to do before beginning the program on March 1 is to hire a hearing officer. The the city is seeking someone who's been licensed to practice law in Illinois for at least three years.

Thompson said the goal is for the program to hear cases at least twice a month.

“We’ll want people to be able to get in and have their hearing fairly quickly, that’s one of the advantages of it. You’ll be somewhere between two weeks and four weeks from a hearing, if you receive a ticket or a notice,” Thompson said.

Thompson added the city will not pay much for the system.

“We’re not going to invest any real hard dollars in anything. The only expense will be the judge or the hearing officer,” Thompson said.

The city council approved the program 6-1. The only objection came from Third Ward Aldermen Russell Fleming, who felt the process would be too quick.  He's also concerned about whether tickets will be delivered to residents in time for hearings.