Roehl v. City of Naperville

857 F. Supp. 2d 707, 2012 WL 787203, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32122
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedMarch 9, 2012
DocketCase No. 11 C 7177
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 857 F. Supp. 2d 707 (Roehl v. City of Naperville) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roehl v. City of Naperville, 857 F. Supp. 2d 707, 2012 WL 787203, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32122 (N.D. Ill. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER1

SIDNEY I. SCHENKIER, United States Magistrate Judge.

Plaintiff Michael Roehl filed a one-count complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against defendant City of Naperville (“Naperville”), alleging that Naperville Ordinance 10-8-1 (“the 2009 Ordinance”) violates the [709]*709Fourteenth Amendment right of plaintiff, and those of a putative class of similarly situated plaintiffs, to be free from deprivation of property without due process (doc. # 1: Compl., ¶ 32). Plaintiff seeks declaratory and injunctive relief as well as damages. Naperville has filed a motion to dismiss the complaint in its entirety pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) (doc. #26: Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss). For the reasons set forth below, we deny defendant’s motion.

I.

We begin with the allegations in the complaint, which we accept as true for purposes of the motion. Tamayo v. Blagojevich, 526 F.3d 1074, 1081 (7th Cir.2008). To determine if plaintiffs allegations are sufficient to state a claim, we must determine if they both give the defendants notice of the claims to which they must respond and make the asserted claims “plausible on [their] face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Arnett v. Webster, 658 F.3d 742, 752 (7th Cir.2011) (citing Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1949).

The allegations of the complaint center on the 2009 Ordinance, which states in its entirety: “The Police Department will charge an administrative fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) for the processing of bail or bond of an individual in any legal process, civil or criminal, or on any bookable arrest, including any arrest on a warrant” (Compl.; Ex. A, Ord. 10-8-1). The 2009 Ordinance does not establish any procedures allowing a person to challenge imposition of the fee. Nor does the 2009 Ordinance provide that the fee may be reimbursed under certain circumstances, such as if the charges are dropped or the arrestee is later acquitted (Compl., ¶ 14). The 2009 Ordinance set forth no statements or findings by the City of Naperville as to its purpose in imposing the fee.

On February 13, 2011, Mr. Roehl was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol (Compl., ¶ 15). Mr. Roehl was taken to the Naperville jail, and upon booking, he was required to pay the $50.00 booking fee (Id., ¶ 17). Plaintiff was found not guilty and released from jail, but the $50.00 was not returned to him (Id., ¶¶ 18-20). Mr. Roehl alleges that many others have suffered this same deprivation: he asserts that Naperville collected $27,350.00 in “administrative booking fees” during the last three months of 2009, and $71,605.00 in booking fees during calendar year 2010 (Id., ¶ 10). For the Fiscal Year 2010 (May 1, 2009 to April 30, 2010), the City of Naperville appropriated a total of $37,005,684.00 to the Naperville Police Department, of which $5,952,921.00 was allocated to the “Services” division, which includes Patrol and Support Services.2

On December 6, 2011, Naperville passed Ordinance 11-172 (“the 2011 Ordinance”), which repealed and replaced the 2009 Ordinance (doc. #27: Def.’s Mem. in Supp. Of Mot. To Dismiss at 12-14).3 The 2011 [710]*710Ordinance states that it became effective upon its passage on December 6, 2011 (Def.’s Mem.: Ex. A, Ord. 11-172, Sec. 3). Like the earlier ordinance, the 2011 Ordinance states that the Naperville police department will charge a fee of $50.00 for the processing of any bookable arrest (Def.’s Mem.: Ex. A, Ord. 11-172). However, the 2011 Ordinance addresses several matters omitted from the 2009 Ordinance.

First, the 2011 Ordinance states what happens if an arrestee cannot pay the administrative fee at the time of their arrest. In that circumstance, the 2011 Ordinance provides that arrestees will be billed for the $50.00. If the bill is not paid within 30 days, the fee is referred to billing for collection where the arrestees can contest the fee (Def.’s Mem.: Ex. A, Ord. 11-172).

Second, the 2011 Ordinance adds sections that provide for a hearing and appeal procedure to contest the fee. It states that an arrestee may request an informal hearing before the chief of police or his designee in writing within 30 days after the imposition of the fee (Def.’s Mem.: Ex. A, Ord. 11-172). If the police chief or designee determines that imposition of the fee was improper, the fee will not be required, or it will be refunded if already paid (Id.). If the police chief or designee determines that the fee was proper, the arrestee may appeal the decision in writing within 14 days and request a more formal administrative hearing (Id.).

Third, the 2011 Ordinance explains the purpose of the fee. The prefatory statements explain that booking an arrestee takes an average of “over 3 hours ... during which the city [] utilizes Police Officer duty time; detention officer’s duty time; materials; and space; ...” (Def.’s Mem., Ex. A, at 1). The 2011 Ordinance states that, as a result, it is “necessary and desirable to shift a portion of the City’s costs for processing of arrestees to the arrestees themselves, for the benefit of the health, safety and welfare of the City’s citizens” (Id.). The 2011 Ordinance further states that the fee “is not calculated as a revenue generating fee and is only enacted to recover a portion of the administrative fees expended in the arrest and processing of arrestees; ...” (Id.).

II.

We begin with the issue of the justiciability of plaintiffs claims. Naperville contends that plaintiffs claim for declaratory and injunctive relief is moot, because the 2011 Ordinance repealed and replaced the 2009 Ordinance (Def.’s Mem. at 12-14). Mootness is one of the concepts that comprise the threshold issue of justiciability. Zessar v. Keith, 536 F.3d 788, 793 (7th Cir.2008). A dispute over the constitutionality of a statute becomes moot if a new statute is enacted in its place during the pendency of the litigation, and the plaintiff seeks only prospective relief. Id. Plaintiff, while taking no position on the constitutionality of the 2011 Ordinance, concedes that his request for injunctive relief is moot as of the effective date of the repeal of the 2009 Ordinance (doc. #30: Pl.’s Resp. at 11-12 & n. 3).

While plaintiff does not discuss whether his claim for declaratory relief is moot, we find that it is. “Article III denies federal courts the power to decide questions that cannot affect the rights of the litigants in the case before them.” See Zessar, 536 F.3d at 794 (internal quotations omitted). Thus, we may not opine on the constitutionality of the now-defunct 2009 Ordinance.

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Bluebook (online)
857 F. Supp. 2d 707, 2012 WL 787203, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32122, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roehl-v-city-of-naperville-ilnd-2012.