Thompson, Johnny-CS 881031 MEMORANDUM
October 31, 1988 FiLE COPY
TO: Mayor and City Council _~
FROM: Alan D. Ratliff, City Manager
SUBJECT: Thompson Case, #10038
REF: Construction of Mouse Without Permit
As most of you are aware, the City Building Code Enforcement
Department had cited Mr. Johnny Thompson for continuing to
construct his home within the City of Coppell without a
building permit. Mr. Thompson had argued that the property
was not within the City. As you may recall from information
previously submitted to you, City Attorney Larry Jackson
researched the case and rendered an opinion that, in fact,
the land was within the City. Mr. Thompson pleaded "not
guilty" to the case and asked for a h~nring before Judg~
Donald Stevenson. The code enforcement officer presented
our case and Mr. Thompson presented his case in which he
based his defense on the premise that the property was not
within the City. Judge Stevenson was advised by the code
enforcement officer that City Attorney Larry Jackson had
researched the matter and had rendered an opinion that the
property was within the City. Judge Stevenson did not
immediately rule on the case but took it under advisement.
Monday morning we received notice that Judge Stevenson had
found Mr. Thompson not guilty and had dismissed the charges.
Chief Building Official Dale Jackson and I jointly held a
telephone conference call with Judge Stevenson for the
purpose of understanding the ruling. Judge Stevenson stated
that he felt there was some doubt in his mind whether or not
Mr. Thompson's property was in the City since Mr. Thompson
had shown him several documents which allegedly supported
the fact that his property was not in the City. Judge
Stevenson explained that he did not consider the code
FL, T -_L gED TO
Mayor and City Council
Page 2
October 31, 1988
enforcement officer's statement as evidence to the contrary.
Judge Stevenson said that Larry Jackson would have to have
been in court to testify for him to consider Mr. Jackson's
opinion.
This case raises an issue which was raised several weeks ago
when I found that the City has not been represented by a
prosecutor in municipal cases unless there is a trial by
jury. I have been told that we have not used a prosecutor
for quite some time and Judge Stevenson generally handles
the court cases without a prosecutor. In speaking with
Larry Jackson he has confirmed this information and stated
it was a matter of policy and is handled in this manner in
order to save money. This policy may create difficulty for
us in cases such as Mr. Thompsons. Staff must then attempt
to use somewhat arbitrary judgement to decide whether to ask
for Mr. Jackson to serve as prosecutor on selected cases.
Your suggestions, comments, or recommendations in this
matter are solicited.
Insofar as Mr. Thompson's case, the City can and will file
additional charges against Mr. Thompson should he attempt to
continue with his building project without obtaining a
building permit or waiver of these requirements.
ADR/dgc
xc: Larry Jackson, City Attorney
Frank Trando, Deputy City Manager
Dale Jackson, Chief Building Official
Sue Norris, Municipal Court Clerk Supervisor
THOMPSON.MEM