Persons who contest a notice of violation and are adjudicated by the court to be responsible for the civil fine may appeal the adjudication for a trial de novo to the circuit court of the county in which the district or municipal court is located, using the procedures that apply to criminal convictions with the following qualifications:
(1) The proceedings shall retain their civil nature on appeal with the circuit court applying the preponderance of the evidence standard.
(2) The person appealing must, as a condition precedent to appeal, pay the civil fine in full, and failure to do so shall divest the circuit court of jurisdiction. If on appeal the circuit court finds that the person is not responsible for payment of the civil fine, the county or municipality shall refund the same without interest within 15 days of receipt of notice of the disposition from the circuit court. If the person is adjudicated by the circuit court to be responsible for payment of the civil fine, then no additional fine may be imposed by the circuit court, but court costs of the circuit court shall be owed by the person adjudicated responsible with 100 percent of the court costs retained by the circuit court. Court costs in the circuit court shall be calculated as are court costs for criminal appeals from the district or municipal court, and in the event the circuit court finds the person appealing not to be responsible, no court costs shall be owed by the county or municipal board of education.
(3) Regardless of the civil nature of the proceedings, the circuit court, in its discretion and for its administrative convenience, may assign case numbers as for criminal appeals and place the appeals on criminal dockets in the same manner as criminal appeals from a district or municipal court.
Last modified: May 3, 2021