When St. Paul residents go to the polls on Tuesday, they’ll find a question on their ballot asking them whether to amend the city’s charter — which is akin to a municipal constitution — to allow for new forms of non-criminal penalties known as administrative citations.

If approved, the city council would have the authority to propose fine ladders for violations of city ordinances. The charter amendment does not spell out any particulars around the size of the penalty or the type of ordinance violation that would trigger a civil fine.

Instead, each type of administrative citation would be presented as its own ordinance amendment to city code, and get its own individual public hearing prior to a council vote in the months to come.

Officials with the mayor’s office, the city council, St. P

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