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WALKER v. CITY OF MONTGOMERY12/20/1996
statute, because, he says, the ordinance was not amended to reflect the amendments to § 32-5A-191 enacted after the adoption of ordinance no. 125-79. After a review of the record, we see that the uniform traffic ticket and complaint, the charging instrument, specifically charged the appellant with violating one of those sections of § 32-5A-191 that was adopted after the effective date of ordinance no. 125-79.
The appellant strongly argues that because the Montgomery ordinance has not been amended to include any of the amendments to § 32-5A-191 enacted after its effective date, the conviction should be reversed. He further contends that when he entered his guilty plea, he should have been sentenced pursuant to section 4 of ordinance no. 125-79. Section 1-8 of the Montgomery Municipal Code clearly indicates that " ny person or corporation committing an offense within the corporate limits of the City of Montgomery, Alabama, or within the police jurisdiction thereof, which is declared by a law or laws of the State of Alabama now existing or hereafter enacted to be a violation, shall be guilty of an offense against the City." (Emphasis added.)
The language of section 1-8 clearly indicates that any amendments to the state statutes are to be encompassed in the ordinance; therefore, the appellant's sentence, imposed pursuant to § 32-5A-191, was appropriate. This section allows a municipality to charge persons who have committed a misdemeanor, as that term is defined by state law, without having to formally adopt that state law as an ordinance of the city. See Thornell v. City of Montgomery, 695 So.2d 253 (Ala. Cr. App. 1996).
The appellant was correctly sentenced, and the Circuit Court for Montgomery County had jurisdiction to impose sentence on the appellant pursuant to his plea of guilty to the charge of driving under the influence .
This case is due to be, and is hereby, affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
All the Judges concur.
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