Fine for golf cart operator upheld

By: 
Larry Limpf

Paying a fine and court costs on the same day he was sentenced for unlawfully operating a golf cart appears to have cost an Ottawa County man a chance at winning an appeal.
The Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals has dismissed as moot an appeal filed by David Reed who had been found guilty in Ottawa County Municipal Court of operating an under-speed vehicle in violation of state law.
Reed was stopped on April 2, 2019 by a Marblehead police officer while driving a golf cart on Memorial Shoreway.
On Oct. 25, the court set a fine of $10 and court costs, resulting in a total sanction of $125. According to court records, he paid the fine and costs the same day.
He filed a notice of appeal on Nov. 8 but did not file a motion to stay the sentence in the trial court or with the appeals court.
In his appeal, Reed argued the municipal court erred in its application of state law by applying it to a private roadway.
“Under Ohio law, an appeal from a misdemeanor conviction is moot if the defendant voluntarily serves the sentence unless the defendant demonstrates that he will suffer some collateral disability or loss of civil rights arising from the conviction,” the appeals court wrote. “Reed devotes his brief to arguing that the road on which he was stopped and cited was a private road, not a public road, and that Ohio Revised Code 4511.214 does not apply to private roads. He does not, however, argue that he has any stake – substantial or otherwise – in his conviction that would allow him to pursue his moot appeal. And when the city (Port Clinton) raised the issue of mootness in its brief, Reed did not file a reply brief pointing out a collateral disability of loss of civil rights that accompanies his conviction.”
ORC 4511.214 states:
“(1) No person shall operate a low-speed vehicle upon any street or highway having an established speed limit greater than thirty-five miles per hour.
(2) No person shall operate an under-speed or utility vehicle or a mini-truck upon any street or highway except as follows:
(a) Upon a street or highway having an established speed limit not greater than thirty-five miles per hour and only upon such streets or highways where a local authority has granted permission for such operation in accordance with section 4511.215 of the Revised Code;
(b) A state park or political subdivision employee or volunteer operating a utility vehicle exclusively within the boundaries of state parks or political subdivision parks for the operation or maintenance of state or political subdivision park facilities.”

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