The city of Sedona is taking steps to ensure that those who violate city code are all but guaranteed to receive their citations.

Sedona City Council unanimously approved on Oct. 27 an ordinance amending Sedona City Code to allow for service of a civil code violation citation by posting the citation on the affected property when both hand-delivered attempts and service by certified mail have failed.

According to new City Attorney Kurt Christianson, current attempts to enforce civil city code violations have been hampered by the inability to serve defen­dants notices of violations.

The amendment to city code resolves concerns by requiring city staff hand deliver violations when possible, followed by service by certified mail with a return receipt requested, and finally by allowing the citation to be posted on the property if the certified mail is not delivered.

Now, defendants will have the cita­tion hand delivered and asked to sign the citation with the promise to appear on or before the date specified on the citation.

If a defendant refuses to sign the citation, the citation can be delivered by certified mail with a return receipt requested. Finally, if the certified mail is undeliverable, a copy of the citation shall be posted on the home in a conspicuous location.

Code enforcement will photograph the citation on the home to assist in prosecu­tion, if needed.

“The defendants will often rip it down,” Christianson said. “They [code enforce­ment] will often go back a few days or a week later and if it’s gone they just post it again. All of that would be used as evidence for the court. It actually helps if it’s ripped down and it’s posted again because it shows that someone’s taken it down. It shows someone is receiving the notice.”

If the code violator does not appear in court, the court may enter a default judge­ment, which constitutes an admission of guilt. The court can then impose a civil sanction not to exceed $2,500.