Spartanburg County imposes new false alarm ordinance
By SSN Staff
Updated Tue November 17, 2009
SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C.--A Nov. 16 story from GoUpstate.com reported businesses and residents who use alarm systems in unincorporated Spartanburg County have until the first of the year to register with the county government under the new false alarm ordinance.
The ordinance, which went into effect in August, gave a 90-day deadline to register to most alarm system users, though the county doesn't plan on enforcing that until Jan. 1, 2010. At that time, the owner of any alarm generating an emergency response that is not registered will be cited and subject to a $250 fine and/or 30 days in jail.
Registration can be done from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays at the county administration offices. Registration forms and brochures are available on the county's Web site at www.spartanburgcounty.org.
The new ordinance has the following fine schedule for falses in a six-month period: First and second offense: no penalty; third, fourth and fifth offense: $50; sixth and seventh offense: $100; eighth and ninth offense: $200; 10 or more offenses: $500. In addition to the nonregistration fine and the regular fine schedule, the ordinance has a $100 service charge if the person responsible for an alarm doesn't arrive on the premises within one hour of being notified by law enforcement or emergency responders of an alarm activation.
The fine schedule is the same for residential and nonresidential alarm users.
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