Franklin
County maintains a vigilant position against any and all
unsportsmanlike behavior and all volunteers and officials in the
Recreation programs, sponsored or co-sponsored, must have clean
records with regards to sexual crimes and crimes against
children. Sportsmanlike and positive behavior is expected al
all programs, events and on all facilities controlled or used by
the County of Franklin's Parks and Recreation Department.
Negative behavior such as physical misconduct, derogatory language
or negative cheering will be addressed by Department personnel in
a fashion to insure that it is not repeated and shall include, if
necessary, law enforcement action. Parks and Recreation
staff has the authority to implement disciplinary actions as
warranted, including the right to halt and/or delay a program or
event, request law enforcement support, as well as ejecting
suspending or banning individuals where persons are not acting in
a civil manner reflective of a positive sports environment or have
documented examples of conviction(s) of sex or child abuse,
contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and/or felony
conviction of a serious nature, including the following as
contained in Title 18.2 of the Code of Virginia as may be
amended or equivalent offenses in another state:
1. Crimes Against The Person
a. Murder or Manslaughter
b. Malicious wounding by mob
c. Abduction
d. Felony Assault and Bodily Wounding
e. Robbery
f. Carjacking
g. Extortion and other threats
h. Sexual Assault
i. Felony Stalking
j. Any other felonies against the person as defined by the Code
of Virginia
k. Convictions of any attempts or conspiracies to commit any
of the aforesaid crimes
2. Crimes Against Property
a. Felony Arson
b. Burglary
c. Convictions of any attempts or conspiracies to commit any
of the aforesaid crimes
3. Crimes Involving Health and Safety
a. Felony violation relating to the possession or
distribution of drugs within five (5) years
b. Drive-by shooting
c. Use of a machine gun in a crime of violence
d. Aggressive use of a machine gun
e. Use of a sawed off shotgun in crime of violence
f. Felonious discharge of firearms within or at occupied
dwellings
4. Crimes Involving Morals and Decency
a. Failing to secure medical attention for injured child
b. Pandering
c. Crimes against nature involving children
d. Taking indecent liberties with children
e. Abuse and neglect of children
f. Obscenity offenses
g. Possession of child pornography or electronic
facilitation of pornography
h. Incest
i. Abuse and neglect of incapacitated adults
j. Employing or permitting a minor to assist in an act
constituting an obscenity offense
k. Convictions of any attempts or conspiracies to commit any
of the aforesaid crimes
5. Crimes Against Minors
Any conviction for a crime against a person or property of a
minor, felony or misdemeanor, inclusive
of the crimes set forth above.
The
following disciplinary actions address the behavior from
spectators, players and officials in or around the specific
program or facility. All disciplinary actions shall rollover
into subsequent seasons and/or programs.
A. Ejection - An ejection is the immediate removal of
an individual by staff (full and/or part-time personnel)
from
a Franklin
County sponsored or co-sponsored event/facility, due to
misconduct. The individual is
required to leave
the immediate
programmed facility for the remainder of the days/evenings
activities.
"Facility" shall include all
area immediately
surrounding the area where the specified program is
underway,
which shall be defined as the total leased area
if private property and eased by the County,
or the total area
controlled by the County for the purpose of the event
as with school property. Once
removed, the individual may
not have any further involvement with the program for
that day.
B. Suspension - A suspension is a prohibition of a
person from participation for an allotted amount of time
in any Franklin
County sponsored or co-sponsored activity for the time
prescribed. Per the discretion of
the Parks and
Recreation
Department, those suspended may come to an event only in a
spectator
capacity and not have
and specific
interaction with the program. A suspension does not have to
be
preceded by an ejection. Individuals who
merit
suspension, may be notified by and delivery via the
Franklin
County Sheriff's Department.
C. Ban - A ban is a prohibition of a person from
participation and attendance for an extended amount of
time from
any Franklin
County sponsored or co-sponsored activity. A ban is normally
given in extreme
cases of misconduct and/or
a
documented record of criminal convictions (including plea
bargaining) of a
crime involving a minor; or other
felony convictions
of a serious nature that are crimes set forth in
Section I of this
document. A ban can be 3 to 5 years or longer in
duration, and shall be at the
discretion of the County.
Re-entry into an activity after a ban shall require a personal
interview with and
approved by the Director of Parks and
Recreation or his/her agent, prior to resumption of the
activity.
D. Appeals Process - An appeal of disciplinary action
will be accepted in situations that warrant more
than a 2 game
suspension. The appeal must be delivered in written form to
the Parks and Recreation
offices, addressed to the
Recreation
Programs Manager or his/her designee. The player/s, coach/s,
spectator/s or others that request the
appeal will
remain in the suspended state until the Parks and
Recreation
Director acts on the appeal. The Director's decision on
the appeal is final and the
requesting party can make no other
appeal. All appeals must be received within 3
business days of
the initial decision regarding suspensions or
bans. Penalties that cannot be appealed would
include
any conviction of crimes against children, felony
convictions which are set forth in Section I of this
document,
falsification/fraud of criminal record documentation and
firearm/weapon possession.
E. Probationary & Banishment Periods - A
probationary period is an amount of time that one is
evaluated by
the Parks and
Recreation Department to determine whether any further misconduct
occurs by a given individual, with
the result
of additional infractions being a "second offense,"
warranting
a ban from Franklin County activities
a defined. Both the probationary and banishment periods are
one
year from the point of any
suspension/infraction to the ending
date of the sponsored or co-sponsored
program/event in question
for the following season. The Department
shall reserve the right to extend
any suspensions or banishment
periods based upon discovered behaviors
during or prior to the
suspension or banishment periods,
regardless of whether the offense is a first or subsequent
infraction.
Misconduct
by players, coaches, spectators or officials will not be tolerated
in any form. Misconduct can be defined as, but not limited
to, improper gesturing; aggressive and negative verbal chanting,
negative cheering or shouting; any form of aggressive and
unnecessary physical contacts; the use of alcohol, smoke or
smokeless tobacco and illegal substances at recreation
events. Founded misconduct will result in the following
actions and/or penalties:
1. Non Physical Misconduct:
The use of obscene/negative gestures or verbal abuse not limited
to threats, obscene language,
harassment, and aggressive/derogatory behavior towards an official, coach,
player, spectator or
supervisory personnel. There shall be an automatic 2 game "suspension" for the first
offense;
thereafter, a second offense shall constitute a
"ban" from the sponsored or co-sponsored
activity/program as described
above.
2. Physical Misconduct:
Anyone using aggressive or improper misconduct such as
striking, pushing or touching in an
aggressive manner will be subject to disciplinary action. Anyone fighting before,
during or after a
sponsored or co-sponsored event/game will be banned from all County programs for up to
five (5)
years. The game officials and supervisory
personnel's report will determine the length and severity of
the
penalty. All pertinent laws and regulations of both the
State and County shall take precedent in
these matters.
3. Illegal Substances, Alcohol and Tobacco
Products:
If anyone is found to have either in his/her possession or
have used illegal substances or alcohol in
the context of a Franklin County recreational sponsored or co-sponsored event,
program or facility,
that individual shall be banned for a minimum of a period of one year for the first offense as defined
in
II (F), or extended periods dependant upon disciplinary actions taken by the legal authorities.
To enhance a positive, healthy environment for our children and to
reduce their exposure to
second-hand smoke, the use of tobacco products shall be prohibited in and around the
immediate
area of any youth related program or events. This shall include playing areas, dugouts, along
fence-lines or sidelines, spectator areas, inside gymnasiums and program areas. Smoking is
allowable in
outdoor parking areas unless children's programs have been scheduled in that location.
4. Firearms:
Neither firearms nor concealed weapons may be taken into any
County sponsored or co-sponsored
activity/facility (unless by official capacity). The penalty for such an
infraction shall be a one (1) year
ban exclusive of other prosecution as may be required.
5. School Related Misconduct:
If a child has disciplinary action taken against him/her at
his/her respective school, then the term of
that penalty shall be enforced as well with the Parks and Recreation
Department. If one receives in or
out of school suspension that individual shall be prohibited from participating in any
sponsored or
co-sponsored program for the same time period. Likewise, if any adult or child has disciplinary
action
taken against him/her by either Franklin County or neighboring school or governmental system (public
or private),
that penalty shall carryover into Parks and
Recreation activities.
6. Criminal Background:
If it is determined that an individual has a criminal history
to include but not be limited to crimes
against children, sexual harassment, spousal abuse or any other felony convictions
as defined in
Section I above (whether or not plea bargained), the Director of Parks and Recreation Department,
can
at his/her discretion, ban such individual(s) from volunteering or working in the Parks and Recreation
sponsored
or co-sponsored programs. The person can be banned from the programs for a period of 3
to 5 years.
All other convictions or pending charges (excluding crimes against
minors) revealed through a
background check shall be considered on a case by case basis to determine whether
or not the past
conduct of the volunteer is compatible with working with juveniles. The Department
Director, in
consultation with the County Attorney, shall determine whether such information disqualifies the
individual
from working or volunteering in Parks and Recreation sponsored or co-sponsored programs.
Among factors that may be considered in deciding whether and
individual should be permitted to
volunteer, consideration may be given to the nature and character of the past
conduct; how the past
conduct relates to the particular functions of the volunteer's job; the length of time
since the offending
conduct; rehabilitation of the individual; if applicable; the volunteer's performance record; and
how such
conduct affects the integrity of the program. The volunteer shall be given the opportunity to
provide
evidence of any mitigating circumstances prior to a decision being made concerning the volunteer's
qualifications
for service. Any pending charges, felony or misdemeanor, against minors, shall render
the individual
ineligible unless or until such charges are subsequently dismissed or the individual is
found not guilty. Failure to
provide accurate information on the application when applying for either a
volunteer or a paid position shall warrant
the dismissal of said individual.
Each new coach recruited by the Parks and Recreation Department,
and/or contract and part time
employees will be subject to a criminal background check. He or she will be
asked to authorize the
Department to access the information. The coach or employee will be in a probationary
period until
the background check is complete. If the background check shows a history of convictions, which
may
negatively influence the safety of recreation sponsored or co-sponsored program participants, the
coach or
employee, will be removed from the position.
