Chapter XI – Public Offenses

CHAPTER XI.  PUBLIC OFFENSES

Article 1. Uniform Offense Code

Article 2. Local Regulations

Article 3. Juvenile Curfew

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ARTICLE 1.  UNIFORM OFFENSE CODE

11-101.         INCORPORATING UNIFORM PUBLIC OFFENSE CODE.  There is hereby incorporated by reference for the purpose of regulating public offenses within the corporate limits of the City of Jetmore, Kansas, that certain code known as the “Uniform Public Offense Code,” Edition of 2017 (hereafter “UPOC”), prepared and published in book form by the League of Kansas Municipalities, Topeka, Kansas. No fewer than three copies of said Uniform Public Offense Code shall be marked or stamped “Official Copy as Adopted by Ordinance 653”, and to which shall be attached a copy of this ordinance, and filed with the City Clerk to be open to inspection and available to the public at all reasonable hours.                                                           (Ord. 602, Sec. 1:15; Code 2015; Ord. 653)

ARTICLE 2.  LOCAL REGULATIONS

11-201.                         GLASS BEVERAGE CONTAINERS.  (a)  It shall be unlawful to use or possess any glass beverage container on or upon the area within the City of Jetmore, commonly known as the Hodgeman County Fairgrounds and the Baseball/Softball Complex and the portion of Atkin Street and any other roadway or path that is in contact with either facility

(b)       Any person violating section (a) shall be subject to a fine of not more than $50.00.(Ord. 559, Sec. 1:2; Code 2015)

11-202.                         SPITTING ON SIDEWALK. It shall be unlawful for any person to deposit any sputum, saliva, or mucus upon any public property. (Ord. 141, Sec. 44; Code 2015)

11-203.                         DISTURBING THE PEACE.  (a)  It shall be unlawful for any person to make, continue, maintain or cause to be made or continued any excessive, unnecessary, unreasonable or unusually loud noise which either annoys, disrupts, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of others with the City.

(b)       No person operating or occupying a motor vehicle on a street, highway, alley, parking lot or driveway, whether public or private property, shall operate or permit the operation of any sound amplification system from with the vehicle so that the sound is plainly audible at a distance of fifty (50) feet or more from the vehicle.

(1)                “Sound amplification system” means any radio, tape player, compact disc player, loud speaker, or any other electronic device used for the amplification of sound.

(2)                “Plainly audible” means any sound produced by a sound amplification system from within the vehicle, which clearly can be heard at a distance of fifty (50) feet or more. Measurement standards shall be by the auditory senses, based on direct line of sight. Words and phrases need not be discernible and bass reverberations are included. The motor vehicle may be stopped, standing, parked or moving on a street, highway, alley, parking lot, or driveway, on either public or private property.

(3)                It is an affirmative defense to this section that the operator was not otherwise prohibited by law from operating the sound amplification system, and that any of the following apply:

(A) The system was being operated to request medical or vehicular assistance or to warn of a hazardous road condition;

(B) The vehicle was an emergency or public vehicle;

(C) The vehicle was owned and operated by the City of Jetmore or a gas, electric, communications, or refuse company; or

(D) The system or vehicle was used in authorized public activities, such as parades, fireworks displays, sporting events, and other activities conducted by Unified School District No. 227, Hodgeman County, Kansas, any service organization as annual event promoting the City of Jetmore, the Hodgeman County Fair Association at the Fairgrounds in the City of Jetmore, Kansas, or such other activities representative of the City as a whole which have the prior approval of the City Clerk, City Administrator, or the Governing Body of the City of Jetmore, Kansas.

(c)    Any person convicted of a violation of this chapter shall be deemed guilty of a Class C misdemeanor and punished by a fine of not more than $500.00 or by imprisonment for not more than thirty (30) days or by both such fine and imprisonment. (Ord. 589; Code 2015)

ARTICLE 3.  JUVENILE CURFEW

11-301.                         PURPOSE.  This section is enacted to protect, preserve, and promote the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens through the reduction, control, and prevention of loud and raucous noise, or any noise which unreasonably disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of reasonable persons or ordinary sensitivity. (Ord. 569, Sec. 2:7; Code 2015)

11-302.                         DEFINITIONS.  For the purposes of the section the following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meaning given herein.  When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future, words in the plural number include the singular and words in the singular number include the plural.  The word “shall” is always mandatory and not merely directory.

(a)       Emergency means an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action.  The term includes, but is not limited to, a fire, natural disaster, or automobile accident, or any situation requiring immediate action to prevent serious bodily injury or loss of life.

(b)       Establishment means any privately-owned place of business operated for a profit to which the public is invited, including but not limited to any place of amusement or entertainment.

(c)       Juvenile or minor is any unemancipated, unmarried, person under the age of seventeen (17) or, in equivalent phrasing often herein employed, any person sixteen (16) or less years of age.

(d)       Operator is any individual, firm, association, partnership, or corporation operating, managing, or conducting any establishment.  The term includes the members or partners of an association or partnership and the officers of a corporation.

(e)       Parent or guardian means: (1) a person who is a juvenile’s biological or adoptive parent and who has legal or physical custody of that juvenile, and may include both parents, if custody is shared under a court order or agreement; (2) a step-parent; (3) a person that has been judicially appointed as the legal guardian of the juvenile; or (4) a person eighteen (18) years of age or older standing in loco parentis (as indicated by the authorization of an individual listed in part(s) (1), (2), or (3) of this definition, above, for the person to assume the care or physical custody of the juvenile).

(f)        Public Place means any place to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access and includes, but is not limited to, streets, sidewalks, rights of way, schools, shopping centers, parking lots, parks, playgrounds, transportation facilities, theaters, restaurants, shops, bowling alleys, taverns, cafes, arcades, and similar areas that are open to the use of the public. (Ord. 569, Sec. 2:7; Code 2015)

11-303.                         CURFEW FOR JUVENILES.  It is unlawful for a juvenile to be in a public place within the City of Jetmore, to be in any motor vehicle operating or parked in a public place, or to be in or on the premises of any establishment within as follows:

(a)       During the months spanning from September 1 through May 31 of the following year, juveniles may not be in a public place, as described above, during the hours of:

(1)                Midnight through 6:00 a.m. on Monday through Friday, and

(2)                1:00 a.m. through 6:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

(b)       During the months spanning from June 1 through August 31 juveniles may not be in a public place, as described above, during the hours of 1:00 a.m. through 6:00 a.m. any day of the week.

(c)       Holidays.  During the months spanning September 1 through May 31 of the following year, on weekdays when the local public school system is not in session, the curfew hours will be from 1:00 a.m. through 6:00 a.m., just as if the holiday were a Saturday or Sunday. (Ord. 569, Sec. 2:7; Code 2015)

11-304.                         EXCEPTIONS.  The following shall constitute valid exceptions to the operation of the Section:

(a)       When a juvenile is accompanied by a parent of that juvenile.

(b)       When a juvenile is accompanied by an adult authorized by a parent of that juvenile to take the parent’s place in accompanying the juvenile for a designated period of time and purpose within a specified area.

(c)       When the juvenile is on an errand as directed by the parent and the juvenile has in his or her possession a writing signed by the parent or guardian containing the following information:  the name, signature, address and telephone number of the parent or guardian authorizing the errand, the telephone number where the parent or guardian may be reached during the errand, the name of the juvenile, a brief description of the errand, the juvenile’s destination(s), and the hours the juvenile is authorized to be engaged in the errand.

(d)       When a juvenile is exercising First Amendment rights protected by the United States Constitution, such as the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech and the right of assembly, by first delivering to the person designated by the sheriff to receive such information a written communication, signed by the juvenile and countersigned, if practicable, by a parent of the juvenile with their home address and telephone number, specifying when, where and in what manner the juvenile will be in a public place during hours when the article is applicable to said minor in the specifying when, where and in what manner the juvenile will be in a public place during hours when the article is applicable to said minor in the exercise of a First Amendment right specified in such communication.

(e)       In case of reasonable necessity for the juvenile remaining in a public place but only after the juvenile’s parent has communicated to the sheriff or the person designated by the sheriff to receive such notifications the facts establishing the reasonable necessity relating to a specified public place at a designated time for a described purpose including points of origin and destination.  A copy of the communication, or of the police record thereof, duly certified by the sheriff to be correct, with an appropriate notation of the time it was received and of the names and addresses of the parent and juvenile, shall be admissible evidence.

(f)        When a juvenile is on the sidewalk or property where the juvenile resides, or on either side of or across the street from the place where the juvenile resides and the adult owner or resident of that property has given permission for the juvenile to be there.

(g)       When a juvenile is returning home by a direct route (without any unnecessary detour or stop) from and within one (1) hour of the termination of a school activity or an activity of a religious or other voluntary association, or a place of public entertainment, such as a movie, play or sporting event.  If the event is not commercial in nature or does not have a fixed, publicly known time at which it will or does end, the sponsoring organization must register the event with the sheriff (or his or her assigned representative) at least twenty-four (24) hours in advance, informing the Police Department of the time that such event is scheduled to begin, the place at which it shall be held, the time at which it shall end, and the name of the sponsoring organization.

(h)       When authorized, by special permit from the sheriff carried on the person of the juvenile thus authorized, as follows:  When necessary nighttime activities of a juvenile may be inadequately provided for by other provisions of this article, then recourse may be had to the sheriff, either for a regulation as provided in subsection (1) or for a special permit as the circumstances warrant.  Upon the findings of reasonable necessity for the use of a public place to the extent warranted by a written application signed by a juvenile and by a parent of the juvenile, if feasible, stating (1) the name, age and address of the juvenile; (2) the name, address, and telephone number of a parent thereof; (3) the height, weight, sec, color of eyes and hair and other physical characteristics of the juvenile; (4) the necessity that requires the juvenile to remain upon a public place during the curfew hours otherwise applicable; (5) the public place; and (6) the beginning and ending of the period of time involved by date and hour, the sheriff may grant a permit in writing for the juvenile’s use of a public place at such hours as in the opinion of the sheriff may reasonably be necessary and consistent with the purposes of this article. In an emergency this may be handled by telephone or other effective communication, with a corresponding record being made contemporaneously to the sheriff or to the person designated by the sheriff to act on his or her behalf in an emergency, at the police station.

(i)        When authorized, by regulation issued by the sheriff in other similar cases of reasonable necessity, similarly handled but adapted to reasonably necessary night-time activities of more juveniles than can readily be dealt with on an individual special permit basis. Normally such regulation by the sheriff permitting use of public places should be issued sufficiently in advance to permit appropriate publicity through news media and through other agencies such as the schools, and shall define the activity, the scope of the use of the public places permitted, the period of time involved not to extend more than one (1) hour beyond the time for termination of the activity, and the reason for finding that the regulation is reasonably necessary and is consistent with the purposes of this article.

(j)        When the juvenile is legally employed and carries a certified card of employment, renewable each calendar month when the current facts so warrant, dated, or re-issued not more than forty-five (45) days previously, signed by the sheriff and briefly identifying the juvenile, the addresses of the juvenile’s home and of the juvenile’s place of employment, and the juvenile’s hours of employment.

(k)       When the juvenile is, with parental consent, engaged in normal interstate or intrastate travel through the City of originating or terminating in the City.

(l)        When the juvenile is married or has been married pursuant to state law.

(m)      In the case of an operator of an establishment, when the operator has notified the police that a juvenile was present on the premises of the establishment during curfew hours and refused to leave. (Ord. 569, Sec. 2:7; Code 2015)

11-305.                         PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY.  It shall be unlawful for a parent having legal custody of a juvenile knowingly to permit or by inefficient control to allow the juvenile to be in any public place within under circumstances not constituting an exception to, or otherwise beyond the scope of, the Section. The term “knowingly” includes knowledge that a parent should reasonably be expected to have concerning the whereabouts of a juvenile in that parent’s legal custody. This requirement is intended to hold a neglectful or careless parent up to a reasonable community standard of parental responsibility through an objective test.  It shall, therefore, be no defense that a parent was completely indifferent to the activities or conduct or whereabouts of such juvenile. (Ord. 569, Sec. 2:7; Code 2015)

11-306.                         ESTABLISHMENT OPERATOR RESPONSIBILITY.  It shall be unlawful for any operator of an establishment to knowingly permit a juvenile to remain at the establishment under circumstances not constituting an exception to, or otherwise beyond the scope of, the Section. The term “knowingly” includes knowledge that an operator should reasonably be expected to have concerning the patrons of the establishment. The standard for “knowingly” shall be applied through an objective test:  whether a reasonable person in the operator’s position should have known that the patron was a juvenile in violation of this article. (Ord. 569, Sec. 2:7; Code 2015)

11-307.                         VEHICLE OPERATOR RESPONSIBILITIES.  It is unlawful for a person who is the owner or operator of any motor vehicle to knowingly permit, allow or encourage a violation of this article. (Ord. 569, Sec. 2:7; Code 2015)

11-308.                         ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES.  (a)  If a police officer reasonably believes that a juvenile is in a public place in violation of the article, the officer shall notify the person suspected of being a juvenile that the officer believes the person is in violation of the Section and shall require the person to provide his or her name, age, address, telephone number and how to contact his or her parent or guardian.  In determining the age of the suspected juvenile and in the absence of convincing evidence such as a driver’s license, passport, birth certificate, a police officer shall, in the first instance of violation of the Section, use the officer’s best judgment in determining age.

(b)       The police officer shall issue the juvenile a written warning that the juvenile is in violation of the Section and order the juvenile to go promptly home.

(c)       Police procedures shall constantly be refined in the light of experience and may provide that the police officer may transport and deliver a juvenile to a parent or guardian under the appropriate circumstances.

(d)       Notwithstanding paragraph (b) of this Section, when: (i) a juvenile has received one (1) previous written warning for violation of the Section; or (ii) a police officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the juvenile has engaged in delinquent conduct, the procedure shall then be to take the juvenile to the police station where a parent or guardian shall immediately be notified to come for the juvenile whereupon the parent or guardian and the juvenile shall be questioned.  This is intended to permit ascertainment, under constitutional safeguards, of relevant facts, and to centralize responsibility in the person designated there and then on duty for accurate, effective, fair, impartial and uniform enforcement, and recording, thus, making available experienced personnel and access to information and records.

(e)       If a juvenile is detained pursuant to (d), once a parent or guardian has come to take charge of the juvenile, and the appropriate information has been recorded, the juvenile shall be released to the custody of such parent. If the parent cannot be located or fails to take charge of the juvenile, then the juvenile shall be released to the juvenile authorities, except to the extent that in accordance with police regulations, approved in advance by juvenile authorities, the juvenile may temporarily be entrusted to an adult, neighbor or other person who will on behalf of a parent or guardian assume the responsibility of caring for the juvenile pending the availability or arrival of a parent or guardian.

(f)        In the case of a first violation of the article by a juvenile, the sheriff shall by certified mail send to a parent or guardian written notice of the violation with a warning that any subsequent violation will result in full enforcement of the article, including enforcement of parental responsibility and of applicable penalties.

(g)       For the first violation of the article by an operator of an establishment who permits a juvenile to remain on the premises, a police officer shall issue a written notice of the violation with a warning that any subsequent violation will result in full enforcement of this article, including enforcement of operator responsibility and of applicable penalties.

(h)       In any event the police officer shall, within twenty-four (24) hours, file a written report with the sheriff or shall participate to the extent of the information for which he or she is responsible in the preparation of a report on the curfew violation. It is not the intention of the Section to require extensive reports that will prevent police officers from performing their primary police duties. The reports shall be as simple as is reasonably possible and may be completed by policy departmental personnel other than sworn police officers. (Ord. 569, Sec. 2:7; Code 2015)

11-309.                         PENALTIES.  (a)  If, after the warning notice pursuant to Section 11-308 of a first violation by a juvenile, a parent violates Section 11-305 (in connection with a second violation by the juvenile), the parent is guilty of a separate offense for each day or part of a day during which the violation is committed, continued, or permitted. Each offense, upon conviction, is punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.00. The Judge of the Municipal Court of the City, upon finding a parent guilty, shall sentence the parent to pay this fine and the cost of prosecution. However, the sentencing court may suspend imposition of judgment or sentence upon the successful performance of supervised community public service of not less than twenty hours.

(b)       The parent or legal guardian having custody of a juvenile subject to this Section shall be liable for all costs incurred by the City for providing personnel to remain in company of a juvenile who has been detained as a curfew violator if the parent or guardian does not pick up the juvenile within one (1) hour after receiving notice from the City that the City is detaining the juvenile for a curfew violation. The amount to be paid by the parent or guardian shall be based on the hourly wage of the City employee who is assigned to remain with the juvenile plus the costs of benefits for that employee.

(c)       The parent or legal guardian having custody of a juvenile subject to this Section shall be liable for any fine or condition of restitution or reparation imposed by a court upon a curfew violator, provided that the curfew violator has not paid the fine or made restitution or reparation within the time ordered by the court, and further provided that the parent or legal guardian has been made a party defendant in all enforcement proceedings against the curfew violator and shall be served with all citations, summons, complaints, notices, and other documents required to be served on the curfew violator defendant.

(d)       Any juvenile who shall violate any of the provisions of the article more than three times shall be reported by the sheriff to the juvenile authorities as a child in need of care or juvenile offender and the sheriff may proceed to file such charges with the district court as he or she may deem appropriate.

(e)       If, after the warning notice pursuant to Section 11-308 of a violation of the article, an operator is guilty of a separate offense for each day or part of a day during which the violation of 11-306 is committed, continued, or permitted. Each offense, upon conviction, is punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.00. (Ord. 569, Sec. 2:7; Code 2015)

11-310.                         CONTINUING EVALUATION.  The City Council shall continue its evaluation and updating of the article through methods including but not limited to:

(a)       On a regular basis, the City Council shall receive informal reports of all exceptional cases hereunder of reasonable necessity, the notices of school and other activities, the special permits and the regulations authorized above, and the advisory opinions for the consideration by the Council in further updating and continuing evaluation of the article. (Ord. 569, Sec. 2:7; Code 2015)

11-311.                         NOTICE.  Notice of the existence of the article and of the curfew regulation established by it shall be posted in, on or about such public or quasi-public places as may be determined by the city administrator or sheriff in order that the public may constantly be informed of the existence of the article and its regulations. (Ord. 569, Sec. 2:7; Code 2015)