VILLAGE OF MENDON

COUNTY OF ST. JOSEPH

STATE OF MICHIGAN

PROPOSED ORDINANCE

AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND ORDINANCE 87 TO DEFINE, REGULATE, CONTROL AND PROHIBIT DISORDERLY CONDUCT; TO PROVIDE FOR THE ENFORCEMENT AND IMPOSITION OF PUNISHMENT FOR VIOLATION OF THE ORDINANCE.

THE VILLAGE OF MENDON ORDAINS:

WHEREAS, the Village of Mendon (“Village”) seeks to maintain peace and order in the Village and finds it necessary to prohibit Disorderly Conduct

NOW, THEREFORE, THE VILLAGE OF MENDON ORDAINS AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1: DEFINITIONS:

  1. The term “public place” as used in this Chapter shall mean any street, alley, park, public building, or any place of business, grounds, parking lot, area or assembly in the City, which is open to or frequented by the public.
  2. The term “public view” shall mean within the plain view of persons who are in or upon any public place.

Section 2:  ACTS PROHIBITED: No person shall:

  1. Violate any statute of the state of Michigan;
  2. Be drunk or intoxicated or under the influence of any narcotic drug in any public place;
  3. Engage in any indecent, insulting, immoral, or obscene conduct in or on any public place or within the public view;
  4. Assault any person in a public place;
  5. Fire, discharge, display, or possess any fireworks, except those which are permitted by State law and the provisions of this Code;
  6. Throw any object at any vehicle which is traveling, parked or standing in any public place;
  7. Trespass about any public place or upon any property which is not his own without the knowledge and consent of the owner of the property;
  8. Do or engage in window peeping;
  9. Beg in any public place;
  10. Swim or bathe in the nude in any public place;
  11. Utter vulgar or obscene language in any public place;
  12. Engage in fortune telling or pretend to tell fortunes for hire, gain, reward, or profit;
  13. Make any immoral exhibition or indecent exposure of his or her person in or on any public place or within the public view;
  14. Publish, sell, offer for sale, give away, exhibit or possess for such purpose any obscene, indecent, or immoral book, pamphlet, paper, picture, statuary, image, or representation;
  15. Willfully destroy, damage, or in any manner deface any property not his own; or any public school building or part, equipment, or furnishings thereof or therein or any public or private building or part, equipment, or furnishings thereof or therein, or any bridge, fire hydrant, alarm box, street light, street sign, parking meter, or shade trees belonging to the City or located in the public places of the City; or mark or post handbills on or in any manner mar the walls of any public building, or fence, tree, or pole within the City; or destroy, take or meddle with any property belonging to the City or remove the same from the building or place where it may be kept, placed, or stored, without authority from the City Commission or other authorized official custodian of said property; 
  16. Insult, accost, molest, or otherwise annoy any person in any public place, either by word of mouth, sign, or motion; 
  17. Engage in any disturbance, fight, or dispute in a public place; 
  18. Collect or stand in crowds, or arrange, encourage, or abet the collection of persons in crowds in any public place for illegal purposes; 
  19. Jostle or roughly crowd persons in any public place; 
  20. Loiter on any street or sidewalk or in any park or public building or conduct himself in any public place as to obstruct the free and uninterrupted passage of the public; 
  21. Permit any child under the age of ten (10) years to remain unattended in any house, room, structure, or automobile in the Village, while the person who should be attending to such child is present at, or loitering in or about any place where beer, wine, or spirits are sold and consumed on the premises; 
  22. Attend, frequent, operate, or be an occupant of any place where prostitution, gambling, the illegal sale of intoxicating liquor, or any other illegal or immoral business or occupation is permitted or conducted; 
  23. Solicit or accost any person for the purpose of inducing the commission of any illegal, indecent, immoral, or depraved act; 
  24. Knowingly transport any person to a place where prostitution or gambling is practiced, encouraged, allowed, or any illegal, indecent, immoral or depraved act practiced, encouraged or allowed; 
  25. Keep or maintain a gaming room, gaming tables, or any policy or pool tickets, used for gaming, or knowingly suffer a gaming room, gaming tables, or any policy or pool tickets to be kept, maintained, played, or sold on any premises occupied or controlled by him; 
  26. Disturb the public peace and quiet by loud, boisterous, or vulgar conduct; 
  27. Obstruct, resist, hinder, or oppose any member of the police force, or any peace officer in the discharge of his duties as such; 
  28. Be a vagrant; 
  29. Make or incite any disturbance or contention in any tavern, restaurant, store, grocery, drive-in business, manufacturing establishment, or any other business place, or any street, lane, alley, highway, public building, grounds, or park, or at any election or other public meeting where citizens are peaceably and lawfully assembled; 
  30. Throw, dump, spill, place, or deposit bottles, ashes, gravel, paper, rubbish, or garbage, or cause the same to be done, in any street or public place or on the shore of or in any body of water in the Village; 
  31. Play any ball game in any public street or sidewalk or otherwise obstruct traffic on any street or sidewalk by collecting groups thereon, for any purpose; 
  32. Summon, as a joke or prank or otherwise without any good reason therefore, by telephone or otherwise, the Police or Fire Department or any public or private ambulance to go to any address where the service called for is not needed, or otherwise misuse the 911 Communication System; 
  33. Making a false report, by telephone or otherwise, to any public official which may be reasonably expected to cause the evacuation or closing of a building or place open to the public;
  34. Take or steal any money, goods, chattels, or other things belonging to another, having a value of two hundred ($200.00) dollars or less. 

SECTION 3: DISORDERLY CONDUCT: 

  1. The doing of any act prohibited by this Chapter shall constitute disorderly conduct and shall be a violation of this Code. Any person who engages in or does any of the acts so prohibited shall be deemed to be a disorderly person. 

SECTION 4: VIOLATION: 

Any violation of this Ordinance shall be a municipal civil infraction, except where a specific violation is designated a misdemeanor, and shall be subject to the following penalties:

  1. Municipal Civil Infraction Penalties (Civil Fines):
    1. A person found responsible for a municipal civil infraction shall be subject to a civil fine in accordance with the following schedule, plus costs of up to Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) and any mandatory statutory assessments:
      1. First Offense: A civil fine of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).
      2. Second Offense: A civil fine of Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) if the second offense occurs within a defined period (e.g., 24 months) of the first offense.
      3. Third and Subsequent Offenses: A civil fine of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) if the offense occurs within a 12 months of the immediately preceding offense.
  2. Misdemeanor Penalties (Criminal Sanction):
    1. Notwithstanding the civil infraction penalties above, any violation of this Ordinance may be deemed a misdemeanor punishable by:
      1. Imprisonment for not more than ninety (90) days, or
      2. A fine of not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or
      3. Both such fine and imprisonment.
  3. Designation as Misdemeanor:
    1. Any authorized Village official or prosecutor may elect to charge an individual with a misdemeanor violation under Subsection 2 instead of a municipal civil infraction under Subsection 1 in cases involving:
      1. A third or subsequent violation of this Ordinance.
      2. Any violation that constitutes an immediate and serious threat to the public health, safety, or welfare.
      3. Any violation that is a criminal offense under state statute.

SECTION 5. REPEAL: All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with this ordinance are hereby declared repealed to the extent of such conflict.

 

SECTION 6. SEVERABILITY: If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this ordinance is, for any reason, held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance.

 

SECTION 7: IMMEDIATE EFFECT:

 

This Ordinance is declared to have immediate effect.