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Clark County passes panhandling ordinance

Revamped law forbids people from soliciting in streets

By Tyler Graf
Published: November 19, 2014, 12:00am

Clark County commissioners Tuesday approved an ordinance explicitly forbidding people from soliciting in streets, following months of discussions and a complete overhaul of what the ordinance originally proposed.

The ordinance, which passed with a 3-0 vote, restricts soliciting money from motorists in public roadways. The purpose of the ordinance, which bars individuals from entering the roadway or stopping traffic to solicit money, is to cut down on those types of monetary transactions for safety reasons.

“We’re trying to manage a transaction that will take place immediately on a traveled part of the roadway,” said Sgt. Randon Walker of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, who first proposed the ordinance and helped draft it.

Drafting a panhandling ordinance stemmed from concerns he’d heard from residents and business owners, Walker said.

Shaping an ordinance that would be constitutional took nearly a year of work.

Much of an early version of the ordinance was scrapped after the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho successfully challenged the legality of a panhandling ordinance in Boise, Idaho. That ordinance closely mirrored what Clark County proposed. But it was deemed overly broad and a violation of the First Amendment protections in publicly owned areas.

The county’s original ordinance restricted solicitation at bank ATMs, in parking lots when people were exiting cars and at bus stops, among other locations that are generally open to the public.

The revamped ordinance only addresses panhandling activity that could affect traffic and safety.

Andy Silver, executive director for the Council for the Homeless, called the new ordinance an improvement over what was originally proposed.

He had participated in early discussions of the ordinance before it went back to the drawing board.

“I think what they ended up with is a good compromise,” he said.

The ordinance was approved with one tweak. Commissioner David Madore attached an amendment spelling out that the ordinance would not affect a person’s ability to wave political signs near the side of the road.

The ordinance also wouldn’t necessarily affect the annual Fill the Boot fundraiser, in which local fire departments ask passers-by for donations. That fundraiser is overseen by law enforcement agencies to ensure traffic keeps moving.

Chris Horne, the county’s chief civil deputy prosecuting attorney, said any ordinance the county enacted would have to be content neutral, meaning the county couldn’t favor one type of solicitation activity over another. He did not take issue with the amendment.

As to whether the ordinance could be used to prevent other sorts of sidewalk-based activities, such as Girl Scouts selling goodies, Madore said he had confidence that wouldn’t happen.

He said: “I can’t imagine bringing in a Girl Scout for selling lemonade.”

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