648.06 DISTURBING A LAWFUL MEETING.

   (a)   No person, with purpose to prevent or disrupt a lawful meeting, procession or gathering, shall do either of the following:

      (1)   Do any act which obstructs or interferes with the due conduct of such meeting, procession or gathering;

      (2)   Make any utterance, gesture or display which outrages the sensibilities of the group.

   (b)   Whoever violates this section is guilty of disturbing a lawful meeting, a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. Punishment shall be as provided in Section 698.02.

(ORC 2917.12; Ord. 157-73. Passed 1-14-74.)

648.07 MISCONDUCT AT AN EMERGENCY.

   (a)   No person shall knowingly do any of the following:

      (1)   Hamper the lawful operations of any law enforcement officer, firefighter, rescuer, medical person, emergency medical services person, or other authorized person, engaged in the person’s duties at the scene of a fire, accident, disaster, riot, or emergency of any kind;

      (2)   Hamper the lawful activities of any emergency facility person who is engaged in the person’s duties in an emergency facility;

      (3)   Fail to obey the lawful order of any law enforcement officer engaged in the law enforcement officer’s duties at the scene of or in connection with a fire, accident, disaster, riot, or emergency of any kind.

   (b)   Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit access or deny information to any news media representative in the lawful exercise of the news media representative’s duties.

   (c)   Whoever violates this section is guilty of misconduct at an emergency. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, misconduct at an emergency is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. If a violation of this section creates a risk of physical harm to persons or property, misconduct at an emergency is a misdemeanor of the first degree.

   (d)   As used in this section:

      (1)   “Emergency medical services person” is the singular of “emergency medical services personnel” as defined in Ohio R.C. 2133.21.

      (2)   “Emergency facility person” is the singular of “emergency facility personnel” as defined in Ohio R.C. 2909.04.

      (3)   “Emergency facility” has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 2909.04.

         (ORC 2917.13)

648.08 INDUCING PANIC.

   (a)    No person shall cause the evacuation of any public place, or otherwise cause serious public inconvenience or alarm, by doing any of the following:

      (1)   Initiating or circulating a report or warning of an alleged or impending fire, explosion, crime or other catastrophe, knowing that such report or warning is false;

      (2)   Threatening to commit any offense of violence;

      (3)   Committing any offense, with reckless disregard of the likelihood that its commission will cause serious public inconvenience or alarm.

   (b)    Division (a) hereof does not apply to any person conducting an authorized fire or emergency drill.

   (c)   Whoever violates this section is guilty of inducing panic, a misdemeanor of the first degree. If inducing panic results in physical harm to any person, economic harm of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more, if the public place involved in a violation of this section is a school or an institution of higher education, or if the violation pertains to a purported, threatened or actual use of a weapon of mass destruction, inducing panic is a felony and shall be prosecuted under appropriate State law.

   (d)   Any act that is a violation of this section and any other section of the Codified Ordinances may be prosecuted under this section, the other section, or both sections.

   (e)   As used in this section:

      (1)   “Biological agent” has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 2917.33.

      (2)   “Economic harm” means any of the following:

         A.   All direct, incidental, and consequential pecuniary harm suffered by a victim as a result of criminal conduct. “Economic harm” as described in this division includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:

            1.   All wages, salaries, or other compensation lost as a result of the criminal conduct;

            2.   The cost of all wages, salaries, or other compensation paid to employees for time those employees are prevented from working as a result of the criminal conduct;

            3.   The overhead costs incurred for the time that a business is shut down as a result of the criminal conduct;

            4.   The loss of value to tangible or intangible property that was damaged as a result of the criminal conduct.

         B.   All costs incurred by the Municipality as a result of, or in making any response to, the criminal conduct that constituted the violation of this section or Section 648.09, including, but not limited to, all costs so incurred by any law enforcement officers, firefighters, rescue personnel, or emergency medical services personnel of the state or the political subdivision.

      (3)   “Emergency medical services personnel” has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 2133.21.

      (4)   “Institution of higher education” means any of the following:

         A.   A state university or college as defined in Ohio R.C. 3345.12(A)(1), community college, state community college, university branch, or technical college;

         B.   A private, nonprofit college, university or other post-secondary institution located in this State that possesses a certificate of authorization issued by the Chancellor of Higher Education pursuant to Ohio R.C. Chapter 1713.

         C.   A post-secondary institution with a certificate of registration issued by the State Board of Career Colleges and Schools under Ohio R.C. Chapter 3332. (ORC 2917.31)

      (5)   “School” means any school operated by a board of education or any school for which the Director of Education and Workforce prescribes minimum standards under Ohio R.C. 3301.07, whether or not any instruction, extracurricular activities, or training provided by the school is being conducted at the time a violation of this section is committed.

      (6)   “Weapon of mass destruction” means any of the following:

         A.   Any weapon that is designed or intended to cause death or serious physical harm through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals, or their precursors;

         B.   Any weapon involving a disease organism or biological agent;

         C.   Any weapon that is designed to release radiation or radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life;

         D.   Any of the following, except to the extent that the item or device in question is expressly excepted from the definition of “destructive device” pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(4) and regulations issued under that section:

            1.   Any explosive, incendiary, or poison gas bomb, grenade, rocket having a propellant charge of more than four ounces, missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter ounce, mine, or similar device;

            2.   Any combination of parts either designed or intended for use in converting any item or device into any item or device described in division (e)(3)D.1. of this section and from which an item or device described in that division may be readily assembled.

648.09 MAKING FALSE ALARMS.

   (a)   No person shall do any of the following:

      (1)   Initiate or circulate a report or warning of an alleged or impending fire, explosion, crime or other catastrophe, knowing that the report or warning is false and likely to cause public inconvenience or alarm;

      (2)   Knowingly cause a false alarm of fire or other emergency to be transmitted to or within any organization, public or private, for dealing with emergencies involving a risk of physical harm to persons or property;

      (3)   Report to any law enforcement agency an alleged offense or other incident within its concern, knowing that such offense did not occur

      (4)    Initiate or circulate a report or warning of an alleged or impending fire, explosion, crime, or other catastrophe, knowing that the report or warning is false and likely to impede the operation of a critical infrastructure facility.

   (b)   This section does not apply to any person conducting an authorized fire or emergency drill.

   (c)   Whoever violates this section is guilty of making false alarms, a misdemeanor of the first degree. If a violation of this section results in economic harm of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more, making false alarms is a felony and shall be prosecuted under appropriate state law. If a violation of this section pertains to a purported, threatened, or actual use of a weapon of mass destruction, making false alarms is a felony to be prosecuted under appropriate state law.

   (d)   (1)   It is not a defense to a charge under this section that pertains to a purported or threatened use of a weapon of mass destruction that the offender did not possess or have the ability to use a weapon of mass destruction or that what was represented to be a weapon of mass destruction was not a weapon of mass destruction.

      (2)   Any act that is a violation of this section and any other section of the Ohio Revised Code or these Codified Ordinances may be prosecuted under this section, the other section, or both sections.

   (e)    As used in this section:

      (1)   “Critical infrastructure facility” has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 2911.21.

      (2)   “Economic harm”and “weapon of mass destruction” have the same meaning as in Section 648.08. (ORC 2917.32)

648.10 CURFEW.

   (a)   No person shall permit any minor under the age of eighteen to be on any street, sidewalk or other public place of the City between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. on weekdays and between 12:00 midnight and 5:00 a.m. on Sundays, unless such minor is accompanied by his parent, guardian or other adult person having the legal care, custody or control of such minor or is in the company of a responsible adult person eighteen years of age or older who has permission from such parent or guardian to have such minor out during such hours.

   (b)   It shall be the duty of any parent, guardian or other person having the care, control or custody of a minor under the age of eighteen to keep such minor off the streets, sidewalks or other public places of the City between the hours specified in subsection (a) hereof, unless such minor is accompanied by such parent, guardian or other responsible adult person eighteen years of age or older who has permission from such parent or guardian to accompany such minor.

   (c)   No responsible adult person eighteen years of age or older shall be in the company of any minor under the age of eighteen on any street, sidewalk or other public place during the hours specified in subsection (a) hereof unless such person has permis sion from such minor's parent or guardian to be in the company of such minor during such hours.

   (d)   Whoever violates or fails to comply with any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. Punishment shall be as provided in Section 698.02.

   (e)   Exceptions. In the following exceptional cases, a minor in or upon a public place during the nocturnal hours for which this section is intended to provide the maximum limits of regulation shall not be considered in violation of this chapter:

      (1)   When accompanied by a parent of such minor.

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

      (3)   When exercising First Amendment rights protected by the United States constitution, such as the free exercise of religion and freedom of speech.

      (4)   In case of reasonable necessity after such minor’s parent has communicated to the Police Department personnel the facts establishing such reasonable necessity and designating the minor’s proposed location, route, purpose and the period of time the minor will be in or upon a public place.

      (5)   When returning home by a direct route from, and within thirty minutes of, the termination of verifiable employment or participation in an official school or religious activity.
(Ord. 55-05. Passed 5-9-05.)