(A) (1) A “state of emergency” shall be deemed to exist whenever, during times of public crisis, disaster, rioting, catastrophe or similar public emergency, for any reason, public safety authorities are unable to maintain public order or afford adequate protection for lives, safety or property, or whenever the occurrence of any condition is imminent.
(2) In the event of an existing or threatened state of emergency endangering the lives, safety, health and welfare of the people within the county or any part thereof, or threatening damage to or destruction of property, the Chairperson of the Board of Commissioners is hereby authorized and empowered, pursuant to state statute, to issue a public proclamation declaring to all persons the existence of a state of emergency, and, in order to more effectively protect the lives and property of people within the county, to place in effect any or all of the restrictions hereinafter authorized.
(3) The Chairperson is hereby authorized and empowered to limit, by the proclamation, the application of all or any part of the restrictions to any area specifically designated or described within the county and to specific hours of the day or night and to exempt from all or any part of the restrictions, while acting in the line of and within the scope of their respective duties: law enforcement officers; firefighters and other public employees; volunteers authorized or certified; rescue squad members; doctors; nurses; employees of hospitals and other medical facilities; on-duty military personnel, whether state or federal; on-duty employees of public utilities, public transportation companies and newspaper, magazine, radio broadcasting and television broadcasting corporations operated for profit; and other classes of persons, as may be essential to the preservation of public order and immediately necessary to serve the safety, health and welfare needs of the people within the county.
(B) (1) The Chairperson of the Board of Commissioners, by proclamation, may impose the prohibitions and restrictions specified in divisions (C) through (G) below in the manner described in those sections. The Chairperson may impose as many of those specified prohibitions and restrictions as he or she finds are necessary, because of an emergency, to maintain an acceptable level of public order and services and to protect lives, safety and property. The Chairperson shall recite his or her findings in the proclamation.
(2) The proclamation shall be in writing. The Chairperson shall take reasonable steps to give notice of the terms of the proclamation to those affected by it and shall post a copy of it in the County Courthouse. The Chairperson shall retain a text of the proclamation and furnish, upon request, certified copies of it for use as evidence.
(C) (1) The proclamation may impose a curfew prohibiting in certain areas and during certain periods the appearance in public of anyone who is not a member of an exempted class. The proclamation shall specify the geographical area or areas and the period during each 24-hour day to which the curfew applies. The Chairperson may exempt, from some or all of the curfew restrictions, classes of people whose exemption the Chairperson finds necessary for the preservation of the public health, safety and welfare. The proclamation shall state the exempted classes and the restrictions from which each is exempted.
(2) Unless otherwise specified in the proclamation, the curfew shall apply during the specified period each day until the Chairperson, by proclamation, removes the curfew.
(D) The proclamation may prohibit the possession or consumption of any intoxicating liquor, including beer and wine, other than on one's own premises, and may prohibit the transfer, transportation, sale or purchase of any intoxicating liquor within any area of the county described in the proclamation. The prohibition, if imposed, may apply to transfers of intoxicating liquor by employees of alcoholic beverage control stores, as well as by anyone else within the geographic area described.
(E) (1) The proclamation may prohibit the transportation or possession off one's own premises or the sale or purchase of any dangerous weapon or substance. The Chairperson may exempt, from some or all of the restrictions, classes of people whose possession, transfer or transportation of certain dangerous weapons or substances is necessary to the preservation of the public health, safety or welfare. The proclamation shall state the exempted classes and the restrictions from which each is exempted.
(2) For the purpose of this division, the following definition shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
DANGEROUS WEAPON OR SUBSTANCE.
1. Any deadly weapon, ammunition, incendiary device, explosive, gasoline or other instrument or substance designed for a use that carries a threat of serious bodily injury or destruction of property;
2. Any other instrument or substance that is capable of being used to inflict serious bodily injury or destruction of property, when the circumstances indicate that there is some probability that the instrument or substance will be so destructively used; and
3. Any part or ingredient in any instrument or substance included above.
(3) If imposed, the restrictions shall apply throughout the jurisdiction if the county or the part thereof as designated in the proclamation.
(F) (1) The proclamation may prohibit obtaining access or attempting to obtain access to any area, designated in the manner described in this section, in violation of any order, clearly posted notice or barricade indicating that access is denied or restricted.
(2) Areas to which access is denied or restricted shall be designated by the Sheriff and his or her subordinates when directed in the proclamation to do so by the Chairperson. When acting under this authority, the Sheriff and his or her subordinates may restrict or deny access to any area, street, highway or location within the county if that restriction or denial of access or use is reasonably necessary to promote efforts being made to overcome the emergency or to prevent further aggravation of the emergency.
(G) The proclamation may prohibit or restrict:
(1) Movements of people in public places;
(2) The operation of offices, business establishments and other places to or from which people may travel or at which they may congregate; and
(3) Other activities or conditions the control of which may be reasonably necessary to maintain order and protect lives or property during the state of emergency within the area designated in the proclamation.
(H) The Chairperson may amend or extend the proclamation from time to time, making the modifications as he or she would have been authorized to include in the original proclamation. The proclamation shall expire five days after its last imposition unless sooner terminated.
(I) The Chairperson shall, by proclamation, remove the prohibitions and restrictions as the emergency no longer requires them or when directed to do so by the Board of Commissioners.
(J) The Chairperson, in his or her discretion, may invoke the restrictions authorized by this section in separate proclamations and may amend any proclamation by means of a superseding proclamation.
(K) In case of the absence or disability of the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson of the Board of Commissioners or another person, as may be designated by the Board of Commissioners, shall have and exercise all of the powers herein given the Chairperson.
(L) This section shall not apply within the corporate limits of any municipality or within any area of the county over which the municipality has jurisdiction to enact general police-power ordinances unless the municipality, by resolution, consents to its application, in which event, it shall apply to the areas as fully and to the same extent as elsewhere in the county.
(Ord. passed 9-3-85) Penalty, see § 31.99