ADOPTING ORDINANCE

(Council Journal of 6-27-90, p. 17764)

   Be It Ordained by the City Council of the City of Chicago:

   Section 1. This ordinance, consisting of titles 1 through 17, inclusive, shall be known as the Municipal Code of Chicago and shall be treated as a new and original comprehensive ordinance, completely superseding the Municipal Code of Chicago adopted August 30, 1939, and subsequent code amendments adopted prior to February 28, 1990, with the exception of the Chicago Zoning Ordinance and amendments thereto.

   Section 2. The Corporation Counsel shall advise and assist the City Clerk in renumbering chapters and sections described in ordinances passed after February 7, 1990, amending the Municipal Code as then in effect, in order to assure that they comport with the numbering system of this Code. The revised numbers of those chapters and sections as determined by the City Clerk and the Corporation Counsel are hereby adopted for general use.

   Section 3. The Municipal Code of Chicago shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

   Section 4. The City Clerk shall keep two copies of this Code. These copies shall be printed, pasted, or otherwise mounted on paper sufficiently thick and tough to withstand heavy usage, and preserved by the City Clerk in a book or binder in loose leaf form, or in such other form as the City Clerk may consider most expedient, so that all amendments to the code and all general ordinances hereafter passed may be inserted in their appropriate places in such volumes, and all sections of this Code or ordinances repealed from time to time may be extracted therefrom for the purpose of maintaining the two copies in such condition that they will show all general ordinances passed up to date at any time to serve as a current and ready reference.

   In determining whether any ordinance hereafter passed, or any part thereof, shall be inserted into the Code, and in determining the form, title, chapter and section in which it shall be inserted, the City Clerk shall be guided by the advice of the Corporation Counsel.

   Section 5. Revisions of this Code shall be prepared and published at intervals not exceeding six months to reflect any changes in the Municipal Code during such period.

   Section 6. No officer or employee except aldermen (as amended on its face) of the City shall issue or distribute as a publication of the City or any or its agencies, departments or officers any printed matter purporting to be an excerpt or quotation from this Code without first having submitted the printed matter to the Corporation Counsel for examination and approval as to form and accuracy.

   Section 7. Sufficient copies of this Code shall be deposited with the Municipal Reference Librarian for general public reference and use. Sufficient copies shall be distributed to the Mayor, the aldermen, the City Clerk, the City Treasurer and the heads of the various agencies and departments of city government for their respective use. With respect to any other person or entity, this Code shall not be considered a publication of the City for purposes of distribution pursuant to Section 2-64-110.

   The Mayor may reciprocate courtesies of other cities and governments by presenting to them a copy of this Code bound at City expense in such form as the Mayor deems suitable.

   Section 8. Each section number of this Code shall consist of three component parts separated by dashes. The figure before the first dash shall refer to the title number; the figure following the first dash shall refer to the position of the chapter within a title; and the figure following the second dash shall refer to the position of the section within its chapter.

   No officer or employee except aldermen (as amended on its face) of the city shall issue any written material containing any section of the Municipal Code numbered differently than as numbered herein; and no section number shall be changed by any such officer or employee in drafting any amendment to this Code. Notwithstanding the foregoing provision, the various departments and agencies of the city government may continue to use notices, citations and other documents containing references to chapter and section numbers of the Municipal Code as in effect prior to passage of this Code until December 31, 1990.

   Section 9. Unless the context requires other interpretations, the following words and terms are defined for purposes of this Code as follows:

   (a)   City – City of Chicago;

   (b)   State – State of Illinois;

   (c)   County – County of Cook;

   (d)   City Council – The City Council of the City of Chicago;

   (e)   Person – Any natural individual, firm, trust, partnership, association, joint venture, corporation or other legal entity, in his or its own capacity or as administrator, conservator, guardian, executor, trustee, receiver or other representative appointed by the court. Whenever the word "person" is used in any section of this Code prescribing a penalty or fine as applied to partnerships, associations or joint ventures, the word shall include the members thereof, and as applied to corporations shall include the officers, agents or employees thereof who are responsible for any violation of said section;

   (f)   Public Way – Any sidewalk, street, alley, highway or other public thoroughfare;

   (g)   Code – The Municipal Code of Chicago as amended from time to time;

   (h)   Building Code or building provisions of this Code – All those chapters contained in Title 13;

   (i)   Electrical Code or electrical regulations of this Code – Title 14; and

   (j)   Fire Code or fire regulations of this Code – Title 15.

   Section 10. Whenever any words in any section of this Code import the plural number, the singular shall be deemed to be included, and whenever the singular shall be used, it shall be deemed to include the plural.

   Whenever the masculine gender is used in this Code, females as well as males shall be deemed to be included.

   Words in the present tense shall be deemed to include the future tense.

   The words "written" and "in writing" may include printing.

   The word "shall" as used in this Code is mandatory.

   Headings provided in the various sections of this Code are for convenience and reference only and should not be considered part of the text of any section.

   Section 11. Reference to any section of this Code shall be understood to refer to and include the penalty provision relating thereto, unless otherwise expressly provided. In case of the amendment of any section of this Code containing provisions for which a penalty is provided in another section, the penalty so provided in such other section shall be held to relate to the section so amended, whether re-enacted in the amendatory ordinance or not, unless such penalty is specifically repealed therein.

   Section 12. Whenever in any section of this Code the doing of any act or the omission to do any act or duty is declared to be a violation thereof, and there shall be no fine or penalty declared for such violation, any person who shall be convicted of any such violation shall be fined not less than $25.00 nor more than $500.00 for each such violation.

   Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code to the contrary, a penalty imposed for the violation of any provision of this Code may include or consist of a requirement that the defendant perform reasonable public service. Such public service may include, but shall not be limited to, the removal of litter on public property or the maintenance of public facilities.

   Section 13. Whenever in this Code a minimum but no maximum fine or penalty is imposed, the court may in its discretion fine the offender any sum of money exceeding the minimum fine or penalty so fixed, but not exceeding the sum of $500.00.

   Section 14. In all cases where the same offense is made punishable or is created by different clauses or sections of this Code, the Corporation Counsel may elect under which to proceed; but not more than one recovery shall be had against the same person for the same offense.

   Section 15. The comprehensive zoning amendment passed by the City Council on May 29, 1957, as amended (Chicago Zoning Ordinance) is hereby incorporated into this Code and designated Title 17.

   Section 16. Unless it expressly provides otherwise, no new ordinance that amends or repeals a prior ordinance shall be construed to affect any offense or act committed, or action, penalty or claim arising under the prior ordinance, except that any proceedings after the effective date of any such new ordinance shall conform, insofar as practicable, to the ordinance in effect at the time of the proceedings. If any penalty, forfeiture or punishment is mitigated by any provision of a new ordinance, such provision may, by the consent of the party affected, be applied to any judgment entered after the new ordinance takes effect.

   This section shall extend to all repeals, whether express or by implication, and regardless of whether contained in an ordinance making any new provision upon the same subject or in any other ordinance.

   Section 17. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed as abating any action now pending under or by virtue of any general ordinance of the city therein repealed; or as discontinuing, abating, modifying or altering any penalty accrued or to accrue, or as affecting the liability of any person; or as waiving any right of the city under any section or provision of the Municipal Code of Chicago existing at the time of the passage of this ordinance.

   Section 18. No ordinance that repeals an ordinance repealing a former ordinance, clause, or provision shall be construed to revive the original ordinance, clause or provision.

   Section 19. All general provisions, terms, phrases and expressions contained in this Code shall be liberally construed in order that the true intent and meaning of the City Council may be fully carried out.

   Section 20. If any part, section, sentence, clause or application of this Code shall be adjudged invalid, void and of no effect for any reason, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the titles, chapters, sections or other provisions of this Code, or their application to other circumstances.