(a) Any person desiring to obtain a permit, or renewal of an existing permit, to act as an escort, shall make application to the sheriff or his designated representative. Prior to submitting such application for a permit or renewal of a permit, a nonrefundable fee, of one hundred twenty-five dollars, shall be paid to the department of finance to defray, in part, the cost of the investigation and report required by this chapter. The department of finance shall issue a receipt showing that such permit application or renewal fee has been paid. The receipt, or a copy thereof, shall be supplied by the applicant to the sheriff at the time such application is filed. Permit fees required under this chapter shall be in addition to any license, permit or fee required under any other chapter of this code.
(b) Neither the filing of an application for a permit, or renewal thereof, nor the payment of an application or renewal fee, shall authorize a person to act as an escort until such permit has been granted or renewed.
(c) Each applicant for an escort permit, or renewal thereof, shall furnish the information required by subsections (c)(1) through (c)(12) of Section 4.15.070 of this chapter, and shall, in addition, furnish the following information:
(1) Satisfactory evidence that the applicant is employed, or has been offered employment, by an escort bureau holding a valid permit issued by the city, including the name and address of the employer or prospective employer and the fact that such employment or continued employment is contingent upon the issuance of such permit; and
(2) Such other identification and information as the sheriff may require in order to discover the truth of the matters required to be set forth in the application.
(d) The sheriff may require the applicant to appear in person at the sheriff's department in order to be photographed or fingerprinted.
(e) The sheriff shall have a reasonable period of time in which to investigate the application and background of the applicant. The sheriff, or his representative, shall, within thirty days after the date of the filing of the application, render a written recommendation to the finance director as to approval or denial of the applicant for the permit or renewal thereof.
(f) The finance director, after receipt of the application and aforementioned recommendation, from the sheriff, shall grant the permit, or renewal thereof, only if he finds that all of the requirements of subsections (h)(1) through (h)(3) of Section 4.15.070 of this chapter have been met and, in addition, if he finds that the following additional requirements have been met:
(1) The applicant is at least eighteen years of age;
(2) The applicant has not been convicted or pleaded nolo contendere or guilty to a misdemeanor or felony crime involving criminal misstatement or sexual misconduct including, but not limited to, all offenses listed in Penal Code Section 290, Penal Code Sections 311.2 through 311.7, Penal Code Sections 314 through 318, and subsection (a), (b), (c), (d) or (h) of Section 647 of the Penal Code, or any offenses involving pimping, pandering, prostitution or lewd conduct.
(g) If the finance director does not find that all of the requirements set forth in subsection (f) of this section have been met, he shall deny the application for the permit or renewal thereof. In the event the application for the permit, or renewal thereof, is denied by the finance director, written notice of such denial shall be given within ten business days to the applicant specifying the ground or grounds of such denial. Notice of denial of the application for the permit, or renewal thereof shall be deemed to have been served if it, in fact, is personally served on the applicant or when deposited in the United States mail with postage prepaid and addressed to the applicant at his or her residence address as set forth in the application for the permit or renewal thereof. Any applicant whose application for an escort permit, or renewal thereof, has been denied by the city manager, may appeal such denial as provided in Section 4.04.130 of this code.
(h) When any change occurs regarding the written information required by subsection (c) of this section, the applicant or permit holder, as the case may be, shall give written notification of such change to the sheriff within five business days after such change.
(Ord. 383 § 2 Ex. A (part), 1986).