A. The general purposes of the provisions governing the definition of offenses are:1. To forbid and prevent conduct that inflicts or threatens substantial harm to individual or public interests;2. To safeguard conduct that is without culpability from condemnation as criminal;3. To give fair warning of the nature of the conduct declared to constitute an offense; and4. To differentiate on reasonable grounds between serious and minor offenses, and to prescribe proportionate penalties for each.
B. The provisions of the LLCC shall be construed according to the fair import of their terms, and when the language is susceptible of differing constructions, it shall be interpreted to further the general purposes stated herein.
C. In adopting the Washington state statutes by reference, only those crimes and offenses within the jurisdiction of a municipality are intended to be adopted and, in those sections adopted which define both misdemeanors and felonies, only the language applicable to misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors is to be applied.
D. Jurisdiction to prosecute any felonious activity remains with the state of Washington, county of Spokane. (Ord. 140, 10-4-2005)