(A) Every operator of a hotel shall at all times keep a register in which shall be ascribed, either in electronic, ink, or typewritten form, prior to the room being furnished or rented to a guest, the following information:
(1) The full name of the guest paying for the room and the full name of each guest occupying the room;
(2) The home or business telephone number of the guest paying for the room;
(3) The make, type, and license number of each vehicle belonging to each guest that will be parked on hotel premises;
(4) The total number guests (the guest paying for the room and the guests occupying the room) for each room;
(5) The number of the room rented and the day, month, year, and time such room is rented.
(B) Every operator shall require each guest paying for the room to provide a proper identification document prior to renting a room. The operator of a hotel shall not rent a room without verifying the identification of the guest paying for the room. The register shall be signed by the guest paying for the room. All of the foregoing listed in this division (B) and division (A) above shall be done before any guest is permitted to occupy a room.
(C) Operators shall keep registers on the hotel premises in the guest reception or guest check-in area or in an office adjacent to or nearby that area. The register shall be maintained at that location on the hotel premises for a period of not less than 90 days from and after the date of the last entry in the register.
(D) Operators shall retain registers for a period of not less than two years from the date of the last entry in the register or record. Except as otherwise provided in division (C) above, such records may be retained on- or off-site the hotel premises, but if maintained off-site, the records must be readily accessible to permit inspection, review, and audit by officials in accordance with this chapter.
(E) Any police officer of the city or, at his or her direction, any county, state or federal law enforcement official, may request an operator to consent to an inspection of the records in the register in order to determine compliance with this chapter.
(F) If the operator objects to such an inspection, the operator shall then be required to secure the records in the register in the presence of the officer and in a manner directed by the officer so that no one tampers with the records until such time as a warrant or court order has been issued or denied. Upon the operator’s refusal, the officer must then make the demand of inspection in writing and personally serve it on the operator. The demand must be signed by the officer making the demand. No particular form of the demand is required, but the demand must set forth the name of the hotel, the date and time the demand is served on the hotel, and the name of person served.
(G) If the operator receives a written demand pursuant to this section and the operator desires to object to the demand, the operator must make a written objection to the demand, with a copy of the demand attached, and personally serve it within 48 hours after receiving the demand. Service of the objection must be made on the officer making the demand or another officer of the same law enforcement agency as the officer who made the demand. No particular form of an objection is required, but the objection must be signed by the operator, and set forth the date and time it is served on the officer or the agency. Failure to timely make and serve a written objection to a demand is a waiver of the operator’s right to seek precompliance judicial review of that demand.
(H) An operator that makes and serves an objection pursuant to division (G) above may challenge the demand for inspection by filing an action for precompliance judicial review in a court of competent jurisdiction within ten calendar days after the date the objection is served. Failure to timely file such an action is a waiver of the operator’s right to seek precompliance judicial review of that demand.
(I) An operator that fails to timely make and serve a written objection, or that makes and serves a timely objection and then fails to timely file an action for precompliance judicial review, must open the register for inspection pursuant to division (E) above immediately after the lapse of the period of time to make and serve a written objection or to file an action for precompliance judicial review, whichever is applicable.
(J) Nothing in this section prohibits an officer from inspecting any register pursuant to a warrant, an ex parte warrant, or an exception to the warrant requirement (e.g., consent or exigent circumstances).
(K) It shall be unlawful for any person to alter, deface, or erase any record in the register so as to make the information recorded in it illegible or unintelligible, or hinder, obstruct, or interfere with any inspection of the register in accordance with this chapter.
(L) An employee of the owner, proprietor, manager or other person in charge of any hotel, motel, lodging house, rooming house or other place offering lodging accommodations to the general public for compensation must be vigilant and on duty 24 hours each day, seven days a week, for the purpose of attending at all times the facility’s registration desk or room. An attendant need not be physically present at the point of registration at all times as long as he or she is attending to other required duties. However, the attendant must be immediately available to register a person(s) wishing to rent a room at the facility.
(1999 Code, § 119.01) (Ord. 3528, passed 7-2- 2007; Ord. 3982, passed 4-17-2017; Ord. 4089, passed 4-1-2019) Penalty, see § 119.99