Each person driving a taxicab or motor vehicle for hire shall be licensed as such. Each applicant for a driver's license shall:
(a) Be twenty-one years of age or over;
(b) Be of sound physique and good eyesight, and not subject to epilepsy, vertigo, heart trouble or other infirmity of body or mind which might render him or her unfit for the safe operation of a public vehicle;
(c) Be able to read and write the English language;
(d) Be clean in dress and person and not addicted to the use of intoxicating liquors;
(e) Produce, on forms to be provided by the Police Department, certificates of his or her good character, from two reputable residents who have known him or her personally and have observed his or her conduct for one month next preceding the date of his or her application; and
(f) Fill out, upon a blank form to be provided by the Police Department, a statement giving his or her full name, present residence, place of residence for five years previous to moving to his present address, age, color, height, color of eyes and hair, place of birth, length of time he or she has resided at his or her present address, place of previous employment, marital status, whether or not he or she is a citizen of the United States, whether or not he or she has ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, and if convicted, the nature of the crime and the date when and place of the conviction, and whether or not he or she has previously been licensed as a driver or chauffeur, and if so, when and where and whether or not his or her license has ever been revoked and for what cause. Such statement shall be signed and sworn to by the applicant and filed with the Police Department as a permanent record. The investigation of all applications for licenses under this chapter shall be conducted by the Police Department. When such investigation is completed and its recommendation endorsed thereon, the same shall be forwarded to the City Clerk, provided that a temporary license may be issued pending such investigation, but no temporary license shall be valid for more than twenty days. No license shall be issued to any person under this chapter who has been convicted of a felony, except that Council may issue a license upon the written recommendation of the Police Department when it appears to Council that such applicant is a law abiding citizen. The Police Department is hereby authorized to establish such additional rules and regulations governing the issuance of drivers' licenses, not inconsistent with this section, as may be necessary and reasonable.
(1974 Code § 7.106)