City to begin ‘education period’ on ordinance

The city of Hot Springs plans to embark on a “public education period” Monday on Ordinance 6217, which regulates interaction between pedestrians and occupants of a vehicle in operation on a public right of way.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas has said the ordinance, which the city characterizes as a public safety measure, targets panhandlers.

The ordinance makes no reference to soliciting, and its definitions section states to interact physically does not include the exercise of “protected free speech or expression by any person.” The introductory section of the ordinance references data the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has compiled on traffic accidents involving pedestrians.

The city, in a news release on Friday, said police officers may distribute paper copies of the ordinance during the “public education period” and may also issue verbal warnings to any individuals who are observed violating the ordinance.

The news release did not specify the length of the education period.

Hot Springs City Attorney Brian Albright said earlier this week that citations won’t be issued for violating the ordinance until the court rules on an ACLU-sponsored federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the new regulation.

The city also said the wording of the ordinance in its entirety can be found on the Recently Passed Ordinances page under the City Clerk Department page at http://www.cityhs.net.

“There needs to be an educational period,” Albright said earlier in the week. “If police officers observe a violation, they’ll make the person aware the ordinance is in effect. They won’t be writing citations until there’s been a good deal

of education for motorists and pedestrians alike.”

ACLU attorney Bettina Brownstein said earlier this week that the organization plans on filing a motion for summary judgment in the lawsuit it brought on behalf of Michael Rodgers in June. A motion to add more plaintiffs may also be forthcoming, she said.

The ACLU suspended the lawsuit while it waited to see what would replace the ordinance the Hot Springs Board of Directors repealed in August

2017. It prohibited the solicitation of donations from motorists on public rights of way.

The amended complaint the ACLU filed last month argues that the new ordinance adopted at the board’s Dec. 5,

2017, business meeting invokes public safety to criminalize panhandling.

The ordinance doesn’t allow vehicles and motorists to “interact physically,” which is defined as an “attempt to make physical contact with a motor vehicle or any object or occupant therein,” or “to make physical contact or attempt to make physical contact with a pedestrian or object in the possession of such pedestrian by an occupant of a motor vehicle.”