Hot Springs axes soliciting ban

HOT SPRINGS — The Hot Springs Board of Directors has repealed the panhandling ordinance that has been challenged in federal court.

But an attorney for the plaintiff said the lawsuit will remain pending the outcome of a replacement ordinance that will go before the board.

On Tuesday, the board unanimously repealed the ordinance it adopted in September in response to an influx of panhandlers soliciting money from motorists at busy intersections last summer.

American Civil Liberties Union attorney Bettina Brownstein said she wants to see the replacement ordinance before she commits to dropping the lawsuit filed on behalf of Michael Rodgers, who was jailed and fined after holding up a sign asking for money. In the interim, she said, negotiations with Arkansas Municipal League Attorney Michael Mosley, who is representing the city, are ongoing. Those negotiations resulted in the city suspending enforcement of the ordinance last month.

The ordinance the board adopted in September banned standing, walking or entering a roadway, median or portion of a public street for the purpose of soliciting any items, including money, from the occupant of a vehicle. The ACLU argued it was an impediment to the free-speech rights affirmed in last summer’s reversal of Rodgers’ loitering conviction.

The Rogers City Council repealed that city’s panhandling ordinance last month and replaced it with one that prohibits pedestrians from approaching a vehicle that is in operation on a public street. Fort Smith also replaced its panhandling ordinance with a similar measure.