At the latest Riverton City Council meeting on Tuesday, November 6th, the council members made the community aware that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had raised some concern with the proposed “Habitually Intoxicated Person” Ordinance.
A 3rd reading regarding the ordinance was part of the Tuesday night agenda but after a short closed-door deliberation, the councilmembers and Mayor Lars Baker decided to postpone the discussion.
City Councilman Tim Hancock proposed that the ordinance would be further discussed at the first council meeting in December. That proposal was unanimously approved.
Hancock explained that the ACLU reached out to the council about the ordinance and wanted to “discuss it further.” Hancock told those in attendance, “before we proceed to the third reading of this, I think we ought to do our due diligence and make sure we’re not going to do things that get us into legal trouble.”
The Riverton City Council first brought the proposed ordinance public at the September 11th, 2018 meeting.
The ordinance reads that it should be, “unlawful for any person to sell, or otherwise deliver to any habitual drunkard any alcoholic or malt beverage.”
The language that defines a habitually intoxicated person includes an individual who has “been convicted of six or more criminal offenses through the Riverton Municipal Court, in which the Riverton Municipal Judge determined that the person was found guilty of being under the influence of alcohol to a degree that they were a danger to themselves or others at the time of the commission of the crime.”