Las Vegas City Ordinances, July 18, 1911 to March 31, 1933, lvc000013-13

Ordinance No. 10 An Ordinance Defining Vagrancy and Providing Penalties for Vagrancy. The Board of Commissioners of the City of Las Vegas do ordain: #1. That every idle and dissolute person with out visible or known means of living who has the physical ability to work, and who does not for the space of five days use due diligence to seek employment, nor labor when employment is offered him, also every idle or dissolute person who roams about the Country from place to place with out any lawful business: also every healthy begger who solicits alms as a business; also every person who makes a practice of going from house to house begging food, money or other articles, or seeks admission to such houses on frivolous pretexes for no other apparent motive than to see who may be therein, or to gain an insight of the premises; also every idle, or dissolute person or associate of known thieves who wanders about the streets at late and unusual hours of the night, or prowels around dark alleys, by-ways, and other dark and unfrequented places at any hour of the night without any legitimate business in so doing; also every idle or dissolute who person who lodges in any barn, shop, shed, outhouse, or place other than that kept for lodging purposes, without the permission of the owner or person entitled to the possesion thereof; also every lewd or dissolute male person who lives in or about any house of prostitution or ill- fame; also every lewd and dissolute female person known as a street walker or common prost­itute, who shall upon the public streets, or in or about any public or general resort for men, or in any saloon, barroom, or other place, within the sight or hearing of ladies or children, con­duct and behave herself in an immodest, drunken, indecent profane or obscene manner, either by action, language or improper exposure of her person; every common drunkard who is in the habit of lying around the streets, alleys, saloons, barroom, or other public places in a state of intoxication; also every boy or male person under the age of 21 years who habitually remains away from his home or place of residence after the hours of nine o'clock P.M. without some lawful and necessary business or other imperative duty, of other good and sufficient reason or excuse for such absence from home after such hour, for his own amusement or pleasure, without any legitimate reason for so doing, frequents and passes his time in pool-rooms, billiard halls, card rooms, bowling alleys,or saloons, or barrooms, or who without legitimate reason therefor, frequents or loiters around or about any den, house, other place of vice, infamy or immorality, where thieves or other persons of ill-repute are known to congregate; or who at any hour of the night prowls about the town and disturbs the peace and quite of the neighborhood by loud or unnecessary noise, or committing petty depredations, tricks or pranks, upon the person or property of other people; or by abusive, obscene or insulating language or by any act of rowdyism whatever shall disturb or annoy any passer-by, any lawful assemblage or person, or the neighborhood, is a vagrant and guilty of vagrancy and shall upon conviction thereof be punished accordingly. #2. Each and very person convicted under the provisions of this ordinance shall be punished by imprisonment in the City Jail for any period of time not exceeding sixty days #3. All male persons having physical ability to do so when convicted of violation of this ordinance, may be required to work upon the streets, public works, buildings and grounds, of the said City of Las Vegas, or of the buildings and grounds of Clark County, which may be located within the said City, and the Chief Police, sheriff, or other person having such person in charge while performing such work may employe any reasonable, humane, and efficient means to prevent such prisoner form escaping from custody while being so employed. #4. For each and every days work done by any person he shall receive credit of two days time which shall be credited upon and deducted from his term of imprisonment #5. If any imprisoned vagrant convicted under this ordinance shall refuse to work, having physical ability so to do when required to so work as in this ordinance so provided,