HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 10076 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 10076
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council December 12, 2017
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*a SUBJECT: HANDBILLS
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Council Member Shingleton related that he had received a complaint from a constituent that a
person distributing handbills relieved himself on the constituent's porch. Mr. Shingleton has
requested that staff look in to ways to regulate companies and individuals who are distributing
handbills/advertisements and research the possibility of holding a company responsible for the
bad acts of the people they hire.
The Texas Penal Code allows a company to be held criminally responsible for the acts of its
agents if the agent is acting in the scope of employment. Case law indicates that a company
could be held responsible if the bad act was in furtherance of the company's business interest. It
would be unlikely that prosecutors could use state law to reach the company under the
circumstances described by Mr. Shingleton.
The Police Department is satisfied that their officers have the ability to enforce current laws that
would hold an individual criminally responsible for their criminal acts, provided they can determine
who committed the offense.
Registration would be one tool for determining the responsible party. In order to ascertain the
identity of the handbill distributers, it would be possible to require companies that are responsible
for distributing commercial handbills to register with the City. The City could also require the
distribution companies to provide the City with a list of the individuals who are distributing
handbills and the locations where they will be distributing handbills. This would be similar to the
requirements already in place for door to door vendors. The Police would have access to the list
and locations when there is a complaint.
A City Department would have to take on the task of handling the registration process which
would have a budgetary impact. Due to the low number of complaints received to date, the City
Manager's Office is not recommending that the City Council adopt a registration program.
David Cooke
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS