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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 2475 ORDINANCE NO. � AN ORDINANCE CREATING A BOARD OF CENSORS FOR THE CITY OF FORT WORTH TO SUPERVISE MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITIONS AND OTHER FORMS OF THEATRICAL ENTERTAINMENT; DEFINING TERMS; PRESCRIBING THE DUTIES OF THE MEMBERS OF SAID BOARD; REQUIRING A PERMIT TO EX- HIBIT ANY MOTION PICTURE OR OTHER FORM OF THEATRICAL ENTERTAIN- MENT; PROHIBITING THE EXHIBITION OF MOTION PICTURES AND OTHER FORMS OF THEATRICAL ENTERTAINMENT WITHOUT A PERMIT; PRESCRIBING REGULATIONS FOR THE GRANTING OR REFUSING OF PERMITS; REGULATING ADVERTISEMENT USED IN CONNECTION WITH THEATRICAL ENTERTAINMENT; PROVIDING FOR APPEAL FROM RULINGS OF THE BOARD; PROVIDING FOR REVOCATION OR SUSPENSION OF LICENSES OR PERMITS OF PUBLIC HOUSES OF AMUSEMENT; PROVIDING FOR A FINE NOT TO EXCEED TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS ($200:00) AS A PENALTY FOR THE VIOLATION OF THE PROVI- SIONS HEREOF, AND MAKING EACH DAYIS VIOLATION A DISTINCT AND SEPARATE OFFENSE AND PUNISHABLE AS SUCH; REPEALING ALL ORDI- NANCES IN CONFLICT HEREnTH; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS.- SECTION 1. There is hereby created a Board of Censors for the City of Fort Worth, consisting of four (4) men and four (4) women appointed by the Di- rector of the Department of Public Health and Welfare, and the Director of the Department of Public Health and Welfare, all of whom shall be citizens of the City of Fort Worth. It shall be the duty of The Board of Censors to supervise all motion picture exhibitions and other forms of theatrical en- tertainment within the corporate limits of the City of Fort Worth and to cause the suppression of any such entertainment deemed by said Board inde- cent or injurious to the morals of the citizens, or encouraging or promoting juvenile delinquency. SECTION 2. Definition of terms: (a) The term "person"' as used in this ordinance shall include any person, firm, corporation or association of persons, their agents, servants or employees. (b) The term "theatrical entertainment" as used herein shall include motion pictures, vaudeville performances, plays, dramas, operas, floor shows and musical comedies, to which admission is open to the public with or without the payment of an admission fee. SECTION 3. The Board of Censors hereby created shall be known and designated officially as "The Board of Censors for the City of Fort Worth." The mem- bers thereof shall serve for a period of two (2) years, unless sooner re- moved by the Director of the Department of Public Health and Welfare, and until their successors have been appointed and qualified. W The Director of the Department of Public Health and Welfare shall preside at all meetings of said Board. The majority of said Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business; and if more than three (3) members are absent from the City or are unable to act from any other cause, the Director shall have the power to appoint substitutes to serve during the absence of any such members. Said Board shall organize by se- lecting a Secretary and shall make and prescribe such rules and regulations for the performance of its duties as may be permitted or consistent with provisions of this ordinance. SECTION 4. The person owning, managing, in control, or in charge of any place of public entertainment in the City of Fort Worth shall apply to The Board of Censors for the City of Fort Worth through the Secretary thereof, or the Director of the Department of Public Health and Welfare, for a permit to give or present to the public an exhibition of any picture of any character by means of moving picture films or other form of theatrical entertainment at such place. SECTION 5. No person shall give or present to the public an exhibition of any picture of any character by means of moving picture films, or give or pre- sent to the public any other form of theatrical entertainment within the corporate limits of the City of Fort Worth without securing and holding a permit for such exhibition from The Board of Censors for the City of Fort Worth. SECTION 6. If the identity of the person violating the preceding section of this ordinance cannot be determined, the owner or manager of the place in which such theatrical entertainment is exhibited shall be held prima facie responsible for such violation. SECTION 7. The applicant for the permit referred to in the foregoing sections of this ordinance shall file with the Secretary of The Board of Censors for the City of Fort Worth, or the Director of the Department of Public Health and Welfare, an application for a permit to exhibit the motion picture or other form of theatrical entertainment contemplated, and such application shall be filed at least two (2) days in advance of the time at which it is proposed to exhibit the same. The application shall state the name of the person in charge of the place at which the motion picture or entertainment is to\be shown or presented, the time and place of the showing or presenta- tion,.and, when demanded, such additional information concerning such proposed entertainment or motion picture as may be required by The Board of Censors. Upon receipt of any such application, the Secretary shall issue a permit in the name of The Board of Censors for the exhibition of the motion pictures or other form of theatrical entertainment applied for, but no per- mit shall be issued in the name of The Board of Censors upon any application for the showing of motion pictures or the giving of other forms of theatrical entertainment which are, in the opinion of the Board, indecent or injurious to the morals of the citizens of Fort Worth, or which would tend to promote or encourage indecency, immorality, or racial or sectional prejudices, or juvenile delinquency. Before passing on any application for a permit, The Board of Censors shall have the right to appoint a time and place for inspecting the motion picture or other form of theatrical entertainment in question, at which time the applicant shall exhibit for inspection by The Board of Censors the motion picture which is desired to be shown, and shall exhibit any other form of theatrical entertainment desired to be given. If a majority of The Board of Censors present at such inspection shall condemn said picture or other form of theatrical entertainment as being indecent or injurious to the morals of the citizens, or as tending to promote or encourage indecency, immorality, or racial or sectional prejudices, or juvenile delinquency, then no permit therefor shall be issued by the Secretary, and it is specifically provided that a quorum of said Board shall have the power to act in all cases. Further, it is provided that The Board of Censors shall have the power, in the event it does not desire to condemn a motion picture or other form of theatrical entertainment as a whole, to order the elimination of such parts or scenes as will remove the grounds of offense against this ordinance and the laws of the State of Texas, and to issue a permit conditioned upon the making of such elimination. The Board of Censors shall also have the power to require the ex- hibitor of any motion picture or other form of theatrical entertainment to submit advertising copy, including photographs, newspaper cuts, and drawings to be displayed in connection with such picture or theatrical entertainment, and cause said exhibitor to eliminate any such advertising deemed by the Board objectionable on the grounds of indecency or immorality, or being mis- leading. No advertising matter in any form shall be used or displayed by the exhibitor in connection with any theatrical entertainment after The Board of Censors has condemned the same as objectionable on the grounds of inde- cency or immorality, or being misleading. SECTION $. Any permit granted hereunder shall be subject to revocation by The Board of Censors should it be ascertained that there has been any mistake made on its part or misrepresentation or concealment of the material facts on the part of the permittee concerning the character and quality of the exhibition so permitted. SECTION 9. In the event The Board of Censors shall refuse to grant a permit to any applicant hereunder, then, on request of such applicant, The Board of Censors may, within twenty-four (24) hours after such request, call in three (3) referees to sit with said Board. Said referees shall be the Kayor of 7 the City of Fort Worth or some competent person selected by him, who shall serve in his stead, the Superintendent of the Fort Worth Public Schools, and the Chief Probation Officer of Tarrant County, Texas. The action of said Hoard of Censors and said three (3) referees in granting or refusing a permit shall then become final, such action being determined by a majority vote of those present; provided, however, that pending the hearing on any application for a permit, the exhibition under consideration shall not be presented or shown until after a final hearing and until, a permit shall have been granted. SECTION 10, The license or permit of any theater, motion picture show or other public house of amusement, or of the person in charge thereof or the pro— prietor thereof, may be forfeited or revoked or suspended for a definite period by the governing body of the City of Fort Worth for any violation of the provisions of this ordinance, or for any failure or refusal to comply with the provisions hereof. SECTION Its It shall be unlawful for any employee, ticket seller, ticket taker, usher, motion picture machine operator, or any other person connected with or employed by the exhibitor, owner, manager or proprietor of any theater, motion picture show or any other place of public entertainment to whom a permit, under the provisions of this ordinance, has been refused, to aid, assist or be connected with any such prohibited or condemned exhibition. SECTION 12. It shall be the duty of each member of The Board of Censors, as far as possible, to visit each place where motion pictures or other forms of theatrical entertainment are exhibited in the City of Fort Worth each day, and to examine all of said motion pictures and other forms of theatrical entertainment and ascertain if any such performances being exhibited have been condemned by The Board of Censors or a permit therefor has not been issued by said Board, and in case it shall be disclosed that any such per- • 1 formances are being shown or presented, the person in charge of the same shall be notified to stop such exhibition or performance,. The visiting member of the Board shall promptly report all violations of this ordinance to The Board of Censors. All motion picture shows, theaters and other places of public enter- tainment in the City of Fort Worth are hereby required to permit any or all members of The Board of Censors to enter said shows, theaters or other places of public entertainment without charge, and to examine and inspect each and all of said motion pictures or other forms of theatrical entertain— went which are being shown or exhibited therein, and said exhibitors and each of them shall promptly permit such entry, examination and inspection whenever and as often as any member of said Board of Censors may request. SECTION 13. Any person violating any of the terms of this ordinance, or failing or refusing to comply with the provisions hereof, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in any sum of money not to exceed Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00), and each day and any time that any of the provisions of this ordinance is being violated shall constitute a separate and distinct offense„ SECTION 14. Every section of this ordinance and every provision of each section is hereby declared to be an individual section or provision, and the holding of any section or provision of any section to be void, ineffective or uncon— stitutional for any cause whatever shall not be deemed to affect any other section or provision thereof. SECTION 15, All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith shall be and they are hereby repealed. SECTION 16. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after the date of its passage and publication as required by law. nn PRO��VID A FORM: ll � City Attorney