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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 24090-03-2020 J . ORDINANCE NO. 24090-03-2020 AN ORDINANCE REVISING CHAPTER 11.5 "EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT," OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS (2015), AS AMENDED, BY ADDING A NEW SECTION 11.5-2.5, PROVIDING EXPLICIT AUTHORITY TO TEMPORARILY RESTRICT MOBILITY OF INDIVIDUALS WHEN NECESSARY TO CONTROL AN EPIDEMIC AND PREVENT ITS SPREAD; PROVIDING THAT THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BE CUMULATIVE OF ALL PRIOR ORDINANCES AND REPEAL CONFLICTING ORDINANCES; PROVIDING FOR A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR A SAVINGS CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the City of Fort Worth ("City") seeks to provide for the health, safety and welfare of its citizens; and WHEREAS,the City has authority pursuant to its police powers as a home-rule municipal corporation to adopt and enforce ordinances and regulations to protect the health, welfare, and safety of the public; and WHEREAS, in accordance with this authority, the City has previously enacted Section 16-312 of the Fort Worth City Code, which mandates that the director of the department of public health"shall employ any sanitary measure deemed necessary by him or her for the control of such epidemic and to prevent its spread"; and WHEREAS, in certain situations an individual has been confirmed to have a highly contagious communicable disease that is the subject of a threatened or on-going epidemic or pandemic, does not present symptoms requiring hospitalization, and is directed by his or her physician or other medical personnel to remain at home and self-isolate; and WHEREAS, in most instances, the individual in question is willing and able to take voluntary measures to protect the public health by self-isolating or following other medical directions both while awaiting confirmation of their status and while they are recovering from the illness; and WHEREAS, certain individuals in the Fort Worth community are unwilling or unable to voluntarily comply with medical direction regarding quarantine, self-isolation, or other disease- containment or infection-control measures due to a lack of physical or financial resources or because of mental health, substance abuse, or other challenges; and WHEREAS, chapter 81 of the Texas Health and Safety Code provides a formal process for a local health authority to obtain control orders intended to limit the spread of communicable diseases and authorizes enforcement of such orders; and WHEREAS, there can sometimes be a brief gap between when the local health authority receives confirmation of a person's positive status and the control order issues; and WHEREAS, the City Council finds it necessary to safeguard the public health by providing City staff with explicit authority to restrict the mobility of infected individuals while awaiting the issuance of a control order and, following issuance of a control order,while the local health authority is seeking a court order to restrain an individual who has indicated his unwilling or unable to comply with the control order; and WHEREAS,in enacting these measures the City is mindful of the rights of the individuals and desires to minimize imposition on personal liberties by limiting such restrictions to the shortest period that is deemed medically necessary without compromising public health. NOW THEREFORE BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH,TEXAS THAT: SECTION 1. Chapter 11.5, "Emergency Management," of the Code of the City of Fort Worth (2015), as amended, is hereby revised to add a new section to read as follows: § 11.5-2.5 AUTHORITY TO TEMPORARILY DETAIN OR RESTRICT MOVEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH (a) In addition to the authority granted by other provisions in this chapter or under other law, during a declared public health emergency related to a communicable or infectious disease,a peace officer or other individual designated by the city's chief of police or city marshal is hereby granted the explicit authority to protect the public health by detaining or restricting the mobility of any individual who has been confirmed as being infected with the contagious communicable disease or condition that is the subject of the public health emergency and for whom a control order is being sought or for whom a control order has been issued, provided, however, that such detainer or restriction shall be strictly limited in duration in accordance with subsection(d)below. (b) The authority granted under subsection(a)may only be exercised if the individual in question demonstrates by words or actions that he is either unwilling or unable to voluntarily comply with medical directions regarding self-isolation or similar measures intended to reduce the risk of infection by others or with the terms of a control order. (c) If an individual is unwilling or unable to voluntarily comply with the terms of a control order and a court order is not actively being sought by another appropriate entity, City staff is authorized to seek a court order to enforce a control order. (d) A detainer or restriction while awaiting the issuance of a control order or of a court order to enforce a previously issued control order shall not exceed longer than is reasonably necessary and under no circumstances longer than twenty-four(24) hours. SECTION 2. That these ordinances shall be cumulative of all other ordinances of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, and shall not repeal any of the provisions of such ordinances, except in those instances where provisions of such ordinances are in direct conflict with the provisions of this ordinance. SECTION 3. That all rights or remedies of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, are expressly saved as to any and all violations of the City Code, or any amendments thereto that have accrued at the time of the effective date of this ordinance; and as to such accrued violations, and all pending litigation, both civil and criminal, same shall not be affected by this ordinance but may be prosecuted until final disposition by the courts. SECTION 4. That it is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases of these ordinances are severable, and if any phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section of these ordinances shall be declared void, ineffective or unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, such voidness, ineffectiveness or unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs or sections of these ordinances, since the same would have been enacted by the City Council without the incorporation herein of any such void, ineffective or unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section. SECTION 5. This ordinance shall take effect on adoption. APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: ATTEST: IA4.4 16A,14111 A AA ssistant City Atto ey Mary J. Kayser i re r Date: _ .� ADOPTED and EFFECTIVE: March 26, 2020 05 U * `2 �`XAS