City of Paris, TX GRAFFITI

As used in this article, the following words shall have the definitions ascribed to them by this section:

means the director of the department designated by the city manager to enforce and administer this article or the director’s authorized representative.

Graffiti

means any marking, including, but not limited to, any inscription, slogan, drawing, painting, symbol, logo, name, character or figure, that is made in any manner on tangible property.

Guardian

means:

(1)

A person who, under court order, is the guardian of the person of a minor; or

(2)

A public or private agency with whom a minor has been placed by a court.

Minor

means any person under seventeen (17) years of age.

Owner

means any person with the legal right of possession to tangible property.

Parent

means a person who is a natural parent, adoptive parent, or step-parent of another person.

(Ordinance 96-020, sec. 1, adopted 4/8/96; 1988 Code, sec. 21-75)

(a)

An owner of any tangible property in the city commits an offense if he fails to remove all graffiti from the property that is visible from any public property or right-of-way or from any private property other than the property on which the graffiti exists, unless the graffiti was created on the property with the owner’s consent and does not violate the sign regulations of the city or any other applicable city ordinance or state or federal law.

(b)

Before issuing a citation for a violation under subsection (a) of this section, the director shall serve the property owner with written notice to remove the graffiti from the property within twenty-one (21) calendar days from the date the notice is served. The notice may be served by handing it to the owner in person or by United States certified mail, five-day return receipt requested, addressed to the owner at the owner’s post office address as shown on the tax rolls of the city or of the county in which the premises is located. If the owner cannot be found and the notice is returned by the United States Postal Service, then the owner may be notified by:

(1)

Publication two (2) times within ten (10) consecutive days in the official newspaper adopted by the city council;

(2)

Posting the notice on or near the front door of each building on the premises to which the violation relates; or

(3)

Posting the notice on a placard attached to a stake driven into the ground on the premises to which the violation relates, if the premises contains no buildings.

(c)

The twenty-one (21) calendar days will be counted:

(1)

From the date the notice is personally served on the owner or from the sixth day after the notice is placed in the United States certified mail; or

(2)

If the owner cannot be found or the notice is returned by the United States Postal Service, from the date the notice is:

(A)

Published for the second time in accordance with subsection (b)(1) of this section; or

(B)

Posted in accordance with subsection (b)(2) or (3) of this section.

(d)

It is a defense to prosecution under subsection (a) of this section that:

(1)

No notice was served on the property owner in compliance with subsection (b);

(2)

Before being issued a citation under this section, the property owner gave the director written authorization to allow persons to enter onto the property and remove the graffiti pursuant to a volunteer or community service program approved by the director in which the property owner is eligible to participate.

(Ordinance 96-020, sec. 1, adopted 4/8/96; 1988 Code, sec. 21-76)