by TaLeiza Calloway
news@thenewsleaders.com
Elected officials will get more information next month about proposed laws that would provide more tools for law enforcement in the city and deter underage drinking.
City council members considered the addition of several law changes, including a disruptive-intoxication law, social-host ordinance and a requirement permit for kegs in the city. No decision was made on the keg-permit fee, but residents of age who want to have a keg at a gathering could have to apply for a permit in the future. The City of St. Cloud charges $5.25 for keg permits. In St. Joseph, no more than one keg may be located on a single property unit.
This is the second time the city has pondered a social-host ordinance, a law that holds people criminally responsible for hosting events or gatherings where people under the age of 21 possess or consume alcohol regardless of whether the host of the event supplied the alcohol.
“Some landlords wanted this,” Police Chief Pete Jansky said. “I think it’s a good ordinance.”
The city of St. Cloud has a social-host ordinance in place. According to staff, it has worked well for them, St. Joseph City Administrator Judy Weyrens told officials Oct. 18. City staff hope to have St. Cloud City Attorney Matt Staehling come to the council’s Nov. 15 meeting to give more information about the law, she said.
Jansky said the public-intoxication law will assist with problems law enforcement has with large unruly crowds. The proposed law states no person, while intoxicated in a public place, shall conduct him or herself so as to be a danger to themselves or others and or engage in a public disruption.
“It gives us a tool in the toolbox,” Jansky said. “More control.”