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Subjects › Legal › Nuisances › Moral Nuisances
Updated 09/2011

Moral Nuisances

Contents

Statutes

  • Ch. 7.48A RCW - Moral Nuisances
  • RCW 7.48A.020 - Moral nuisances - The following are declared to be moral nuisances:
    • (1) Any and every place in the state where lewd films are publicly exhibited as a regular course of business, or possessed for the purpose of such exhibition, or where lewd live performances are publicly exhibited as a regular course of business;
    • (2) Any and every lewd film which is publicly exhibited, or possessed for such purpose at a place which is a moral nuisance under this section;
    • (3) Any and every place of business in the state in which lewd publications constitute a principal part of the stock in trade;
    • (4) Every place which, as a regular course of business, is used for the purpose of lewdness or prostitution, and every such place in or upon which acts of lewdness or prostitution are conducted, permitted, carried on, continued, or exist;
    • (5) All houses, housing units, other buildings, or places of resort where controlled substances identified in Article II of chapter 69.50 RCW and not authorized by that chapter, are manufactured, delivered, or possessed, or where any such substance not obtained in a manner authorized by chapter 69.50 RCW is consumed by ingestion, inhalation, injection, or any other means.

Sample Moral Nuisance Ordinance Provisions

  • King County Code Title 12 (Adobe Acrobat Document) - See Ch. 12.63 - Prostitution (p. 137) and Ch. 12.63A - Antiprostitution Emphasis Areas  (p. 140)
  • Lakewood Ordinance No. 502 - Amends Chapter 9.82 of the Lakewood Municipal Code relative to prostitution and sex Crimes, passed 10/05/2009
  • Pierce County Ordinance No. 2007-15 (Adobe Acrobat Document) - Adopts a new chapter 9.45 of the Pierce County Code, "stay out of areas of prostitution orders," passed 03/2007
  • Seattle Municipal Code Ch. 12A.10 - Offenses Against Public Morals
  • Shoreline Municipal Code Sec. 9.10.560 - Sexual offenses – Unlawful Acts of Prostitution or Pandering
  • Tacoma Municipal Code Ch. 8.46 (Adobe Acrobat Document) - Prostitution, and Ch. 8.170 (Adobe Acrobat Document)- Stay Out of Areas of Prostitution
  • Tukwila Municipal Code Ch. 8.50 (Adobe Acrobat Document) - Crimes Relating to Public Morals
  • Whatcom County Code Ch. 9.12 - Moral Nuisances

    Additional References

    • Prostitution - National Criminal Justice Reference Service Topics
    • The Big Book of Nuisance Abatement, by William Cameron, City Attorney of Kennewick; Gary McLean, City Attorney of Des Moines; and Robert Noe, City Attorney of Tukwila, Information Bulletin No. 503 (1999), Legal Notes, Proceedings of April 28-30, 1998, pp. [15-1]-[15-97] (Available through MRSC Library Loan)
    • Prostitutes, Winos, Druggies, Thieves and Other Public Nuisances: Procedures for Their Control and Abatement by Place and Area Access Restrictions, by Greg A. Rubstello, City Attorney of Pasco, Information Bulletin No. 451 (1988), Legal Notes, Proceedings of October 22-24, 1987, pp. 92-102 (Available through MRSC Library Loan)