45-11-47 - Public eating places or places of public amusement to provide exits; penalties for violation.
§ 45-11-47. Public eating places or places of public amusement to provide exits; penalties for violation.
(1) It shall be the duty of the owner and operator of any public restaurant, cafe, night club, or eating place or place of public amusement to provide proper exits for the use of patrons in the event of fire in same. Doors to all restaurants, cafes, night clubs, or other public eating places or places of public amusement shall open to the outside of the building, where the seating capacity is over fifty (50) seats. Every room, gallery, tier or other space having a capacity of one hundred (100) or more shall have not less than two (2) exit doorways. In every establishment that accommodates three hundred (300) or more persons, each room, gallery, tier or other space where such assembly occurs, shall have exit ways to the outside as follows:
Not less than two (2) exit ways when six hundred (600) persons or less are accommodated in such room, gallery, tier or other space; and
Not less than three (3) exit ways when more than six hundred (600), but not more than one thousand (1,000) persons, are accommodated; and
Not less than four (4) exit ways when more than one thousand (1,000) persons are accommodated.
(2) Any restaurant, cafe, night club or other public eating place or place of public amusement, consisting of two (2) or more stories or floors, or any restaurant, cafe, night club, or public eating place or place of public amusement, being situated above or higher than the ground floor of any building, when such upper or higher floor has a seating capacity for fifty (50) or more persons, shall provide at least two (2) stairways located as far apart as practical for the use of patrons in the event of fire in said building. At least one (1) of the two (2) stairways shall lead directly to the outside of such building or assembly room, and shall not lead into or through the lobby or any other place through which persons come from other parts of the building or will have to pass in making emergency exits.
(3) Any owner of any restaurant, cafe, night club, or public eating place failing or refusing to comply with the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not more than ninety (90) days, or by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Sources: Codes, 1942, § 7011-01; Laws, 1946, ch. 347, §§ 1-3.