39-17-307 - Obstructing highway or other passageway.
39-17-307. Obstructing highway or other passageway.
(a) A person commits an offense who, without legal privilege, intentionally, knowingly or recklessly:
(1) Obstructs a highway, street, sidewalk, railway, waterway, elevator, aisle, or hallway to which the public, or a substantial portion of the public, has access; or any other place used for the passage of persons, vehicles or conveyances, whether the obstruction arises from the person's acts alone or from the person's acts and the acts of others; or
(2) Disobeys a reasonable request or order to move issued by a person known to be a law enforcement officer, a firefighter, or a person with authority to control the use of the premises to:
(A) Prevent obstruction of a highway or passageway; or
(B) Maintain public safety by dispersing those gathered in dangerous proximity to a fire, riot or other hazard.
(b) For purposes of this section, obstruct means to render impassable or to render passage unreasonably inconvenient or potentially injurious to persons or property.
(c) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
(d) (1) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section, which must be proven by a preponderance of the evidence, that:
(A) Solicitation and collection of charitable donations at a highway or street intersection were undertaken by members of an organization that has received a determination of exemption from the internal revenue service under 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3) or (4);
(B) The members of the organization undertook reasonable and prudent precautions to prevent both disruption of traffic flow and injury to person or property; and
(C) The solicitation and collection at the specific time and place and the specific precautions were proposed in advance to, and received the prior written approval of, the administrative head of the local law enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction the intersection is located.
(2) The provisions of this subsection (d) do not apply in any county having a population of not less than eighty thousand (80,000) nor more than eighty-three thousand (83,000) according to the 1990 federal census or any subsequent federal census.
(3) No liability for any accident or other occurrence that arises from solicitations shall attach to the sheriff or government involved in issuing the permit, but shall be borne solely by the organization obtaining the permit.
(4) The provisions of this subsection (d) shall not be construed to supersede or affect any ordinance relative to collecting donations at public intersections in effect on July 1, 1993.
(5) Any municipality by ordinance may prohibit roadblocks within its corporate limits notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection (d).
[Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 1; 1993, ch. 148, §§ 1-5.]