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PEACE, SAFETY AND GENERAL WELFARE

Memphis Charter art. 42
in effect

Memphis Charter, art. 42, § 369 Powers generally.

Sec. 369. - Powers generally. The local government shall have power over all affairs in the City in which the peace, safety, or general welfare of the inhabitants is interested. (Acts 1879, ch. 11, § 3)

Memphis Charter, art. 42, § 370 Misdemeanors and punishments.

Sec. 370. - Misdemeanors and punishments. Said local government is authorized to declare what acts shall be misdemeanors, and when committed within the City, to punish the offenders by fines and forfeitures, and by imprisonment and labor, within and without the workhouse, in default of payment of the fines imposed as punishment. It may also declare, by ordinance, that any person guilty of any misdemeanor under the laws of the state, committed in the City, shall be guilty of an offense against the City; and may pass any ordinance or police regulation specifically prohibiting the Commission of any offense within the City, and provide punishment therefor, whenever such offense would be a misdemeanor under the State law, and may make such offense a misdemeanor against the City. (Acts 1879, ch. 11, § 3; Priv. Acts 1921, ch. 245)

Memphis Charter, art. 42, § 370.1 Police power extended one mile beyond corporate limits.

Sec. 370.1. - Police power extended one mile beyond corporate limits. The police power of said City shall extend to a distance of one mile from the corporate limits thereof; and all ordinances of said City of a general character, passed for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety, shall have full force and effect for such distance of one mile beyond the corporate limit and all breaches of said ordinances within said distance may be punished by arrest, fine and imprisonment, as if committed within the corporate limits. (Acts 1887, ch. 59, § 3)

Memphis Charter, art. 42, § 371 Arrest and trial of offenders.

Sec. 371. - Arrest and trial of offenders. The local government shall have power to arrest and confine for trial, or to take forfeit for the appearance for trial, of all persons charged with offenses which are punished as misdemeanors by the laws of the City. (Acts 1879, ch. 11, § 3)

Memphis Charter, art. 42, § 372 Bringing paupers into City.

Sec. 372. - Bringing paupers into City. The local government shall have power to prohibit by fine the introduction of paupers into the City by steamboats, railroads, or other carriers of persons. (Acts 1879, ch. 11, § 3)

Memphis Charter, art. 42, § 373 Disturbers of the peace; suspicious persons.

Sec. 373. - Disturbers of the peace; suspicious persons. The local government shall have power to provide for the punishment of persons disturbing the good order and quiet of the corporation by clamor and noise in the night season, or otherwise violating the public peace by indecent or disorderly conduct, or by lewd, lascivious behavior; to provide for the punishment of habitual disturbers of the peace and of any suspicious person who cannot give a reasonable account of himself; and whenever any person shall be arrested as a suspicious person it shall be lawful for the police to detain such person for investigation for a reasonable time. (Priv. Acts 1921, ch. 968)

Memphis Charter, art. 42, § 374 Disorderly houses and houses of ill-fame.

Sec. 374. - Disorderly houses and houses of ill-fame. The local government shall have power to regulate, control and suppress disorderly houses and houses of ill-fame. (Acts 1879, ch. 11, § 3)

Memphis Charter, art. 42, § 375 Gaming and gaming houses.

Sec. 375. - Gaming and gaming houses. The local government shall have power to suppress gaming houses and to punish gaming by fine and imprisonment. (Acts 1905, ch. 251)

Memphis Charter, art. 42, § 378 Vagrants, tramps, drunken and disorderly persons.

Sec. 378. - Vagrants, tramps, drunken and disorderly persons. The local government shall have power to cause the arrest of all vagrants, tramps, and drunken and disorderly persons within the City and provide for the punishment of the same in the manner above provided. (Acts 1879, ch. 11, § 3)
Source: City of Memphis, Code of Ordinances and Charter and Related Laws (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/tn/memphis/codes/charter?nodeId=PTICHRELA_ART42PESAGEWEFetched: 10/28/2026

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