PIKEVILLE COUNCIL SAYS “PULL YOUR PANTS UP” OR PAY THE PRICE
The City Council of Pikeville unanimously approved an ordinance that would make individuals who wear their pants “more than three inches below the top of the hips (crest of the ilium)” guilty of public indecency.
The ordinance must be read multiple times before it can officially be declared a law.
Offenders would be forced to pay at least $25 after their first offense and “not more than” $50 for subsequent offenses.
According to the ordinance, the city of Pikeville finds “the exposure of a person’s buttocks and genital area or undergarments is offensive and indecent” and “there is evidence that indicates that wearing sagging pants is injurious to the health of the wearer as it causes improper gait.”
State law already makes “indecent exposure” in schools illegal and it’s unclear as to how Pikeville’s ordinance is different. “All I know is we just don’t want them running around half naked on our streets,” said Pikeville Mayor Phil Cagle. “That’s the bottom line.”