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Garden City Council schedules public hearing to update telephone and telecommunications ordinance
Summary
The council set a public hearing for March to consider rewrites to the citys ordinance formerly titled for obscene and harassing telephone calls; staff said the draft broadens coverage to texts, emails and video calls and renames the code section to address malicious use of telecommunications services.
Garden City will hold a public hearing in March after the council voted Monday to consider an overhaul of the citys ordinance governing obscene and harassing telephone communications.
City attorney/staff Mr. Gibbons told the council the current ordinance is outdated in light of modern communications and the draft under consideration would expand the scope to "all methods of communication that someone might use on a phone" including texts, emails and video calls. He said the updated draft has been retitled to address "malicious use of service provided by telecommunications service provider." "It is a nearly complete overhaul of the ordinance," Gibbons said, and staff committed to providing a redline showing what has changed.
Council member Dole moved to call a public hearing for Monday, March (2026) at 7 p.m. to consider the amendment to chapter 131 on malicious use of telecommunications services; the motion passed, with the clerk briefly misstating the tally as 7-0 before correcting to 6-0.
Councilmember King asked whether the packet contained the current ordinance or the updated draft; Gibbons confirmed the packet included the draft and agreed to provide a redline copy online. The city indicated the draft ordinance will be posted for public review ahead of the hearing.
Next steps: Staff will post the draft and a redline version of Chapter 131 online and accept public comment at the scheduled hearing.
