What is the law on Harassment by Telecommunications Device in Shawnee Municipal Court?

The Shawnee Municipal Court hears cases in which there is an alleged violation of the Shawnee Municipal Code. The Shawnee Municipal Code is essentially the law in the city limits of Shawnee. The city of Shawnee chose not to author the entire set of laws for the city, instead the city council adopted the Uniform Code for Kansas Municipalities for much of conduct that the city wishes to assign a criminal penalty to. The Unform code is code promulgated by a league of Kansas cities and is designed to diminish the cost and effort necessary to produce city codes, many cities have adopted this code for their criminal ordinances. Below is the Shawnee City ordinance prohibiting Harassment by Telecommunications Device.

Sec. 9.10. Harassment by Telecommunications Device.

(a) Harassment by telecommunication device is the use of:

(1) A telecommunications device to:

(A) Knowingly make or transmit any comment, request, suggestion, proposal, image or text which is obscene, lewd, lascivious, or indecent;

(B) Make or transmit a call, whether or not conversation ensues, with intent to abuse, threaten or harass a person at the receiving end;

(C) Make or transmit any comment, request, suggestion, proposal, image or text with intent to abuse, threaten or harass any person at the receiving end;

(D) Make or cause a telecommunications device to repeatedly ring or activate with intent to harass any person at the receiving end; 108

(E) Knowingly play any recording on a telephone, except recordings such as weather information or sports information when the number thereof is dialed, unless the person or group playing the recording shall be identified and state that it is a recording; or

(F) Knowingly permit any telecommunications device under one’s control to be used in violation of this paragraph.

(2) Telefacsimile communication to send or transmit such communication to a court in the State of Kansas for a use other than court business, with no requirement of culpable mental state.

(b) An offender who violates the provisions of this section may also be prosecuted for, convicted of, and punished for any other offense in sections 11.1 and 11.2.

(c) Harassment by a telecommunication device is a Class A violation. (K.S.A. 21-6206)

What do you do if you've been charged with Harassment by Telecommunications Device in the Shawnee Municipal Court?

First off, you are already on the right track. If you've found this page you must be researching what the law is on Harassment by Telecommunications device in the City of Shawnee. Anytime you are charged with a crime it makes sense to begin by researching the law in which the city claims you have violated. Knowing what the law is simply isn't enough to navigate a criminal case and in fact, knowing just the text of the ordinance isn't enough to fully even understand the law on telephone harassment. After you've read the ordinance it makes sense to do an in-depth review of telephone harassment in the State of Kansas. Here is a guide, written by an experienced lawyer that can answer some common questions associated with a telephone harassment charge. After you have read the ordinance, digested the commonly asked questions it's time to sit down with a lawyer who has experience with the Shawnee Municipal Court. You can only glean so much from reading and researching, it's best to meet with a lawyer whom has actual real life experience in the Shawnee Court that can tell you how these cases are generally handled, present possible defenses and give you a general perspective on the personalities and people who will be working on your case.