At their June 24 meeting, the Derby City Council approved an amendment to the city’s ordinance regulating demonstrations at or near the site of a funeral.

In recently years, some groups have conducted demonstrations in close proximity to funeral ceremonies, particularly ceremonies honoring deceased soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.

Such demonstrations have a disruptive effect on funeral ceremonies and constitute an unwarranted invasion of the privacy of family members of the deceased and others in attendance.

In 2006, the city enacted an ordinance prohibiting such demonstrations under certain circumstances; at the time, no enforceable state law regulated demonstrations in proximity to a funeral, according to Derby City Attorney Phil Alexander.

In 2008, the Kansas Legislature enacted a new law, amending the previous one, to establish reasonable time, place and manner for demonstrations conducted in proximity to a funeral.

The provisions are similar to the the current ones, but the two differ in some areas.
While both prohibit demonstrations within 150 feet of the service within 60 minutes before th service, the city’s current ordinance prohibits demonstrations within 60 minutes after the service, and state law extends the prohibition to two hours.

“State law is slightly more aggressive in prohibiting interference with a funeral procession regardless of location,” Alexander said. “The city’s current ordinance prohibits interference only within 300 feet.”

In addition, violation of the state law is a class B misdemeanor, meaning up to $1,000 fine and six months in jail, where violation of the city’s ordinance is a class C misdemeanor, meaning up to $500 fine and 30 days in jail, with a minimum fine of $200 for a second or subsequent offense.

“The ordinance recommended for council consideration would strengthen the city code to the level of current state law,” Alexander said.

Council members discussed several issues regarding the new ordinance, stating that funeral s are typically solemn occasions reserved for honoring the deceased, and when attending a funeral, family members of the deceased and other participants have a reasonable expectation that the ceremony will be conducted in relative privacy, free of extraneous disruptions.

“The gravity of such occasions is understood and accepted by the public, as demonstrated when motorists pull to the side of the road to allow a funeral caravan to pass,” Alexander said. “In recently years, public demonstrations have been conducted in close proximity to funeral ceremonies.

“Such demonstrations, while infrequent, unjustifiable intrude upon the solemnity of the occasion and cause emotional anguish for family members and other participants.”
The council brought up the fact that persons seeking to express themselves through public demonstrations have many venues available to them without conducting demonstrations near a funeral ceremony.

“The restrictions and limitations of the proposed ordinance are reasonable and appropriately balance the interests of funeral participants and demonstrators,” Alexander said. “Now that the state has a law governing funeral protests, there is some value in the city being consistent with state law.”

The council will next meet on Tuesday, July 8 at 6:30 p.m. at Derby City Hall.