9.05.020 Purposes – Principles of construction.
(1) The general purposes of the provisions governing the definition of offenses are:
(a) To forbid and prevent conduct that inflicts or threatens substantial harm to individuals or public interests;
(b) To safeguard conduct that is without culpability from condemnation as criminal;
(c) To give fair warning of the nature of the conduct declared to constitute an offense; and
(d) To differentiate on reasonable grounds between serious and minor offenses and to prescribe proportionate penalties for each.
(2) The provisions of this code shall be construed according to the fair import of their terms, and when the language is susceptible of differing constructions, it shall be interpreted to further the general purposes stated in this code.
(3) In adopting State statute by reference, only those crimes and offenses within the jurisdiction of a municipality are intended to be adopted, and in those sections adopted which define both misdemeanors and felonies, only the language applicable to misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors is to be applied. (Ord. 74-98 § 2)