The ordinance codified in this chapter shall be known as, and may be cited as, the SeaTac Criminal Code. The provisions of this Code shall apply to any offense committed on or after the official date of incorporation of the City, February 28, The provisions of this Code do not apply to, or govern the construction of and punishment for any offense committed prior to February 28, , or to the construction and application of any defense to a prosecution for such an offense.
Such an offense must be construed and punished according to the provisions of law existing in the then-unincorporated area of King County at the time of the commission thereof in the same manner as if this Code had not been enacted. If any provision of this Code, or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the Code, or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected, and to this end the provisions of this Code are declared to be severable.
Section captions are for organizational purposes only and shall not be construed as part of this Code. To forbid and prevent conduct that inflicts or threatens substantial harm to individual or public interests;. To safeguard conduct that is without culpability from condemnation as criminal;. To give fair warning of the nature of the conduct declared to constitute an offense;. To differentiate on reasonable grounds between serious and minor offenses, and to prescribe proportionate penalties for each.
The provisions of this chapter 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 chapter.
Any person who commits within the corporate limits of the City any crime, in whole or in part, is liable to arrest and punishment. An offense defined by this Code, for which a sentence of imprisonment is authorized, constitutes a violation of City ordinance and a crime. For purposes of this Code, the two terms shall have the same meaning and may be used interchangeably.
