NOTE:

Public nudity is considered `reckless and unreasonable’ and sheriff’s deputies have begun issuing citation.

Law-abiding sunbathers visiting the Tanque Verde Falls area will have to settle for tan lines, now that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department has decided to issue citations to nudists.

The sheriff’s department began issuing misdemeanor citations to nudists in the falls area about two weeks ago because nudity is considered “reckless and unreasonable,’ said Sgt. Michael G. O’Connor, a spokesman with the department.

O’Connor said deputies who visited the area about a month ago determined that the falls were used by many non-nudists offended by naked sunbathers in the area.

“We feel this is a multiuse area . . . available to all and not just a select few,’ O’Connor said.

For years, nudists have been using the falls area northeast of Tucson to sunbathe. The nudists were not cited because complaints about them, while steady, were never very numerous, deputies have said.

But after deputies surveyed the falls area about a month ago they decided to ask the Pima County Attorney’s Office if they could start citing the nudists, O’Connor said.

He said people using the area told deputies that they were offended by the nudists and the County Attorney’s Office agreed that nudity in the falls area was “reckless and unreasonable.’

Thus, the County Attorney’s Office gave the green light to the sheriff’s department to issue misdemeanor citations to nudists for indecent exposure, O’Connor said.

He said anyone convicted on indecent exposure charges must register with the sheriff as registered sex offenders. Nudists who expose themselves to children under 15 will be arrested on felony charges, O’Connor said.

Although the sheriff’s department will not station a deputy to patrol the falls area, O’Connor said a deputy who works in the area will make periodic checks of the falls and issue citations to nudists.

In most cases, the first time someone is caught naked, they will be given a “documented warning,’ O’Connor said. If they are found nude in the area again, they will be cited, he said.

About two weeks ago, O’Connor said seven men and one woman were issued citations for indecent exposure in the falls. Since then, he said deputies have not had any problems with nudists in the area.

“Either word has gotten out, or we haven’t been there when they were there,’ O’Connor said.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 27th, 1995 at 8:20 am and is filed under Local. Tags for this post: Citizen Staff Writer, Norman Peckham, page-2. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.