Longtime Marion bike license law on its way out

City council repealing ’outdated’ ordinance

Apr. 9, 2021 6:15 am

The Marion City Council is in the process of repealing an ’outdated’ city ordinance that requires bicycle owners to obtain a $1 license from the city. (The Gazette)

MARION — Marion residents soon will be able to ride their bikes — legally — without a license.

The ordinance requires bike owners to register their bicycle with the Marion Police Department and obtain a $1 sticker to put on the bicycle. The chief of police also was to inspect the bike.

The Marion City Council on Thursday night voted unanimously to repeal the ordinance, in the first step of the repeal process.

Marion police Chief Mike Kitsmiller told The Gazette the ordinance had been on the books for at least 40 years.

At a council work session Tuesday, Kitsmiller recommended the repeal after hearing from a resident who suggested the ordinance be reviewed.

Marion police, he said, haven’t enforced the ordinance for “several years.”

“It’s outdated, and we don’t enforce it,” Kitsmiller told the council. “According to the law, we can seize bikes that don’t have the dollar license, and I don’t want to do it.”

The ordinance has nothing to do with where or how bicyclists could ride their bikes, Kitsmiller said.

“It’s strictly having to do with putting stickers on a bike and having me inspect bikes, which I’m not qualified to do,” he told the council.