Territorial Enterprise (Virginia City, NV), February 2, 1878.
Page 1 of the newspaper indicated that the Board of Aldermen of the City of Virginia, Nevada, repealed the old “Ordinance for the prevention and punishment of certain offenses against the peace, good order and health of the City” that had been in effect since June 30, 1875. They adopted a revised ordinance, which was printed on page 2 of the same issue.
An Ordinance for the Prevention and punishment of offenses against the peace, good order and health of the city of Virginia and the people thereof, Section 15:
Section 15. No person shall offer for sale, exhibit, pass, give or deliver, to another any obscene, lewd or indecent book, pamphlet, picture, card, print, paper, writing, mold, cast or figure, or have the same in his or her possession, unless it be shown that the possession is innocent or for a lawful purpose; circulate or distribute, or cause to be circulated or distributed, any pamphlets, books or circulars, treating of or illustrating any of the diseases of the sexual organs; appear in a public place naked, or in a dress not belonging to his or her sex, or in an indecent or lewd dress; make any indecent exposure of his or her person; be guilty of any indecent or lewd act or behavior, or be guilty of making indecent gestures, or of using any profane, lewd or indecent language or noise; exhibit or perform any indecent, immoral or lewd play or representation; solicit, employ or engage another to commit a public offense; make the use of or have in his or her possession any slung-shot instrument or deice of any kind by means of which missiles of any kind or description are hurled or projected; wear or carry any slung-shot or knuckles or instrument of a similar character; solicit by words, gestures, knocks, or in any manner, any person passing or being on a public street or place to enter any public house for lewd purposes; be drunk in a public place open to public view, or be guilty of any drunken, noisy or disorderly conduct.
The punishment was outlined in Section 19:
Section 19. Any person violating any of the provisions of this Ordinance, or any section thereof, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or imprisonment in the City Jail not to exceed six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.