Columbia Examinations of certain suspects; quarantine ordinance (§ 11-116)
Chapter 11: Health and Sanitation · Article IV. Diseases
In short: Anyone arrested for prostitution, frequenting a house of ill fame or assignation, or lewd or lascivious conduct must be examined by the health officer for infectious venereal disease. If infected, they are quarantined in a city-provided place until no longer contagious, or may instead see their own physician at their own expense.
Our plain-English summary, not the official text or legal advice. The ordinance below is what counts.
When any person is arrested for being a prostitute, a keeper, inmate or frequenter of a house of ill fame, prostitution or assignation, or for lewd or lascivious conduct, such person shall be subjected to a physical examination by the health officer for the purpose of determining if such person is infected with a venereal disease in the infectious stage. If such examination should reveal that such person is suffering from and afflicted with a venereal disease in the infectious stage, such person shall be quarantined and detained in a place provided by the city until such time as such person is no longer capable of conveying such disease to others; provided, however, that any person so quarantined and detained may, at his option, be cared for at his own expense by his own physician.
Official source: City of Columbia official Code of Ordinances (online): look up Sec. 11-116
Text from Supplement 139 (September 3, 2026).
Last checked November 1, 2026. The city's official copy controls; this page is a reading copy, not legal advice.