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(Editor’s Note: The following story has been updated from an earlier version to include additional details on the City of Linden’s sagging pants law.)

On Tuesday, the Linden City Council decided to make efforts to enforce a current law prohibiting individuals from wearing sagging pants and exposing their underwear.

“It is part of the law, and we feel like it should be looked into,” Mayor Charles Moore said.

According to City Attorney Woody Dinning Jr., individuals will be issued citations and assigned a court date. At court, individuals may plead guilty and pay the fine and court costs or plead not guilty and go to trial.

If an individual is found guilty by the judge at the trial, the fine and court costs must be paid but will not increase. Dinning said that the fine is typically $100 unless the individual is a repeat offender and court costs are usually $197.50. Fines can be up to $500.

In reference to alleged claims that individuals are wearing gym shorts over their underwear, Moore said that he felt that “we ought to go ahead and make arrests, take a picture of it and let [Dinning] determine whether it is underwear or not.”

The ordinance was first passed unanimously by the council approximately four years ago.

Dinning said that the ordinance was modeled after similar municipal ordinances from other states.

Other items discussed by the council are:

• The council approved purchasing three large table umbrellas at Walmart for approximately $35 each and putting them at the tables at the Thomas Terrace in downtown Linden.

• The council approved Police Chief Robert Alston purchasing a new police vehicle for $34,532 to replace his current vehicle.

• The council heard City Clerk Susie Ford report that the Alabama Municipal Wage Survey is available to take. No motion was made to participate.

• Mayor Charles Moore told the council that he is waiting on a price for paving and fixing cracks at the tennis court.

• The council heard Dinning report that he is currently conducting a title search for the property recently donated by the Stewart family.

• Councilwoman Jan Cannon brought to attention a request for better lights at the baseball field at Scott Park that is closest to the highway. Mayor Moore said that the lights will be replaced when the posts are replaced. They are currently getting prices on new posts.

The Linden City Council meets at 4:30 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of each month at the city hall.

(This article originally appeared in the Saturday, April 7 issue of the Demopolis Times.)