(a) No minor of the age of fifteen years or under shall be found in or upon any of the streets or public grounds or public places, to include, but not limited to: parking lots, malls, stores, shops, schools, hospitals, or businesses, within the City between the hours of 9:30 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. hereinafter referred to as curfew hours, unless such minor is accompanied by his or her parent or guardian or a person who is over the age of twenty-one who stands in loco parentis.
(b) No minor being sixteen or seventeen years of age shall be found in or upon any of the streets or public grounds or public places, to include, but not limited to: parking lots, malls, stores, shops, schools, hospitals, or businesses, within the City between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. hereinafter referred to as curfew hours, unless such minor is accompanied by his or her parent or guardian or a person who is over the age of twenty-one who stands in loco parentis.
(c) No parent, guardian, or person standing in loco parentis of a minor shall knowingly allow a minor of the age specified in subsections (a) and (b) hereof to remain in or upon the streets, public grounds, or public places including but not limited to parking lots, malls, stores, shops, schools, hospitals, or businesses within the City during curfew hours, as defined in subsections (a) and (b) hereof, without being present with the minor.
(d) No owner, operator, or employee of an establishment shall knowingly permit a minor of the age specified in subsections (a) and (b) hereof to remain upon the premises of the establishment during curfew hours, as defined in subsections (a) and (b) hereof.
(e) It shall be a defense to prosecution under this section that the specified minor was:
(1) Accompanied by a parent, guardian, or person acting in loco parentis who is of the age of twenty-one or older;
(2) On an errand at the direction of the minor's parent, guardian, or person in loco parentis, and has a written and signed note stating the errand the minor is on and the minor's name, as long as the minor has not stopped or detoured while performing the errand;
(3) In a motor vehicle involved in Interstate travel;
(4) Engaged in an employment activity or going to or from employment activities, without any detours or stops;
(5) Involved in an emergency;
(6) On the sidewalk abutting the minor's home while creating no disturbance;
(7) Attending an official school, religious or recreational, activity or other official public activity supervised by adults and sponsored by the City, a civic organization, or other similar entity that takes responsibility for the minor;
(8) Going to or returning from an official school, religious or recreational, activity or other official public activity supervised by adults and sponsored by the City, a civic organization, or other similar entity that takes responsibility for the minor, so long as the minor does not stop or detour from that travel;
(9) Exercising First Amendment or other rights protected by the Constitution of the United States of America such as the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, or the right to peacefully assemble;
(10) It shall be a defense to prosecution under subsection (d) hereof that the owner, operator, or employee of an establishment had promptly contacted the police and notified them that a minor was present on the premises during the curfew hours.
(f) Whoever violates a provision of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor for a first offense. Whoever violates a provision of this section, and who has been previously convicted on a violation of a provision of this section, is guilty of a fourth degree misdemeanor.
(Ord. 64-96. Passed 6-17-96.)