(A) This section shall be known and may be cited as the “Curfew Ordinance” or “Regulation of the Presence and Conduct of Minors on Streets and Public Places.”
(B) For the purpose of this section, the following definitions apply unless the context clearly requires a different meaning.
MINOR. Any person under the age of 18.
PARENT. Any person having legal custody of a minor as:
(a) A natural or adoptive parent;
(b) A legal guardian;
(c) A person who stands in loco parentis; or
(d) A person to whom legal custody has been given by order of the Court.
PUBLIC PLACE. Any street, alley, highway, sidewalk, park, playground or place to which the general public has access and a right to resort for business, entertainment or other lawful purposes. A PUBLIC PLACE shall include, but not be limited to, any store, shop, restaurant, tavern, bowling alley, café, theater, drug store, pool room or shopping center and any other place devoted to the amusement or entertainment of the general public. It shall also include the front or immediate area of the above.
REMAIN. To stand behind, to tarry and to stay unnecessarily upon the streets, including the congregating of groups (or of interacting minors) totaling four or more persons in which any minor involved would not be using the streets for ordinary or serious purposes, such as mere passage or going home.
STREET. A way or place, of whatsoever nature, open to the use of the public as a matter of right for the purpose of vehicular travel or, in the case of a sidewalk thereof, for pedestrian travel. The term STREET includes the legal right-of-way, including, but not limited to, the cartway or traffic lanes, the curb, the sidewalks, whether paved or unpaved, and any grass plots or other grounds found within the legal right-of-way of a street.
TIME OF NIGHT. Is based upon the prevailing standard of time, whether central standard time or central daylight saving time, generally observed at that hour by the public.
YEAR OF AGE. Continues from one birthday, such as the seventeenth, to, but not including the day of, the next, such as the eighteenth birthday, making it clear that 17 or less years of age is herein treated as equivalent to the phrase “under 18 years of age.”
(C) It is unlawful for any person 17 or less years of age (under 18) to be or to remain in or upon the streets within the city at night during the period ending at 6:00 a.m. and beginning:
(1) At 10:00 p.m., for minors 15 years of age or younger;
(2) At 12:00 a.m., midnight, for minors more than 15 years of age on Sunday through Thursday; and
(3) At 1:00 a.m. on Saturday morning and Sunday morning, for minors more than 15 years of age.
(D) In the following exceptional cases, a minor on a city street during the nocturnal hours for which division (C) above is intended to provide the maximum limits of regulation shall not, however, be considered in violation of this section:
(1) When accompanied by a parent of such minor;
(2) When accompanied by an adult authorized by a parent of such minor to take the parent’s place in accompanying the minor for a designated period of time and purpose within a specified area;
(3) When exercising First Amendment rights protected by the U.S. Constitution, such as the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech and the right of assembly. Such minor shall evidence the bona fides of such exercise by possessing a written communication, signed by such minor and countersigned by a parent of such minor, with his or her home address and a telephone number, specifying when, where and in what manner the minor will be on the streets at night (during hours when division (C) above is otherwise applicable to the minor) in the exercise of a First Amendment right specified in such communication;
(4) In cases of reasonable necessity, but only if the minor has in the minor’s possession a written communication, signed by the minor and countersigned by a parent of such minor, evidencing his or her home address and a telephone number and establishing such reasonable necessity relating to specified streets at a designated time for a described purpose, including points of origin and destination;
(5) When the minor is on the sidewalk of the place where such minor resides, or is on the sidewalk of either next-door neighbor not communicating an objection to the police officer;
(6) When returning home by a direct route from (and within 30 minutes of the termination of) a school activity, or an activity of a religious or voluntary association, provided that the minor has a written communication in the minor’s possession, countersigned by a parent, indicting the home address and a telephone number, the purpose for the event and when, where and in what manner the minor will be on the streets at night;
(7) When authorized, by regulation issued by the City Council, in other similar cases of reasonable necessity, similarly handled but adopted to necessary nighttime activities of more minors than can readily be dealt with on an individual special permit basis. Normally, such regulation by the City Council permitting use of the streets should be issued sufficiently in advance to permit appropriate publicity through news media and through other agencies such as the schools, and shall define the activity, the scope of the use of the streets permitted, the period of time involved (not to extend more than 30 minutes beyond the time for termination of such activity) and the reason for finding that such regulation is reasonably necessary and is consistent with the public interest and the purposes of this section;
(8) When the minor carries a certified card of employment, briefly identifying the minor, the addresses of his or her home, his or her place of employment and his or her hours of employment, or caries a valid proof of employment, which may include the latest payroll receipt (not over 30 days old); or
(9) When the minor is, with parental consent, in a motor vehicle. This contemplates normal travel. This clearly exempts bona fide interstate movement through the city, particularly on normal routes.
(E) (1) It is unlawful for a parent having legal custody of a minor knowingly to permit, or by inefficient control to allow, such minor to be or to remain upon any city street under circumstances not constituting an exception to, or otherwise beyond the scope of, this section. The term KNOWINGLY includes knowledge which a parent should reasonably be expected to have concerning the whereabouts of a minor in that parent’s legal custody.
(2) It is intended to continue to keep neglectful or careless parents up to a reasonable community standard of parental responsibility through an objective test. It shall, a fortiori, be no defense that a parent was completely indifferent to the activities, conduct or whereabouts of such minor.
(F) It shall be unlawful for any person operating or having charge of any public place to knowingly allow, permit or suffer the presence of minors in violation of the curfew established by this section.
(G) (1) Upon finding or having attention called to any minor on the streets in prima facie violation of this section, a police officer of the city shall normally take the minor to the city’s police station, or other place designated by the Police Chief, where a parent shall immediately be notified to come for such minor, whereupon, they shall be interviewed. This is intended to permit ascertainment, under constitutional safeguards, of relevant facts and to centralize responsibility in the personnel then on duty for accurate, effective, fair, impartial and uniform enforcement and recording, thus making available experienced supervisory personnel, the best facilities and access to information and records.
(2) In the absence of convincing evidence, such as a birth certificate, a police officer on the street shall in the first instance use his or her best judgment in determining age.
(3) Police procedures shall constantly be refined in light of experience and may provide, inter alia, that the police officer may deliver to a parent thereof a minor under appropriate circumstances, for example, a minor of tender age near home whose identity may readily be ascertained or is known.
(4) In any event, such police officer shall, within 24 hours, file a written report with the Police Chief. The report shall be treated for purposes of juvenile records, in accordance with state statutes.
(5) When a parent, immediately called, has come to take charge of the minor and the appropriate information has been recorded, the minor shall be released to the custody of such parent. If the parent cannot be located or fails to take charge of the minor, then the minor shall be released to the juvenile authorities, except to the extent that, in accordance with police regulations approved in advance by juvenile authorities, the minor may temporarily be entrusted to a relative, neighbor or other person who will, on behalf of a parent, assume the responsibility of caring for the minor pending the availability or arrival of a parent.
(6) In the case of a first violation by a minor, the Police Chief shall cause to be personally delivered to, or by certified mail send to, a parent a written notice of violation with a warning that any subsequent violation shall result in the full enforcement of this section, including the enforcement of parental responsibility and of applicable penalties.
(Prior Code, § 10-505) Penalty, see § 131.99