(A) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to: (1) promote the general welfare and protect general public through the reduction of juvenile law violation and crime within the city; and (2) promote the safety and well-being of the city’s youngest citizens, persons under the age of 18, whose inexperience renders them particularly vulnerable to becoming participants in unlawful activities, particularly unlawful drug activities, and to being victimized by perpetrators of crime.
(B) Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context indicates or requires a different meaning.
(1) CURFEW HOURS. Refers to the hours of 10:00 p.m. through 5:00 a.m. on Sunday evening through Friday morning and 11:01 p.m. through 5:00 a.m. on Friday evening through Sunday morning. Because of the historic increase in vandalism during the Halloween season, from October 15 through November 1, curfew hours are 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., regardless of the day of the week.
(2) EMERGENCY. Refers to unforeseen circumstances, or the status or condition resulting therefrom, requiring immediate action to safeguard life, limb or property. The term includes, but is not limited to, fires, natural disasters, automobile accident, or other similar circumstances.
(3) ESTABLISHMENT. Refers to any privately owned place of business within the city, operated for a profit, to which the public is invited, including, but not limited to any place of amusement or entertainment. With respect to such “Establishment”, the term “Operator” shall mean any person, and any firm, association, partnership (and the members or partners thereof) and/or any corporation (and the officers thereof) conducting or managing that “Establishment”.
(4) MINOR. Refers to any person under 18 years of age who has not been emancipated by court order.
(5) OFFICER. Refers to a police or other law enforcement officer charged with the duty of enforcing the laws of the State of Indiana and/or the ordinances of the city.
(6) PARENT. Refers to:
(a) A person who is a minor’s biological or adoptive parent and who has legal custody of a minor (including either parent, if custody is shared under a court order or agreement);
(b) A person who has legal custody of a minor during a period of court-ordered visitation;
(c) A person who is the biological or adoptive parent with whom a minor regularly resides;
(d) A person judicially appointed as a legal guardian of the minor; and/or
(e) A person 18 years of age or older standing in loco parentis (as indicated by the authorization of an individual listed in divisions (B)(6)(a) through (c), above, for the person to assume the care or physical custody of the child, or as indicated by any other circumstances).
(7) PERSON. Refers to an individual, not to any association, corporation, or any other legal entity.
(8) PUBLIC PLACE. Refers to any place to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access, including, but not limited to streets, highways, roads, sidewalks, alleys, avenues, parks, and/or the common areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses, office buildings, transportation facilities and shops. With respect to such “Public Place”, the term “Operator” shall mean any person, and any firm, association, partnership (and the members or partners thereof) and/or any corporation (and the officers thereof) having control over that “Public Place”.
(9) REMAIN. Refers to the following actions:
(a) To linger or stay at or upon a place; and/or
(b) To fail to leave a place when requested to do so by an officer or by the owner, operator or other person in control of that place.
(10) TEMPORARY CARE FACILITY. Refers to a non-locked, non-restrictive shelter at which minors may wait, under visual supervision, to be retrieved by a parent. No minors waiting in such facility shall be handcuffed and/or secured (by handcuffs or otherwise) to any stationary object.
(C) Curfew terms.
(1) It shall be unlawful for a minor, during curfew hours, to remain in or upon any public place within the city, to remain in any motor vehicle operating or parked therein, or to remain in or upon the premises of any establishment within the city, unless:
(a) The minor is accompanied by a parent;
(b) The minor is involved in an emergency; or
(c) The minor is engaged in an employment activity, or is going to or returning home from such activity, without detour or stop;
(d) The minor is on the sidewalk directly abutting a place where he or she resides with a parent, so as to be under the supervision of a parent;
(e) The minor is attending an activity sponsored by a school, religious, or civic organization, by a public organization or agency, or by another similar organization or entity, which activity is supervised by adults, and/or the minor is going to or returning from such an activity without detour or stop;
(f) The minor is on an errand at the direction of a parent, and the minor has in his or her possession a writing signed by the parent containing the following information, the name, signature, address and telephone number of the parent authorizing the errand, the telephone number where the parent may be reached during the errand, the name of the minor, and a brief description of the errand, the minor’s destination(s) and the hours the minor is authorized to be engaged in the errand;
(g) The minor is involved in interstate travel through, or beginning or terminating in, the city; or
(h) The minor is exercising First Amendment rights protected by the United States Constitution, such as the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, or the right of assembly.
(2) It shall be unlawful for a minor’s parent to knowingly permit, allow or encourage that minor to violate this section.
(3) It shall be unlawful for the operator of any establishment or public place or for any person who is an employee thereof, to knowingly permit, allow or encourage a minor to remain upon the premises of the establishment or public place during curfew hours.
(4) It shall be a defense to prosecution under this subsection that the operator or employee of an establishment or public place promptly notified the police department that a minor was present at the establishment or public place after curfew hours and refused to leave.
(5) It shall be unlawful for any person (including any minor) to give a false name, address, or telephone number to any officer investigating a possible violation of this section.
(D) Enforcement.
(1) Minors. Before taking any enforcement action hereunder, an officer shall make an immediate investigation for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the presence of a minor in a public place, motor vehicle and/or establishment within the city during curfew hours is in violation of this section.
(a) If such investigation reveals that the presence of such minor is in violation of this section; then:
1. If the minor has not previously been issued a warning for any such violation, then the officer shall issue a verbal warning to the minor, which shall be followed by a written warning mailed by the police department to the minor and his or her parent(s); or
2. If the minor has previously been issued a warning for any such violation, then the violation shall be considered a delinquent act as defined by IC 31-37-12; and
(b) As soon as practicable, the officer shall:
1. Release the minor to his or her parent(s); or place the minor in a temporary care facility for a period not to exceed the remainder of the curfew hours, so that his or her parent(s) may retrieve the minor; or
2. If a minor refuses to give an officer his or her name and address, refuses to give the name and address of his or her parent(s), or if no parent can be located prior to the end of the application curfew hours, or if located, no parent appears to accept custody of the minor, the minor may be taken to a nonsecure crisis center or juvenile shelter and/or may be taken to a judge or intake officer of the juvenile division of the Montgomery County Probation Department and/or may be released to the custody of the Child Protection Service to be dealt with in the manner and pursuant to such procedures as required by law.
(2) Others. If an investigation by an officer reveals that a person has violated this section, and if the person has not previously been issued a warning with respect to any such violation, an officer shall issue a verbal warning to the person, which shall be followed by a written warning mailed by the police department to the person; however, if any such warning has previously been issued to that person that the officer shall charge the person with a violation and shall issue a summons directing the person to appear in court.
(‘85 Code, § 29.16) (Am. Ord. 10-2006, passed 8-14-06)