(A) Citation. This section shall be known and may be cited as the “Ordinance regulating the presence and conduct of minors on streets and public places.”
(B) Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or 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 purpose. A PUBLIC PLACE shall include but not be limited to any store, shop, restaurant, tavern, bowling alley, café, theater, drug store, pool room, shopping center, and any other place devoted to amusement or entertainment of the general public. It shall also include the front or immediate area of the above.
REMAIN. To stay 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 purposes 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. 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) Curfew times. It shall be unlawful for any person 17 or less years of age (under 18) to be or remain in or upon the streets within the city at night during the period ending 6:00 a.m. and beginning:
(1) At 11:00 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday; and
(2) At 12:00 midnight on Friday and Saturday nights.
(D) Exceptions. 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 United States 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 and with their home address and telephone number, specifying when, and where and in what manner the minor will be on the streets at night (during hours when this section is otherwise applicable to the minor) in the exercise of a First Amendment right specified in such communication;
(4) In case of reasonable necessity, but only if the minor has in the minor’s possession a written communication signed by the minor, countersigned by a parent of such minor evidencing their home address and 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 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 the minor has a written communication in the minor’s possession, countersigned by the parent indicating the home address and telephone number, the purpose for the event, when, where, and in what manner the minor will be on the streets at night;
(7) When authorized, by a regulation issued by the City Council, in other similar cases of reasonable necessity, similarly handled but adapted 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 and his or her place of employment and his or her hours of employment or carries 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) Parental responsibility. It shall be unlawful for a parent having legal custody of a minor knowingly to permit or by inefficient control to allow, such minor to be or 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. 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 or conduct or whereabouts of such minor.
(F) Duty of police. A police officer of the city, upon finding or having attention called to any minor on the streets in prima facie violation of this section, normally shall take the minor to the city police station, or other place designated by the Chief of Police, where a parent shall immediately be notified to come for such minor, whereupon they shall be interrogated. 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 of facilities and access to information and records. 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.
(1) Police procedures shall constantly be refined in the 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 are known.
(2) In any event such police officer shall within 24 hours file a written report with the Chief of Police, or shall participate to the extent of the information for which he or she is responsible; the report shall be treated for purposes of juvenile records in accordance with state statutes.
(3) 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 fail 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.
(4) In the case of a first violation by a minor, the Chief of Police shall cause to be personally
delivered or by certified mail, send to a parent written notice of the violation with a warning that any subsequent violation will result in full enforcement of this section including enforcement of parental responsibility and of applicable penalties.
(G) Allowing minors in public place in violation of curfew. 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.
(Prior Code, § 10-413) (Ord. 91-1102, passed 8-27-1991; Ord. 91-1104, passed 10-8-1991) Penalty, see § 133.99