The purpose of this section is to: promote the general welfare and protect the general public through the reduction of juvenile violence and crime within the City; promote the safety and well-being of the City’s youngest citizens, persons under the age of eighteen, whose inexperience renders them particularly vulnerable to becoming participants in unlawful activities, particularly unlawful drug activities, and to being victimized by older perpetrators of crime; and foster and strengthen parental responsibility for children.
(a) Definitions. As used within this section, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed to them below:
(1) "Curfew hours" refers to the following hours and age groups:
A. For minors under the age of sixteen: hours of 11:01 p.m. through 5:00 a.m. daily;
B. For minors age sixteen and above: 12:00 midnight through 5:00 a.m. on Monday through Friday and 1:00 a.m. through 5:00 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.
(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 accidents, 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 officers thereof) conducting or managing that establishment.
(4) "Minor" refers to any person under eighteen years of age who has not been emancipated.
(5) "Officer" refers to a police or other law enforcement officer charged with the duty of enforcing the laws of the State of Ohio 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 is the biological or adoptive parent with whom a minor regularly resides;
C. A person judicially appointed as a legal guardian of the minor; and/or
D. A person eighteen years of age or older standing in loco parentis (as indicated by the authorization of an individual listed in part(s) A., B. or C. of this definition, 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, and excluding the premises of another person or entity unless expressly authorized by the owner.
(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.
(b) 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 thereon, or to remain in or upon the premises of any establishment within the City, unless:
(1) The minor is accompanied by his/her parent; or
(2) The minor is involved in an emergency; or
(3) The minor is engaged in employment activity, or is going to or returning home from such activity, without detour or stop; or
(4) The minor is on the sidewalk directly abutting a place where he or she resides with a parent; or
(5) The minor is: attending an activity sponsored by a school, religious, or civic organization, which activity is supervised by adults, and/or the minor is going to or returning from such an activity without detour or stop; or attending a lawful private activity, which activity is sponsored or supervised by adults, and the minor is going to or returning from such an activity without detour or stop; provided that the minor has received prior written permission from a custodial parent or other legal guardian specifying the activity and its location, and provided the minor has in his or her possession the written permission and displays it upon request of a law enforcement officer; or
(6) 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 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; or
(7) The minor is involved in interstate travel through, or beginning or terminating in, the City; or
(8) The minor is 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.
(c) It shall be unlawful for a minor’s parent, guardian, or person in charge to knowingly permit, allow or encourage such minor to violate subsection (b) hereof.
(d) It shall be unlawful for a person who is the owner or operator of any motor vehicle to knowingly permit, allow or encourage a violation of subsection (b) hereof.
(e) It shall be unlawful for the operator of any establishment, or for any person who is an employee thereof, to knowingly permit, allow or encourage a minor to remain upon the premises or the establishment during the curfew hours. It shall be a defense to prosecution under this subsection that the operator or employee of an establishment promptly notify the police department that a minor was present at the establishment after curfew hours and refused to leave.
(f) 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.
(g) Enforcement.
(1) Minors. Before taking any enforcement action hereunder, an officer shall immediately investigate 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 subsection (b) hereof. If such investigation reveals that the presence of such minor is in violation of subsection (b) hereof then as soon as practicable, the officer shall:
A. Release the minor to his or her parent(s); or
B. 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
C. 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 applicable 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 to a judge or intake officer of the juvenile court to be dealt with in the manner and pursuant to such procedures as required by law.
(2) Compliance by Parents, Guardians, and/or Persons in Charge. No parent, guardian or person in charge of a minor under eighteen years of age shall permit or allow any minor to violate subsection (b) hereof.
(h) Penalty and Waiver.
(1) Any minor who violates subsection (b) hereof shall be found delinquent of a minor misdemeanor and shall be dealt with in accordance with Juvenile Court law and procedure.
(2) Whoever violates subsection (b) hereof shall be fined fifty dollars ($50.00) for a first offense. For a second offense, such person is guilty of a minor misdemeanor and shall be fined one hundred dollars ($100.00). For a third or subsequent offense, such person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree and punishment shall be the maximum as allowed as provided in Section 698.02.
(3) Whoever violates subsections (c), (d), (e) or (f) hereof may, for a first offense only, upon signing a waiver of the right to appear in court and upon a plea of guilty to the offense, pay a fifty dollar ($50.00) fine at the office of the Clerk of Courts, in person, prior to the time set for such person's appearance before the Mayor’s Court or Municipal Court. For a second offense, said defendant shall be guilty of a minor misdemeanor and shall pay a fine of one hundred dollars ($100.00) and court costs. For any third or more offenses, said defendant shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree in accordance with NRCO § 408.01.
(Ord. 1982-43. Passed 3-17-82; Ord. 97-190. Passed 10-21-97; Ord. 02-37. Passed 4-2-02; Ord. 02-64. Passed 6-18-02.)