(A) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to reduce the incidence of juvenile offenses and compensate innocent victims of juvenile misconduct by placing certain obligations of control and compensation upon parents or legal guardians.
(B) Definitions. For the purpose of this section the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
LEGAL GUARDIAN. A person appointed guardian or given custody of a minor by the Circuit Court of this state, but not including a person appointed guardian or given custody of a minor under the Illinois Juvenile Court Act, ILCS Ch. 705, Act 405, § 1-1 et seq.
MINOR. A person who has attained 11 years of age, but who has not yet reached 18 years of age. An unemancipated minor is one who has not been emancipated under the Emancipation of Mature Minors Act, ILCS Ch. 750, Act 30, § 1 et seq.
PROPERTY. Any real estate including improvements thereon, and tangible personal property.
(C) Prohibited conduct.
(1) Within the corporate limits of the village, no person shall:
(a) Knowingly or recklessly damage any property of another person without his consent; or
(b) Knowingly and without authority enter into or obtain control over any motor vehicle, trailer, bicycle, aircraft, or watercraft, or any part thereof, of another person without his consent; or
(c) Knowingly commit any violation of a state statute or village ordinance concerning vandalism, criminal defacement of property, battery, curfew, disorderly conduct, obscene conduct, trespass, or possession or use of an alcoholic liquor, cannabis, or controlled substances, or any other offense of willful or malicious acts to persons or property.
(2) Every person found guilty of an offense defined in this division (C) shall be subject to a fine of not less than $25 nor more than $500.
(D) Offense of parental irresponsibility.
(1) Offense. It shall be unlawful for a parent or legal guardian of an unemancipated minor residing with that parent or legal guardian to fail to exercise proper parental responsibility by allowing or permitting the minor to commit any of the acts cited in division (C)(1).
(2) Presumption. A parent or legal guardian shall be presumed to have allowed or permitted the minor to have committed a violation of a village ordinance or state statute when all of the following conditions are met:
(a) The minor has been found pursuant to adjudication or an order of continuance under supervision to be in violation of the provisions of division (C)(1) above, or has incurred non-judicial sanctions from any peace officer or conservator of the peace resulting from an admission of guilt to any such offense; and
(b) The parent or legal guardian has received a written notice of the violation or admission by certified mail (return receipt requested) or by personal service in substantially the following form:
"LEGAL NOTICE
TO: (Parents' Names)
FROM: Village of Peotone
You are hereby notified that minor's name has been involved with a violation of an ordinance or state statute concerning vandalism, battery, curfew, disorderly conduct, obscene conduct, trespass, or possession or use of alcoholic liquor, cannabis, or controlled substances, or any other offense of willful or malicious acts to persons or property. If said minor is again involved with a violation of one of the above-type ordinances or state statutes you may be found guilty of the offense of parental irresponsibility. Your conviction for said offense can result in a fine of not less than $25 nor more than $500. You are hereby notified that you must exercise proper parental responsibility over said minor by controlling said minor's unlawful conduct."
and
(c) Said minor, within two years of the receipt of said notice by the parent or legal guardian, has been found pursuant to adjudication or an order of continuance under supervision to be in violation of the provisions of division (C)(1) above, or has incurred non-judicial sanctions from any peace officer or conservator of the peace resulting from an admission of guilt to any such offense.
(3) Penalty. Every person found guilty of the offense defined in this division shall be subject to a fine of not less than $25 nor more than $500 and a separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day on which a violation occurs.
(E) Requirement of parental responsibility.
(1) The parent or legal guardian of an unemancipated minor who resides with such parent or legal guardian is liable for actual damages for the wilful or malicious acts of such minor which cause injury to a person or property, including damages caused by a minor who has been adjudicated a delinquent for violating ILCS Ch. 720, Act 5, § 21-1.3.
(2) No recovery under this section may exceed $1,000 actual damages for each person or legal entity, for each occurrence of such wilful or malicious acts by the minor causing injury, in addition to taxable court costs. In determining the damages to be allowed in an action under this section for personal injury, only medical, dental and hospital expenses and expenses for treatment by Christian Science practitioners and nursing care appropriate thereto may be considered.
(3) This section shall not affect the recovery of damages in any other cause of action where the liability of the parent or legal guardian is predicated on a common law basis.
(4) ILCS Ch. 735, Act 5, § 12-107, as now or hereafter amended, is not applicable to judgments obtained under this section.
(5) The requirements of subdivision (1) through (4) of this division are enacted in conformance with the Parental Responsibility Law, ILCS Ch. 740, Act 115, § 1 et seq. and any amendment to that law shall act as an amendment to this division.
(6) It is the policy of this village that a parent or legal guardian of a minor be notified and required to appear in court whenever that minor is charged with a violation of an ordinance or state statute which requires the minor's appearance in court. To this end, it is hereby directed that a notice in substantially the following form be sent to the parents or legal guardians of the minor:
"LEGAL NOTICE
TO: (Parents' Names)
FROM: Village of Peotone
You are hereby notified that minor's name has been charged with an offense which is a violation of a village ordinance or state statute and which requires the appearance of said minor in court. You are further notified that one of the parents of said minor must appear in court before the case will be tried or be disposed of.
If you fail to appear, the Village Prosecutor has been directed to have issued a subpoena to bring you into court. Failure to obey a subpoena can result in contempt of court, with a fine of imprisonment as the penalty."
(7) Subpoenas. The Village Prosecutor is hereby directed to have subpoenas issued whenever a parent or legal guardian of a minor does not appear in court after the first time the case has been before the court.
(Ord. 94-11, passed 10-17-94)