A. Definitions: For the purpose of this section, the following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings given herein:
CITY: | The City of Waurika, Jefferson County, Oklahoma. |
MINOR: | Any person under eighteen (18) years of age. |
PARENT: | Any person having legal custody of a minor: 1) as a natural or adoptive parent; 2) as a legal guardian; 3) as a person who stands in loco parentis; or 4) as 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, drugstore, pool room, shopping center or 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 (4) 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: | Based upon the prevailing standard of time, whether Central Standard time or Central Daylight Savings Time, generally observed at that hour by the public. |
YEARS OF AGE: | Shall continue 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 seventeen (17) or less years of age is herein treated as equivalent to the phrase "under eighteen (18) years of age". |
B. Age And Hour Restrictions: It is unlawful for any person seventeen (17) or less years of age (under eighteen (18) years of age) to be or remain in or upon the streets or public places within the city at night during the period ending six o’clock (6:00) a.m. and beginning at:
1. Ten o’clock (10:00) p.m. for minors fifteen (15) years of age or younger.
2. Eleven o’clock (11:00) P.M. for minors over fifteen (15) years of age on Sunday through Thursday.
3. Twelve o’clock (12:00) a.m. (Midnight) on Saturday morning and Sunday morning for minors more than fifteen (15) years of age.
C. Exceptions: In the following exceptional cases, a minor on a public street, during the normal hours for which subsection B of this section is intended to provide the maximum limits of regulation, shall not, however, be considered in violation:
1. When accompanied by a parent of such minor.
2. When accompanied by an adult authorized by a parent of such minor, to take said parent's place in accompanying said 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 processing a written communication, signed by such minor and countersigned by a parent of such minor, with their home address and telephone number, specifying when, where and in what manner said minor will be on the streets at night, 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 said 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 but communicating an objection to the police officer.
6. When returning home, by a direct route from, and within thirty (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 the parent, indicating the home address and telephone number, the purpose for the event, when, where and in what manner said minor witt be on the streets at night.
7. When authorized by a regulation issued by the City Commission, in other similar eases of reasonable necessity, similarly handled, but adapted to necessary nighttime activities, or more minors than can readily be dealt with on an individual special permit basis; normally sueh regulation by the City Commission 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 thirty (30) minutes beyond the time for termination of such activity), and the reason for finding that such regulation is reasonably necessary and 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 home and his place of employment, and his hours of employment, or carries a valid proof of employment, which may include the latest payroll receipt, not over thirty (30) days old.
9. When the minor is, with parental consent, in a motor vehicle, this contemplates normal travel and clearly exempts bona fide interstate movement through the City, particularly on normal routes.
D. Parental Responsibility: It shall be unlawfrrl for a parent having Iegal custody of a minor to knowingly permit, or by inefficient control, to allow such minor to be, or remain upon any public 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 Iegal 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.
E. Apprehension Of Minor: 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 Waurika 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 intemogated. This is intended to permit ascertainment, under Constitutional safeguard, 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 to 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 best judgment in determining age.
F. Refining Police Procedures: 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.
G. Police Report: In any event, such police officer shall, within twenty-four (24) hours, file a written report with the Chief of Police, or shall participate to the extent of the information for which he is responsible; said report shall be treated for purposes of juvenile records in accordance with State Statutes.
H. Minor Released To Custody Of Parent Or Other Person: 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 \Mill, on behalf of a parent, assume the responsibility of caring for the minor pending the availability or arrival of a parent. (2007 Code § 13-22; amd. Ord. 01102022-01, 1-10-2022)