G36-95 4 . .
re- Ordinance No. G36-95
AN ORDINANCE
AMENDING THE ELGIN MUNICIPAL CODE, 1976 , AS AMENDED,
BY ADDING CHAPTER 10. 41 ENTITLED "CURFEW"
WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that there has
been an increase in juvenile violence, juvenile gang activity,
and crime by persons under the age of 17 in the City of Elgin
resulting in juveniles being involved in a wide range of
unacceptable behavior including vandalism, public drinking and
littering, drug use, breaking and entering, and harassment of
residents; and
WHEREAS, persons under the age of 17 are particularly
susceptible by their lack of maturity and experience to
participate in unlawful and gang-related activities and to be
victims of older perpetrators of crime; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has found that there has been a
significant breakdown in the supervision and guidance normally
provided by parents for juveniles resulting in an increase in
the crimes and other unacceptable behavior cited above; and
WHEREAS, the City of Elgin has an obligation to provide
fek for the protection of minors from each other and from other
persons, for the enforcement of parental control over and
responsibility for children, for the protection of the general
public, and for the reduction of the incidence of juvenile
criminal activities; and
WHEREAS, the offensive activities of juveniles are not
easily controlled by existing laws and ordinances; and
WHEREAS, a curfew for those under the age of 17 will be
in the best interest of the public health, safety, and general
welfare and will help to attain the foregoing objectives and
to diminish the undesirable impact of such conduct on the
citizens of the City of Elgin and will promote the public
good, safety and welfare; and
WHEREAS, parental responsibility for the whereabouts of
children is the accepted norm and legal sanctions to enforce
such responsibility have had demonstrated effectiveness in
many cities, the City Council has determined that a curfew
ordinance will increase parental responsibility for juveniles
within their control and decrease juvenile delinquency; and
WHEREAS, the City of Elgin is a home rule municipality as
defined in Article VII, Section 6A of the 1970 Constitution of
the State of Illinois; and
tom-
WHEREAS, a home rule unit may exercise any power and
perform any function pertaining to its government and affairs;
and
WHEREAS, the adoption of an ordinance providing for a
curfew for juveniles pertains to the government and affairs of
the City of Elgin.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF ELGIN, ILLINOIS:
Section 1 . That Title 10 entitled "Public Peace,
Morals & Welfare" of the Elgin Municipal Code, 1976, as
amended, be and is hereby further amended by adding Chapter
10 .41 entitled "Curfew" , to read as follows :
"CHAPTER 10 .41
CURFEW
10 .41 . 010 DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this chapter the following
terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall
have the meaning given herein. When not
inconsistent with the context, words used in the
present tense include the future, words in the
plural number include the singular and words in the
singular number include the plural . The word
"shall" is always mandatory and not merely directory.
A. "City" is the City of Elgin, Illinois, with
administrative offices at 150 Dexter Court, Elgin,
Illinois .
B. "Emergency" means any situation requiring
immediate action to prevent serious bodily injury or
loss of life.
C. "Establishment" means any privately-owned
place of business operated for a profit to which the
public is invited, including, but not limited to,
any place of amusement or entertainment.
D. "Juvenile" or "minor" is any person less
than seventeen ( 17) years of age.
E. "Operator" is any individual, firm,
association, partnership, or corporation operating,
managing, or conducting any establishment. The term
includes, but is not limited to, the members or
partners of an association or partnership and the
officers of a corporation.
F. "Parent" is any person having legal custody
of a juvenile ( i) as a natural or adoptive parent,
( ii) as a legal guardian, ( iii) as a person who
stands in loco parentis, or ( iv) as a person to whom
legal custody has been given by court order.
G. "Public place" means any place to which the
public has access .
H. "Remain" means to stay behind, to tarry and
to stay in a public place or to fail to leave the
premises of an establishment when requested to do so
by a police officer or the operator of an
establishment.
10 . 41 . 020 CURFEW FOR JUVENILES.
It is unlawful for any person less than 17
years of age to be present at or upon any public
assembly, building, place, street or highway at the
following times :
A. Between 12 : 01 a.m. and 6 : 00 a.m. Saturday;
B. Between 12 : 01 a.m. and 6 : 00 a.m. Sunday; and
C. Between 11 : 00 p.m. on Sunday to Thursday,
inclusive, and 6 : 00 a.m. on the following day.
10 . 41 . 030 EXCEPTIONS.
The following shall constitute valid exceptions
to the operation of the ordinance:
A. When a juvenile is accompanied by a parent
of such juvenile.
B. When a juvenile is accompanied by a person
aged 21 years or older, who is authorized by a
parent of such juvenile to take said parent ' s place
in accompanying said juvenile for a designated
period of time and purpose within a specified area.
C. When a juvenile is on an errand as directed
by the juvenile ' s parent until the hour of 1 : 00 a.m.
D. When a juvenile is engaged in a business or
occupation which the laws of this state authorize a
person less than 17 years of age to perform.
E. When a juvenile 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, by
t"" first delivering to the person designated by the
City' s Chief of Police to receive such information a
written communication, signed by the juvenile and by
a parent of the juvenile with their home address and
telephone number, specifying when, where and in what
manner the juvenile will be in a public place during
hours when the ordinance is applicable to said minor
in the exercise of a First Amendment right specified
in such communication.
F. In case of reasonable necessity for the
juvenile remaining in or traveling through a public
place, but only after the juvenile' s parent has
communicated to the Chief of Police or the person
designated by the Chief of Police to receive such
notifications, the facts establishing the reasonable
necessity relating to a specified public place at a
designated time for a described purpose including
points of origin and destination. A copy of the
communication, or of the police record thereof, duly
certified by the Chief of Police to be correct, with
an appropriate notation of the time it was received
and of the names and addresses of the parent and
juvenile, shall be admissible evidence.
G. When a juvenile is on the property where
the juvenile resides .
H. When a juvenile is, with parental consent,
engaged in interstate travel through the City or
originating or terminating in the City.
I . When a juvenile is married or has been
married pursuant to law.
J. In the case of an operator of an
establishment, when the operator has notified the
police that a juvenile was present on the premises
of the establishment during curfew hours and refused
to leave.
10 . 41 . 040 PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY.
It shall be unlawful for a parent having legal
custody of a juvenile knowingly to permit or by
inefficient control to allow the juvenile to remain
in any public place under circumstances not
constituting an exception to, or otherwise beyond
the scope of this ordinance. The term "knowingly"
includes actual knowledge or knowledge that a parent
should reasonably be expected to have concerning the
e"` whereabouts of a juvenile in that parent 's legal
custody. It shall be no defense that a parent was
ft. indifferent to the activities, conduct or
whereabouts of such juvenile.
10 .41 . 050 OPERATOR RESPONSIBILITY.
It shall be unlawful for any operator of an
establishment to knowingly permit a juvenile to
remain at the establishment under circumstances not
constituting an exception to, or otherwise beyond
the scope of this ordinance. The term "knowingly"
includes actual knowledge or knowledge that an
operator should reasonably be expected to have
concerning the patrons of the establishment. The
standard for "knowingly" shall be applied through an
objective test: whether a reasonable person in the
operator' s position should have known that the
patron was a juvenile in violation of the ordinance.
10 .41 . 060 ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES.
A. If a police officer reasonably believes
that a juvenile is in a public place in violation of
this ordinance, the officer shall notify the
juvenile that the juvenile is in violation of the
ordinance and shall require the juvenile to provide
the juvenile' s name, address and telephone number
and any information reasonably necessary to contact
the juvenile' s parent or guardian. In determining
the age of the juvenile and in the absence of
reasonable written evidence a police officer shall,
in the first instance of violation of the ordinance,
use reasonable judgment in determining age. If a
police officer determines that a juvenile is in
violation of this ordinance, the officer shall take
the juvenile to the police station or such other
facility as may be designated by the Chief of Police
where a parent or guardian shall immediately be
notified to come for the juvenile within three ( 3)
hours of being contacted.
B. When a parent or guardian, immediately
called, has come to take charge of the juvenile, the
juvenile shall be released to the custody of such
parent. If the parent cannot be located or fails to
take charge of the juvenile within three hours of
being contacted, then the juvenile shall be released
to the appropriate authorities or such other actions
as are provided by law shall be pursued.
C. In the case of a first violation of this
ordinance by a juvenile, the Chief of Police or his
designee shall by personal service or certified mail
give a parent or guardian written notice of the
violation with a warning that any subsequent
violation will result in full enforcement of the
ordinance, including enforcement of parental
responsibility and of any applicable penalties .
D. For the first violation of the ordinance by
an operator of an establishment who permits a
juvenile to remain on the premises, the Chief of
Police shall issue a written notice of the violation
with a written warning that any subsequent violation
will result in full enforcement of the ordinance,
including enforcement of operator responsibility and
of any applicable penalties .
10 .41 . 070 PENALTIES.
A. If, after the notice pursuant to Section
10 .41 . 060 of a first violation by a juvenile, a
parent violates Section 10.41 . 040 (in connection
with a second violation by the juvenile) , this shall
be treated as a first offense of the parent. For
the first offense by a parent, the fine shall be
$100, plus costs, and for each subsequent offense by
a parent the fine shall be increased by an
additional $100, e.g. , $200 plus costs for the
e. second offense, $300 plus costs for the third
offense, to a maximum fine of $500 plus costs for
any offense.
B. If, after being provided notice pursuant to
Section 10 .41 . 060 of a violation of the ordinance,
an operator of an establishment violates Section
10 .41 . 050 a second time, this shall be treated as a
first offense by the operator. For the first
offense by an operator, the fine shall be $100, plus
costs and for each subsequent offense by an operator
the fine shall be increased by an additional $100,
e.g. , $200 plus costs for the second offense, $300
plus costs for the third offense up to a maximum
fine of $500 plus costs for any offense.
C. If a juvenile violates Section 10 .41 . 020,
the fine for the first offense by a juvenile shall
be $100, plus costs, and for each subsequent offense
by a juvenile the fine shall be increased by an
additional $100, e.g. , $200 for the second offense,
$300 plus costs for the third offense, to a maximum
fine of $500 plus costs for any offense.
D. The foregoing penalty provisions shall be
cumulative.
emk 10 .41 . 080 SEVERABILITY.
If any provision, clause, sentence, paragraph,
section or part of this chapter or application
thereof to any person or circumstance, shall for any
reason be adjudged by a court of competent
jurisdiction to be unconstitutional or invalid, said
judgment shall not effect, impair or otherwise
invalidate the remainder of this section and the
application of such provision to other persons or
circumstances, but shall be confined in its
operation to the provision, clause, sentence,
paragraph, section or part thereof directly involved
in the controversy in which such judgment shall have
been rendered and to the person or circumstances
involved. It is hereby declared to be the
legislative intent of the city council that this
chapter would have been adopted had such
unconstitutional or invalid provisions, clause,
sentence, paragraph, section or part thereof not
been included. "
Section 2 . That all ordinances or parts of ordinances in
conflict with the provisions of this ordinance be and are
hereby repealed.
tom- Section 3 . That this ordinance shall be in full force
and effect ten ( 10) days after its passage and publication in
pamphlet form by the authority of the City Council .
Kevin Kelly, Mayo
Presented: June 14, 1995
Passed: June 14, 1995
Omnibus Vote: Yeas 7 Nays 0
Recorded: June 15, 1995
Published: June 15, 1995
Attest:
Dolonna Mecum, City Clerk