Orange County Municipal Code Art. 1 Curfew Regulations

Footnotes:

--- (1) ---

Editor's note— Ord. No. 98-5, § 1, adopted April 21, 1998, has been treated by the editor as repealing and replacing former Art. 1, §§ 3-6-1—3-6-7 to read as herein set out. Former Art. 1 pertained to similar subject matter, and derived from the code of 1961, §§ 36.011—36.017.

For purposes of this article,

(a) Curfew hours means the period from 11:00 p.m. any evening of the week until 6:00 a.m. the following day.

(b) Emergency means an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action. The term includes, but is not limited to, a fire, a natural disaster, an automobile accident or 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) Guardian means (1) a person who, under court order, is the guardian of the person of a minor; or (2) a public or private agency with which a minor has been placed by a court.

(e) Minor means any person under eighteen (18) years of age, who is not on active duty in the armed forces of the United States nor otherwise emancipated pursuant to the law.

(f) Operator means any individual, firm, association, partnership or corporation operating, managing, or conducting any establishment.

(g) Parent means a person who is a natural parent, adoptive parent, or step-parent of another person.

(h) Public place means any place to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access and includes, but is not limited to, streets, highways, and the common areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses, office buildings, transport facilities and shops.

(i) Remain means to (1) linger, stay or be present; or (2) fail to leave the premises when requested to do so by a peace officer, the owner, operator, or other person in control of the premises.

(j) Responsible adult means a person at least eighteen (18) years of age, authorized by a parent or guardian to have the care and custody of a minor.

(k) Serious bodily injury means bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that causes death, serious permanent disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.

(Ord. No. 98-5, § 1, 4-21-98)

(a) It is unlawful for any minor to remain in any public place or on the premises of any establishment within the unincorporated areas of the County of Orange during the curfew hours.

(b) It is unlawful for any parent, guardian or responsible adult of a minor knowingly to permit, or by insufficient control to allow, the minor to remain in any public place or on the premises of any establishment within the unincorporated areas of the County of Orange during curfew hours.

(c) It is a defense to prosecution under section 3-6-2(a) or (b) that the minor was:

(1) Accompanied by the minor's parent or guardian, or by a responsible adult;

(2) On an errand at the direction of the minor's parent or guardian, or a responsible adult, without any detour or stop;

(3) In a motor vehicle involved in interstate travel;

(4) Engaged in an employment activity, or going to or returning home from an employment activity, without any detour or stop;

(5) Involved in an emergency;

(6) On the sidewalk abutting the minor's residence;

(7) Attending an official school, religious, or other recreational activity supervised by adults and sponsored by a public entity, a civic organization, or another similar entity or organization that takes responsibility for the minor, or going to or returning home from, without any detour or stop, an official school, religious, or other recreational activity supervised by adults and sponsored by a public entity, a civic organization, or another similar entity or organization that takes responsibility for the minor; or

(8) Exercising First Amendment rights protected by the United States Constitution.

(d) Each violation of this section shall constitute a separate offense.

(Ord. No. 98-5, § 1, 4-21-98)

(a) Every law enforcement officer is hereby authorized and empowered to demand from any person whom he or she has reasonable cause to believe is a minor who is violating subsection (a) of Section 3-6-2 and does not come within subsection (c) of Section 3-6-2 that such person give his or her name and address, and the name of his or her parent(s), guardian(s) or other responsible adult(s), if any, who has the care and custody of such person, and furnish proof of his or her age and that he or she comes within the provisions of subdivision (c) of Section 3-6-2.

(b) If, after demanding the information described in subsection (a) of this section, the officer still has reasonable cause the believe the person is a minor who is violating subsection (a) of Section 3-6-2 and does not come within subsection (c) of Section 3-6-2, the officer is hereby authorized and empowered to take any or more than one of the following actions:

(1) To issue a warning to such person and his or her parent(s) or guardian(s) about the consequences of violation of Section 3-6-2;

(2) To take such person into custody and transport him or her to his or her residence or to another place where he or she will be supervised by a responsible adult;

(3) To communicate with the parent(s) or guardian(s) of such person and demand from any of them the information described in subsection (a) of this section;

(4) To communicate with the parent(s) or guardian(s) of such person and demand of any of them that he or she take the person to the person's residence or to any place where the person will be supervised by a responsible adult;

(5) To issue to such person a notice to appear before the Juvenile Court, a Juvenile Court referee or a juvenile traffic hearing officer, as appropriate;

(6) To take such person into temporary custody in accordance with Welfare and Institutions Code Section 625, as limited by Welfare and Institutions Code Section 207;

(7) To take such other action or actions as are permitted by the laws of the State of California and are deemed necessary by the officer to safeguard the well being of such person.

(c) A law enforcement officer shall not take any of the enforcement actions described in subsection (b) of this section unless the officer reasonably believes that the person with respect to whom the action(s) is taken is violating subsection (a) of Section 3-6-2 and, based upon any responses and other circumstances, has no defense under subsection (c) of Section 3-6-2.

(Ord. No. 98-5, § 1, 4-21-98)

It is unlawful for any parent or guardian to fail to take a minor to his or her residence or to a place where he or she will be supervised by a responsible adult, when so demanded by any law enforcement officer in accordance with subsection (b)(4) of Section 3-6-3.

(Ord. No. 98-5, § 1, 4-21-98)

It shall be unlawful for a parent or guardian to leave a minor under the age of fourteen (14) years at the minor's residence or at any other place without the supervision of a competent and responsible person between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. of the following day.

(Ord. No. 98-5, § 1, 4-21-98)

Any person violating the provisions of Sections 3-6-2, 3-6-4 or 3-6-5 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Minors shall be dealt with in accordance with juvenile court law and procedure.

(Ord. No. 98-5, § 1, 4-21-98)

If any section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, word or portion of this article, or the application thereof to any person or place, is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this article or its application to other persons or places. The Board of Supervisors hereby declares that it would have adopted this article, and each section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, word or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, phrases, words or portions, or the application thereof to any person or place, be declared invalid or unconstitutional.

(Ord. No. 98-5, § 1, 4-21-98)