Chapter 10.20 — CURFEW

By enacting curfew regulations which apply to minors and the parents of minors, the City Council intends to preserve and promote the peace of the community, as well as the safety and welfare of minors, during the late-night hours. In the course of adopting this ordinance, the City Council has considered and relied upon testimony which proves the effectiveness of a curfew in promoting such purposes. The City Council also recognizes that such regulations must protect the public interest without infringing upon certain fundamental rights of minors and their parents. This curfew measure is intended to reach a reasonable balance between said interests. Such balance is achieved by application of the principle that parental responsibility for the conduct of a minor is paramount to the exercise of regulatory authority by the City. Only in the absence of the exercise of parental authority over a minor will the enforcement of this curfew measure become necessary. Accordingly, this ordinance shall be entitled the "Parental Responsibility Law of the City of San Marcos."

Curfew Hours means the hours between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. of the following day.

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 the court has placed a minor.

Minor means any person under the age of 18.

Parent means a person who is a natural parent, adoptive parent, or step-parent of a minor.

Public Place means any place to which any member of the public has access, including, but not limited to, any public right-of-way, public grounds, dedicated open or trail space, or any privately owned land that is unsupervised and is open and generally available to the public, including but not limited to vacant lots, the parking lots and the common areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses, office buildings, housing complexes, shopping centers, and malls.

Responsible Adult means the parent, guardian, or adult person at least 21 years old having the responsibility for the care, custody, and control of the subject minor.

No minor shall be present in any public place during curfew hours.

No responsible adult shall knowingly permit, or by insufficient control, allow a minor to be present in any public place during curfew hours.

The prohibitions described in Sections 10.20.030 and 10.20.040 above shall not apply to any minor who, in the alternative, is:

(a)

Accompanied by his or her responsible adult;

(b)

Engaged in or directly en route to or from an employment activity;

(c)

Engaged in any emergency or act of mercy;

(d)

Present at a public place abutting the minor's residence;

(e)

Present at any privately owned building or structure generally committed to a business or trade which is open to and serves the public, or going to or returning from said privately owned building or structure without detour or stop;

(f)

Attending or directly en route to or from a school sponsored, religious, or recreational activity supervised by at least one responsible adult and sponsored and conducted by the City of San Marcos, a civic organization, public agency, charitable organization, religious entity, or another similar entity or person that takes responsibility for the minor;

(g)

Exercising First Amendment rights protected by the United States Constitution while being supervised by at least one responsible adult, or exercising said right is part of an organized event which has been the subject of written notice to the City Manager, or his/her designee, not less than 24 hours prior to the conduct of such event.

(Ord. No. 97-1016, adopted 6-24-97 by Urgency Ordinance, Govt Code §36937)