G-07-10-25-10B1 - 10/25/2007 ORDINANCE NO. 1 C 7 - IC)
AN ORDINANCE TO READOPT AND CONTINUE CHAPTER 1,
SECTION 1.2700, CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF ROUND
ROCK,REGARDING A JUVENILE CURFEW IN CONFORMITY WITH
SECTION 370.002 OF THE TEXAS LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE;
PROVIDING FOR A SAVINGS CLAUSE AND REPEALING
CONFLICTING ORDINANCES OR RESOLUTIONS.
WHEREAS, a Texas home-rule municipality may adopt ordinances
that are for the good government, peace, or order of the
municipality; and
WHEREAS, the City of Round Rock, Texas has previously enacted
provisions in its Code of Ordinances relating to juvenile curfew
hours; and
WHEREAS, state law requires a home-rule municipality that has
adopted a juvenile curfew ordinance to review that ordinance every
three years to determine the ordinance' s effects on the community
and on the problems the ordinance was intended to remedy, to
conduct public hearings on the need to continue the ordinance and
then abolish, continue, or modify the ordinance; and
WHEREAS, after conducting the required review of the juvenile
curfew ordinance in 2004 , the City of Round Rock continued the
ordinance; and
WHEREAS, after conducting a current review of the juvenile
curfew ordinance to determine its effects on the community and on
the problems the ordinance was intended to remedy, a report of
which is attached as Exhibit A, the City of Round Rock has
determined that readopting and continuing the ordinance will
n: wdox\03ClNANC�C .OZ 5B1.wFD!sc'_
enhance the good government, peace, or order of the municipality;
and; Now Therefore
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROUND
ROCK, TEXAS,
I.
That Chapter 1, Section 1 . 2701 of the Code of Ordinances, City
of Round Rock, Texas, is hereby adopted to read as follows :
SECTION 1.2700 YOUTH CURFEW
1.2701 DEFINITIONS
(1) Curfew Hours mean;
(a) 12:01 a.m. until 6:00 a.m. on any Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or
Friday;
(b) 1:00 a.m. until 6:00 a.m. on any Saturday or Sunday; and
(c) 9:00 a.m.until 2:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
(4) Guardian means:
(a) A person who, under court order, is the guardian of the person of a minor; or
(b) A public or private agency with whom a minor has been placed by a court.
(5) Minor means any person under 17 years of age.
(6) Operator means any individual, firm, association, partnership, or corporation operating,
managing, or conducting any establishment. The term includes the members or partners
of an association or partnership and the officers of a corporation.
(7) Parent means a person who is:
(a) A natural parent, adoptive parent, or step-parent of another person; or
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(b) At least 18 years of age and authorized by a parent or guardian to have
the care and custody of a minor.
(8) 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.
(9) Remain means to:
(a) Linger or stay; or
(b) Fail to leave premises when requested to do so by a police officer or the owner,
operator, or other person in control of the premises.
(10) Serious Bodily Injury means bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that
causes death, serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss of impairment of the
function of any bodily member or organ.
1.2702 OFFENSES
(1) A minor commits an offense if he remains, walks, runs, stands, drives or rides about in
or upon any public place or on the premises of any establishment within the city during
curfew hours.
(2) The owner, operator, or any employee of an establishment commits an offense if he
knowingly allows a minor to remain, walk, run, stand, drive or ride about in or upon the
premises of the establishment during curfew hours.
1.2703 DEFENSES
(1) It is a defense to prosecution under 1.2702 that the minor was:
(a) Accompanied by the minor's parent or guardian;
(b) On an errand at the direction of the minor's parent or guardian, without any
detour or stop;
(c) In a motor vehicle involved in interstate travel;
(d) Engaged in an employment activity, or going to or returning home from an
employment activity, without any detour or stop;
(e) Involved in an emergency;
(f) On the sidewalk abutting the minor's residence or abutting the residence of a next-
door neighbor if the neighbor did not complain to the police department about the
minor's presence;
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(g) Attending an official school, religious, or other recreational activity supervised by
adults and sponsored by the City of Round Rock, Round Rock Independent School
District, a civic organization, or another similar entity that take 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 the City of Round Rock, Round Rock Independent School District,
a civic organization, or another similar entity that take responsibility for the
minor;
(h) 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; or
(1) Married or had been married or had disabilities of minority removed in
accordance with Chapter 31 of the Texas Family Code.
(2) It is a defense to prosecution under 1.2702(2) that the owner, operator, or employee of
an establishment promptly notified the police department that a minor was present on the
premises of the establishment during the curfew hours and refused to leave.
(3) It is a defense to prosecution under 1.2702 with respect to the curfew hours of 9:00 a.m.
until 2:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, that the offense
occurred during the scheduled vacation of or on a holiday observed by the school in which
the minor is enrolled; or that the minor has graduated from high school or received a high
school equivalency certificate; or that the minor has permission to be absent from the
school or be in a public place from an authorized school official or a parent or guardian.
In the case of a minor being educated in a home school, a parent or guardian shall be
deemed a school official.
1.2704 ENFORCEMENT
Before taking any enforcement action under this section, a police officer shall ask the apparent
offender's age and reason for being in the public place. The officer shall not issue a citation or
make an arrest under this section unless the officer reasonably believes that an offense has
occurred and that, based on any response and other circumstances, no defense in 1.2703 is
present.
1.2705 PENALTIES
(1) A person who violates a provision of this chapter is guilty of a separate offense for each
day or part of a day during which the violation is committed, continued, or permitted.
Each offense, upon conviction, is punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.
(2) When required by Section 51.08 of the Texas Family Code, as amended, the municipal
court shall waive original jurisdiction over a minor who violates 1.2702(1) of this section
and shall refer the minor to juvenile court.
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11.
A. All ordinances, parts of ordinances, or resolutions in
conflict herewith are expressly repealed.
B. The invalidity of any section or provision of this
ordinance shall not invalidate other sections or provisions
thereof .
C. The City Council hereby finds and declares that written
notice of the date, hour, place and subject of the meeting at which
this Ordinance was adopted was posted and that such meeting was
open to the public as required by law at all times during which
this Ordinance and the subject matter hereof were discussed,
.considered and formally acted. upon, all as required by the Open
Meetings Act, Chapter 551, Texas Government Code, as amended, and
the Act .
017
READand APPROVED on first reading this the day of
cAtk&I 2007 .
READ, APPROVED and ADOPTED on second reading this the
01
day of 2007 .
N WE Mayor
City of ound Rock, Texas
ATTEST:
CHRISTINE R. MARTINEZ, City SecrTatary
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MEMORANDUM
ROUND ROCK POLICE DEPARTMENT ,
615 E. Palm Valley Blvd Phone: (512) 218-5500
Round Rock,Texas 78664 Fax: (512) 218-7060
DATE: October 10, 2007
TO: Bryan Williams, Chief of Police
Tim Ryle, Assistant Chief of Police
Alain Babin, Patrol Captain
FROM: Rick White, Administrative Manager
SUBJECT: Curfew Ordinance Analysis
This memorandum provides an analysis of the past three-year duration of the City's Curfew
Ordinance—covered by Section 1.2700, Youth Curfew, of the City Code of Ordinances. The
ordinance itself affects youths under the age of 17 during the following days and hours:
Applicable Das Daytime Nighttime
Mondays through Fridays 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on School Das 12:01 a.m. to 6 a.m.
Saturdays and Sundays —
_1 00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.
If found in violation of this ordinance, youths may be subject to citation and fine. The ordinance
provides for youths to have permission to be absent from school and in a public place from an
authorized school official (or parent/guardian for home-schoolers) during the daytime
prohibitions.
The remainder of this memorandum will examine night-time and daytime curfew trends both in
terms of calls related to curfew violations and actual citations issued.
NIGHT-TIME CURFEW
The night-time portion of the curfew ordinance has been on the books since 1994. Since 2004,
the police department has seen an increase in the number of night-time curfew-related calls
(Figure 1). Figure I shows the annual sum of all calls that are considered to be curfew-related by
the officer or dispatcher, as shown in our Computer Aided Dispatch database. The data for 2007
are through the end of September. If the calls for the first nine months of this year hold their
trend, we would end the year with a modest increase (15 calls) from the calls seen last year.
EXHIBIT
, All
Figure 1. Night-time Curfew-Related Calls by Calendar Year
200
180
160
140
120
U 100
° 80
Ci 60 -
40 -
20 -
0
040200
2004 2005 2006 2007
Source: RRPD
Figure 2 shows the number of night-time curfew citations received by Municipal Court since
2004, and while there is some year-to-year change, no overall trend emerges. Compared with
daytime curfew citations, night-time curfew citations are less numerous.
Figure 2. Night-Time Curfew Citations by Calendar Year
40
35
30
0 25
.2
q
U 20
0
0 15-
z
10-
5-
2004
052004 2005 2006 2007
Source:CORR Municipal Court
DAYTIME CURFEW
Daytime curfew calls and citations will be discussed in the context of data grouped generally by
school year (September-May). Figure 3 shows that the overall number of daytime curfew-related
calls have generally risen since the 2003-04 school year. Some discussion of these data is in
order, given that the student walk-out in 2006 may be seen to skew these data. Figure 3 captures
every police call —regardless of its actual nature (traffic stop, suspicious incident, etc.) which the
officer or dispatcher felt may have been curfew-related. The student walk-outs of 2006, however,
generated but 18 police incidents in the Computer Aided Dispatch database while Municipal
Court reports that 212 total citations were issued during the two days of walk-outs in March
2006. As a result, the overall positive trend of Figure 3 is somewhat skewed by the walk-outs,
but the trend remains intact.
Figure 3. Daytime Curfew-Related Calls by School Year
140 -
120 -
100 -
ca
40120100m
U 80
0
L
60 -
E
Z 40 -
20 -
0 -1_ 1
0200
2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07
Note: Data are for September-May periods.
Source: RRPD
Figure 4 presents the number of citations received by Municipal Court, again by school year. As
expected from the 2006 student walk-outs, Figure 4 shows a spike in citations for the 2005-06
school year and then a decline from 379 citations in 2005-06 to 226 citations in the 2006-07
school year. If we set aside those walk-out-related citations, however, the remaining trend
continues to be a year-to-year increase in citation issuances.
Summary
Night-time and daytime curfew violations appear from the data to have increased year-to-year
since 2004, but it should be understood that the data systems do not fully reflect the usefulness of
Figure 4. Daytime Curfew Citations, by School Year
400-
350-
300-
U)
00350300w
0 250
.6
C) 200
0
150
Z
100-
50-
2003-04
00502003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07
Source: CORR Municipal Court
the daytime portion of curfew ordinance to the Police Department. For example, relatively few of
the calls displayed in Figure 3 are actually logged as curfew violations. Juvenile offenses, traffic
stops, and suspicious incidents accounted for 60 percent of those daytime curfew-related calls.
Thus, the ordinance can be seen as giving police an opportunity to contact juveniles they
encounter during the course of the school day and help ensure they are where they need to be.
DATE: October 18, 2007
SUBJECT: City Council Meeting - October 25, 2007
ITEM: *10B1. Consider an ordinance readopting Section 1.2700, Code of
Ordinances regarding the Youth Curfew. (Second Reading)
Department: Police
Staff Person: Bryan Williams, Chief of Police
Steve Sheets, City Attorney
Justification:
State law requires a review of the ordinance's usefulness and re-authorization every
three years.
Funding•
Cost: N/A
Source of funds: N/A
Outside Resources: N/A
Background Information•
The existing ordinance has provided for a nighttime curfew since 1994 and, in 2001,
a daytime curfew was added to the ordinance covering the period, 9:00 a.m. to 2:30
p.m. on school days. In 2004, City Council reauthorized this ordinance. As in 2004,
the Police Department has completed a review of its use of the ordinance during the
2004-07 period and recommends its reauthorization.
Public Comment: N/A