Town of Rock Hall, MD Chapter 89 Curfew

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Town of Rock Hall 8-6-1981 by Ord. No. 81-8; amended in its entirety 6-8-2000 by Ord. No. 00-02. Amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES

Loitering — See Ch. 155.

Peace and good order — See Ch. 159.

§ 89-1 Loitering by minors prohibited.

It shall be unlawful for any minor under the age of 16 years to loiter, idle, wander, stroll or play in or upon the public streets, highways, roads, alleys, parks, playgrounds, public places and public buildings, places of amusement and entertainment, vacant lots or other unsupervised places between the following hours:

A. 10:00 p.m. on Fridays until 5:30 a.m. on Saturdays.

B. 10:00 p.m. on Saturdays until 5:30 a.m. on Sundays.

C. 9:00 p.m. on Sundays through Thursdays until 5:30 a.m. the next day.

§ 89-2 Parental responsibility.

A. It shall be unlawful for the parent, guardian or other responsible adult person having the duly authorized care and custody of a minor under the age of 16 years to knowingly permit or by insufficient control allow a minor to violate curfew in or upon the public places defined and enumerated in § 89-1 of this chapter.

B. The provisions of this chapter do not apply to:

(1) A minor accompanied by a parent, guardian or other responsible adult person having the duly authorized care and custody of the minor; or

(2) A minor while on an emergency errand or legitimate business or activity directed or permitted by the parent, guardian or other responsible adult person having the duly authorized care and custody of the minor.

§ 89-3 Violations and penalties.

Any parent, guardian or other responsible adult in violation of this chapter shall be guilty of a municipal infraction and subject to the following fine:

A. For first offense, a written warning;

B. For second offense, a fine no more than $50 but no less than $25;

C. For third offense, a fine of $100; and

D. For each subsequent offense, a fine of $200 per offense.

§ 89-4 Title.

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as "The Town of Rock Hall Curfew Ordinance."

§ 89-5 Recitals.

The Recitals to this Ordinance No. 00-02 are incorporated herein and deemed a substantive part of this chapter, as follows:

WHEREAS, Ordinance No. 81-08, adopted on August 6, 1981, by the Mayor and Council of the Town of Rock Hall established Chapter 39 (the "Curfew Ordinance") of the Code of the Town of Rock Hall; and

WHEREAS, the purpose of the Curfew Ordinance is to protect minors from each other and other persons during nocturnal hours, to assist law enforcement personnel in crime prevention, to promote parental supervision and authority over minors, to protect the public from nocturnal crime and mischief by unsupervised minors, and to promote the furtherance of family responsibility and for the public good, safety and welfare; and

WHEREAS, in 1999, a joint committee of representatives from the five incorporated towns of Kent County, the Sheriff's Office of Kent County and the State's Attorney's Office of Kent County was established (the "Joint Committee"). The Joint Committee was charged with reviewing certain common municipal ordinances (i.e., alcoholic beverages, curfew, firearms, skateboards, noise and animals) with the objective of standardizing, to the extent possible, such ordinances in an effort to facilitate their enforcement by the Kent County Sheriff's Office and the Kent County State's Attorney's Office; and

WHEREAS, the Joint Committee recommended a model curfew ordinance and the Mayor and Council of Rock Hall, at the recommendation of the Chief of Police, have agreed to amend the Curfew Ordinance to conform, in substantive part, to the Joint Committee's model curfew ordinance; and

WHEREAS, the Mayor and Council of the Town of Rock Hall, for the good and welfare of the community, deem it necessary and appropriate to repeal and reenact Chapter 39[1] of the Code of the Town of Rock Hall for the purposes of restating the legislative intent of the Curfew Ordinance and streamlining the enforceability of the Curfew Ordinance.

[1] Editor's Note: During recodification, this chapter was renumbered as Chapter 89 of the Code of the Town of Rock Hall to fit the alphabetical arrangement of the Code.