[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Town of Secaucus 10-9-96 as Ord. No. 96-29. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The chapter is declared necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health, safety and welfare of the people of the Town of Secaucus and is intended to address situations where parents have failed to act responsibly and reasonably in the supervision of their minor children to the detriment of the general public.
DELINQUENT ACTS
Those acts which violate the laws of the United States, or the statutes of the state or the ordinances of the town or those acts which would cause or tend to cause the minor to come under the jurisdiction of Municipal or Superior Court, but does not include traffic violations.
ILLEGAL DRUGS
Controlled substances obtained without a legal prescription.
JUVENILE DELINQUENT
Those minors whose behavior interferes with the rights of others or menaces the welfare of the community.
MINOR
Any person under the age of 18 years residing with a parent.
PARENT
Mother, father, legal guardian and any other person having the care or custody of a minor or any person acting in the parents' stead who have custody or control of the minor.
A. 
It is the continuous duty of the parent of any minor to exercise reasonable control to prevent the minor from committing any delinquent act.
B. 
Included (without limitation) in this continuous duty of reasonable parental control are the following parental duties:
(1) 
To keep illegal drugs or illegal firearms out of the home and legal firearms locked in places that are inaccessible to the minor.
(2) 
To require the minor to attend regular school sessions and to forbid the minor to be absent from class without parental or school permission.
(3) 
To arrange proper supervision for the minor when the parent must be absent.
(4) 
To take the necessary precautions to prevent the minor from maliciously or willfully destroying real, personal, or mixed property which belongs to the Town of Secaucus, or is located in the Town of Secaucus.
(5) 
To forbid the minor from keeping stolen property, illegally possessing firearms or illegal drugs, or associating with known juvenile delinquents, and to seek help from appropriate governmental authorities or private agencies in handling or controlling the minor, when necessary.
A. 
Whenever a minor is arrested or detained for the commission of any delinquent act within the Town of Secaucus, the parent of the minor shall be immediately notified by the Secaucus Police Department, advising the parent of such arrest or detention, the reason therefor, and the parent's responsibility under this chapter.
A. 
No parent or guardian of any minor under the age of 18 years shall fail to exercise reasonable parental control over such minor. An adjudication that said minor has violated a provision of this code which is a misdemeanor or a finding that said minor is responsible for a violation of this code which is deemed a civil infraction shall be evidence that said parent or guardian failed to exercise reasonable parental control.
B. 
Pursuant to the violation of this code, the parent/guardian of minor shall be held civilly responsible for the damages caused by the commission of any delinquent act within the Town of Secaucus.
C. 
Upon the first conviction of a violation of this chapter, the parent shall be subject to a fine of not less than $75, nor more than $100.
D. 
Upon the second conviction of a violation of this chapter, the parent shall be subject to a fine of not less than $100, nor more than $500, and in addition, shall be sentenced to probation with the condition that the parent participate in, through completion, a court approved, community-based treatment program (such as parenting skills, family services, employment and training, etc.) or, at the discretion of the court, be imprisoned for a period of up to 30 days.
E. 
Upon the third or subsequent violation and conviction, the parent shall be subject to a fine of not less than $200, nor more than $500, and at the discretion of the court, imprisoned for a period of up to 90 days.