[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.
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.
Controlled substances obtained without a legal prescription.
Those minors whose behavior interferes with the rights of
others or menaces the welfare of the community.
Any person under the age of 18 years residing with a 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.
