[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Town Council of the Town
of Hancock 5-10-2006 as Ch. 11-A
of the 2006 Code of Ordinances. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Town of Hancock has determined that there has been an increase
in juvenile crime by persons under the age of 18 in the Town of Hancock,
resulting in juveniles being involved in a wide range of unacceptable
behavior, including vandalism, public drinking, littering, drug use,
breaking and entering, and harassment of residents, and it is the
purpose of the chapter to provide for a curfew in the Town of Hancock,
Washington County, Maryland, for persons under the age of 18 years
and to promote parental responsibility for children under the age
of 18 years.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following words shall have
the following meanings:
Includes those situations where the parent has failed to
monitor or account for the child's location between the hours
of 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.
Any person, male or female, under the age of 18 years.
A grandparent, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister,
uncle, aunt or first cousin with whom the person has a relationship
and is comfortable and is willing and available to care for the said
person.
The mother, father, or both (being referred to in the singular
as "parent"), guardian or other adult person having the legal care,
custody or control of a child.
Traveling, walking, biking or otherwise moving from the point
of departure to a child's home or the residence of the person
having the care, custody or control of said child for that evening.
Said movement shall be directly from the point of departure to the
destination, to be accomplished within a reasonable period of time.
Any night or early morning hours immediately preceding a
regular school day as scheduled by the Washington County Board of
Education.
A.
No parent or custodian shall allow or permit any child he or she
is responsible for to remain in or upon the public streets, roadways,
alleys, parks, playgrounds, or cemeteries or in or upon private property,
or other than the child's usual place of residence, which is
unoccupied, vacant, abandoned, or is not otherwise supervised by a
reasonable adult between the hours of 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. on school
nights, and 12:00 midnight on weekends and nonschool nights, except
as otherwise permitted under the provisions of this chapter.
B.
No person under the age of 18 years shall, within the corporate limits
of the Town of Hancock, remain in or upon the public streets, alleys,
parks, playgrounds, or in or upon private property, other than his
or her usual place of residence or in such alternative residence in
which the person's parent or guardian has placed that person
under adult supervision between the hours of 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.
on school nights, and 12:00 midnight on weekends and nonschool nights,
except as otherwise permitted under the provisions of this chapter.
A parent or guardian of the following juveniles shall be exempt
from the enforcement provisions of this chapter:
A.
A juvenile accompanied by his or her parent or guardian.
B.
A juvenile engaged in lawful employment.
C.
A juvenile on an errand or on legitimate business pursuant to instructions
from his or her parent or guardian, if the juvenile has in his possession
a signed note from his or her parent or guardian which states the
date, time and purpose and destination of the juvenile.
D.
A juvenile involved in an emergency concerning the person or property
of himself, herself or another.
E.
A juvenile returning home from school- or church-sponsored activities,
or from other activities supervised by an adult. The term "returning
home" means immediately and directly after participation in such activity,
without a broken chain of sequences and time between the end of such
event and the time such juvenile returns to his or her residence or
such other place as shall be authorized by his or her parent.
F.
At any time where the presence of said minor in said place or places
is connected with or required by some legitimate business, trade or
profession or occupation in which said minor is permitted by law to
be engaged.
G.
At any time the minor is engaged in interstate travel.
H.
At any time when a minor is exercising First Amendment rights protected
by the United States Constitution, such as free exercise of religion,
freedom of speech, and a right of free assembly, by first delivering
to the person designated by the Town's Chief of Police to receive
such information a written communication, signed by the juvenile and
countersigned, if practical, by a parent or guardian of the juvenile
with the home address and telephone number, specifying when, where,
and in what manner the juvenile will be in a public place during hours
when the chapter is applicable to communication.
I.
At any time the minor is married in accordance with the law or had
disability of non-age removed by a court of competent jurisdiction.
J.
At any time the minor is on the boulevard or sidewalk abutting the
minor's residence or abutting the residence of a next-door neighbor,
with permission, if the neighbor has not complained to the Police
Department about the minor's presence.
Law enforcement officers of the Town of Hancock, the Washington County Sheriff's Department, the Maryland State Police, and others authorized by law to enforce the criminal laws of this state shall be authority to reasonably stop and momentarily detain a juvenile to obtain his or her name, age and address, as well as the name and address of his or her parent or guardian, whenever said law enforcement officer shall reasonably suspect that the parent of such juvenile is in violation of § 162-3A. Upon determination that the parent or guardian of such juvenile is in fact in violation of § 162-3B and not exempt under § 162-4, the law enforcement offer shall direct or deliver the juvenile to the residence of his or her parent or guardian. If directed by the law enforcement officer, the juvenile shall immediately respond to his or her residence.
A.
Upon a parent or guardian's first violation per child, notice
thereof shall be given to the parent or guardian and a record of the
violation shall be made with the Police Department or enforcing agency.
Upon the second violation involving the same child, a municipal citation
shall be served on the parent or guardian. The fine for that second
violation involving the same child shall be $50. Upon a third violation
involving the same child, the parent or guardian shall be subject
to a $150 fine. Upon a fourth or subsequent violation involving the
same child, the parent or guardian shall be subject to a $300 fine.
B.
Upon the juvenile's first violation, notice shall be given to
the juvenile and a record of the violation shall be made with the
Police Department or enforcing agency. A letter shall be sent to the
parent or guardian of the juvenile in violation by Chief of Police
of the Town of Hancock, sent by certified mail, return receipt requested,
advising the parent or guardian of the curfew violation of the juvenile.
A return of the certified letter, indicating a refusal to accept delivery
shall be deemed service and notice of the violation under this chapter.
Upon the second violation by a juvenile, a notice of the violation
and the circumstances surrounding the violation shall be sent to the
Department of Juvenile Justice by the Chief of Police of the Town
of Hancock.
C.
The Police Department shall maintain a record of all juveniles found
in those locations and at those times prohibited by this chapter.
Such record shall be conclusive proof that a juvenile has previously
been the subject of inquiry pursuant to this chapter. The Police Department
shall maintain a record of all parents or custodians contacted and
determined to have violated this chapter. Such list shall be made
available to any juvenile court or child welfare or child protective
agency upon request.
D.
Any parent or guardian unable to control the whereabouts and activities
of a juvenile in their care, custody or control shall contact the
Police Department and report such juvenile as possibly appearing in
locations and at times that would violate this chapter. In such case,
the parent or guardian shall not be responsible for the actions of
the juvenile for the purposes of this chapter, but the Police Department
may consider reporting such juvenile to the Department of Social Services
and the Department of Juvenile Justice as a child in need of supervision
(CINS) or runaway child.
E.
At the time the Police Department issues a warning or notice of infraction
to any parent or guardian for violation of this chapter, the Police
Department may consider reporting the circumstances of such juvenile
as needing the intervention of child protective services.
F.
Any person 18 years of age or older who is not a juvenile's
guardian or parent and who acts in such a manner as to interrupt a
juvenile's returning home, distracts a juvenile returning home
so as to cause an interruption of the return home or aids and abets
a curfew violation by a juvenile shall be committing the infraction
of rendering curfew violation assistance, punishable by a $150 fine.
G.
Any juvenile who shall refuse to provide his or her identity, and/or
the identity of his parent or guardian, when directed to do so by
a law enforcement officer or flees from a law enforcement officer
of the Town of Hancock, the Washington County Sheriff's Department,
or the Maryland State Police who directs the juvenile to stop shall
have committed the misdemeanor violation of failure to obey a police
officer's directive. He shall be taken in to custody for his
own safety and the safety of the community and the Department of Juvenile
Justice notified of the curfew violation, along with the criminal
violation of failure to obey a police officer's directive. The
status of the juvenile's release shall be governed by the Department
of Juvenile Justice.
If any item, sentence, clause, phrase or word of this chapter
is declared or adjudged to be invalid or unconstitutional, such declaration
or adjudication shall not affect the remaining portions of this chapter,
which shall remain in full force and effect as if the portion so declared
or adjudged invalid or unconstitutional was not originally a part
of this chapter.
