[Added 1-29-1998, Ordinance 1998-3]
1.
Purpose. The purpose of this Article is to curb the increasing problem of juvenile crime; to educate and reform juvenile offenders; to punish juvenile offenders; and to create an environment whereby adults and juveniles take responsibility for the actions of juveniles. It is further intended by this Article to continue to hold neglectful or careless parents to a reasonable community standard of parental responsibility through an objective test. It shall not be a defense to the committing of any violation of any offense contained in this Article that a parent, guardian or any other person whose responsibility it is to exercise control over a minor, was completely unaware of indifferent to the activities, conduct or whereabouts of such minor.
2.
Definitions. In this article the following terms, phrases, words and derivations shall have the following meanings:
a.
CITY – Shall mean City of Weatherford, Custer County, Oklahoma.
b.
JUVENILE – Shall mean any person under 18 years of age. Furthermore, the term child shall be synonymous with the term juvenile.
c.
PARENT – Shall mean any person having legal custody of a minor (i) as a natural or adoptive parent; (ii) as a legal guardian; (iii) as a person who stands in loco parentis; or (iv) as a person to whom legal custody has been given by order of a court.
d.
PUBLIC PLACE – Shall mean any street, alley, highway, sidewalk, park, playground, or place to which the general public has access and a right to resort for business, entertainment, or other lawful purpose.
e.
REMAIN – Shall mean to stay behind, to tarry, to stay unnecessarily and to linger, to fail to leave when requested to do so by a police officer of the owner, operator, or other person in control of any public place.
f.
STREET – Shall mean a way or place, of whatsoever nature, open to the use of the public as a matter of right for purposes of vehicular travel or, in the case of a sidewalk, for pedestrian travel. The term street includes the legal right-of-way, the car way or traffic lanes, the curb, the sidewalks whether paved or unpaved, and any grass plots or other grounds found within the legal right-of-way of a street.
g.
TIME OF NIGHT – Shall mean based upon the prevailing standard of time, whether central standard time or central daylight savings time, generally observed at that hour by the public.