[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.
[Amended 1-29-1998, Ordinance
1998-3]
The Municipal Court of the city may elect to have and possess
original jurisdiction to hear and to determine any offenses committed
by persons under the age of 18 years of age and penalize juveniles
found guilty as allowed by Title 10 of the Oklahoma Statutes, Section
1102 (e).
[Added 1-29-1998, Ordinance
1998-3]
1. Violations.
a. It shall be unlawful for any juvenile to loiter, idle, wander, stroll
or play in or upon public streets, highways, roads, alleys, parks,
playground or other public grounds, public places and public buildings,
places of amusement and entertainment, vacant lots, parking lots,
or other unsupervised places, between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and
6:00 a.m. of the following day, of every night and morning in the
week, except Friday and Saturday nights when said hours shall be 12:00
midnight on Friday and Saturday nights and 6:00 a.m. of the following
morning.
b. It shall be unlawful for the parent, guardian or other adult person
having the care and custody of a juvenile to knowingly permit such
juvenile to violate the above section.
c. It shall be unlawful for any owner, operator or employee of a public
place to knowingly allow a juvenile to remain upon the premises of
any public place during curfew hours.
2. Exceptions: The provisions of Section
15-118 paragraph 1 shall not apply to:
a. A juvenile who is accompanied by his/her parent, guardian or other
adult person having the care and custody of the juvenile;
b. A juvenile on an errand at the specific request of the juvenile's
parent, guardian, or adult having care and custody of said juvenile
without any detour or unnecessary stop;
c. A juvenile involved in an emergency;
d. A juvenile in a motor vehicle involved in interstate travel;
e. A juvenile engaged in an employment activity, or going home from
an employment activity without any detour or unnecessary stop;
f. A juvenile attending or traveling between home and official school,
religious, or other recreational activity supervised by adults and
sponsored by a civic organization or other similar entity that takes
responsibility for the juvenile;
g. A juvenile that has been declared an adult by any court;
h. A parent of a juvenile if the juvenile qualifies for any of the exceptions
listed above;
i. An owner, operator, or employee of a public place if said owner,
operator, or employee has notified the police that a juvenile was
present on the premises of the public place during curfew hours and
remained after being asked to leave.
[Added 1-29-1998, Ordinance
1998-3]
1. Violations.
a. It shall be unlawful for a parent, guardian or adult person having
care and custody of a juvenile who is over the age of eight years
and under the age of 18 years, to neglect or refuse to cause or compel
such juvenile to attend and comply with the rules of a public, private,
or, other school of the parent's, guardian's or other responsible
person's choosing in which the juvenile is enrolled.
b. It shall be unlawful for any juvenile who is over the age of eight
years and under the age of 18 years to neglect or refuse to attend
and comply with the rules of the chosen school as stated above.
c. It shall be unlawful for any parent, guardian, or other person having
care or custody of the juvenile of school age to refuse or neglect
to enroll said juvenile into a school of said person's choice.
2. Exceptions.
a. Provided, that this section shall not apply:
(1)
If any such child is prevented from attending school by reason
of mental or physical disability, as determined by the board of education
of the district upon a certificate of the school physician or public
health physician or, if no such physician is available, a duly licensed
and practicing physician;
(2)
If any such child is excused from attendance at school, due
to an emergency, by the principal of the school in which the child
is enrolled, at the request of the parent of the child;
(3)
If any such child is excused from attending school by:
(a)
The administrator of the school or district where the child
attends school; and
(b)
The parent of the child, provided, further, that no child shall
be excused from attending school by such joint agreement between a
school administrator and the parent of the child unless and until
it has been determined that such action is in the best interest of
the child and/or the community, and that said child shall thereafter
be under the supervision of the parent until the child has reached
the age of 18 years; and
(4)
If any such child is observing religious holy days if, prior
to the absence, the parent of the child submits a written request
for the absence. The school district shall excuse a student pursuant
to this subsection for the days on which the religious holy days are
observed and for the days on which the student shall travel to and
from the site where the student will observe the holy days.
[Added 1-29-1998, Ordinance
1998-3]
It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly and willfully
aid, abet, allow, encourage or, by omission of a duty, encourage or
assist a juvenile to commit any municipal, state, or federal offense.
[Added 1-29-1998, Ordinance
1998-3]
It shall be unlawful for any person to commit any municipal,
state, or federal offense in the presence of a juvenile.
[Added 1-29-1998, Ordinance
1998-3]
It shall be unlawful for any owner, operator, proprietor, manager,
or employee of any place to permit any juveniles who have congregated
on the premises to commit any offense, such as but not limited to
disturbing the peace of the people residing or carrying on business
in the immediate neighborhood.
[Added 1-29-1998, Ordinance
1998-3]
1. It shall be unlawful for any parent, guardian, or any adult person
having care and custody of a juvenile to fail to control said juvenile
by, after notification of a prior offense committed by the juvenile,
failing to prevent the juvenile from committing the same offense or
more than one other offense within one year of the date the juvenile
committed the first offense.
2. It shall be unlawful for any parent, guardian, or adult having care
and custody of a juvenile to fail by any means to ensure that said
juvenile appear in Municipal Court for a court appearance after notification
by the Municipal Court of said appearance date.
3. Any fines and costs properly assessed against any child and which
remain unpaid after three months may be assessed by the Municipal
Judge against the child's parent, parents, legal guardian or legal
custodian as provided for in articles xxvii and xxviii of Title 11
of the Oklahoma Statutes. Provided however, prior to such latter assessments,
the Court Clerk shall give such child's parent, parents, legal guardian
or legal custodian notice by certified mail to their place of residence
or personal service of such action proposed to be taken.
4. If a child fails to complete community service authorized pursuant
to Title 10 section 7303-1.2e5 of the Oklahoma Statutes, a parent
or guardian of the child who knew or should have known that the child
failed to complete the community service may be fined in an amount
that is equal to the number of community service hours that are uncompleted
by the child multiplied by the hourly minimum wage amount.