[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and City Council of the City of Havre
de Grace 3-3-2003 by Ord. No. 834. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
As used herein, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
From 11:00 p.m. on any Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday,
until 6:00 a.m. on the following day, and from 12:01 a.m. until 6:00 a.m.
on any Saturday and from 12:01 a.m. until 6:00 a.m. on any Sunday.
An unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state
that calls for immediate action. The term "emergency" includes, but is not
limited to, a fire, a natural disaster, an automobile accident, or any situation
that requires immediate action to prevent serious bodily injury or loss of
life.
Any privately owned place of business operated for a profit to which
the public is invited, including, but not limited to, any place of amusement
or entertainment. The term "establishment" does not include a business that
provides lodging at which a minor is a lawful guest.
A person who, under court order, is the guardian of the person of
a minor or a public or private agency with whom a minor has been placed by
a court.
Any person under the age of 17 years, but does not include a minor
who is able to demonstrate that he or she is judicially emancipated, or married.
The act of engaging in any prohibited activity related to narcotic
drugs or controlled substances prohibited by Maryland law.
Any individual, firm, association, partnership, or corporation that
operates, manages, or conducts any establishment. The term "operator" includes
the members or partners of an association or partnership and the officers
of a corporation.
A natural parent, adoptive parent or step-parent, or any person who
has legal custody by court order or marriage, or any person not less than
21 years of age who is authorized by the natural parent, adoptive parent,
step-parent or custodial parent of a minor to be a caretaker for the minor.
Any place to which the public, or a substantial group of the public,
has access, and includes, but is not limited to, streets, highways, roads,
sidewalks, alleys, lanes, parks, playgrounds, wharfs, docks, public buildings,
or vacant lots, and the common areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses,
office buildings, malls, transport facilities, and shops.
To linger or stay or fail to leave the premises when requested to
do so by a law enforcement officer or the owner, operator, or other person
in control of the premises.
Bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that causes
death, serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of
the function of any bodily member or organ.
A.Â
It shall be unlawful for a minor to remain in any public
place or on the premises of any establishment within the City of Havre de
Grace during curfew hours.
B.Â
It shall be unlawful for a parent or guardian of a minor
to knowingly permit, or by insufficient control allow, the minor to remain
in any public place or on the premises of any establishment within the City
of Havre de Grace during curfew hours.
C.Â
It shall be unlawful for the owner, operator, or any
employee of an establishment to knowingly allow a minor to remain upon the
premises of the establishment during curfew hours.
A.Â
It is a defense to prosecution under this chapter that
the minor was:
(1)Â
Accompanied by the minor's parent or guardian;
(2)Â
On an errand at the direction of the minor's parent
or guardian, without any detour or stop;
(3)Â
In a motor vehicle, train, or bus involved in interstate
travel;
(4)Â
Engaged in some legitimate employment, trade, profession
or occupation, or going to, or returning home from, such activity, without
any detour or stop;
(5)Â
Involved in an emergency;
(6)Â
On the sidewalk that abuts the minor's residence;
(7)Â
In attendance at an official school, religious, or other
recreational activity sponsored and supervised by a bona fide organization
that takes responsibility for the minor, or going to, or returning home from,
without any detour or stop, any such activity; or
(8)Â
Lawfully exercising rights protected by the United States
or Maryland Constitutions.
B.Â
It is a defense to prosecution of any owner, operator,
or employee of an establishment under this chapter that the owner, operator,
or employee promptly notified the police that a minor was present on the premises
of the establishment during curfew hours and refused to leave.
A.Â
Before taking any enforcement action under this section, a law enforcement officer shall ask the apparent offender's age and reason for being in the public place. The officer shall not issue a citation or make an arrest under this section unless the officer reasonably believes that an offense has occurred and that, based on any response and other circumstances, no defense set forth in § 52-3 of this chapter is proffered or is present.
B.Â
If a law enforcement officer determines that a minor
is committing a curfew offense, the law enforcement officer shall:
(1)Â
Obtain information from such minor so as to determine
his or her name, address, age, and the name of his or her parents or guardians.
(2)Â
Upon obtaining such information, the law enforcement
officer shall thereupon instruct the minor to immediately proceed to his or
her home and accompany the minor home or take the minor home. If the minor
resides outside the corporate limits of the City of Havre de Grace, the law
enforcement officer may, upon the availability of physical resources and manpower,
arrange for the transfer custody of the minor to the appropriate law enforcement
agency in the jurisdiction where the minor resides.
(3)Â
If the minor is unable or unwilling to provide the pertinent
information, or to immediately proceed to his or her home, the law enforcement
officer, shall take the minor into custody and deliver the minor to the Havre
de Grace Police Department for the purpose of obtaining the pertinent information
and contacting the minor's parents or guardians. The minor's parent
or guardian shall be called to the Havre de Grace Police Department. The custody
of the minor shall be maintained at the Havre de Grace Police Department,
where the minor shall be given telephone access. By 6:00 a.m., the minor shall
be released into the custody of (a) the minor's parent or guardian, (b)
or to a responsible relative or other responsible individual not less than
twenty one (21) years of age, designated by the minor's parent or guardian,
who shall agree to take immediate care and responsibility for the minor. If
no one claims responsibility for the minor, the minor may be taken to the
minor's residence, or, if appropriate under existing regulations, the
minor shall be delivered to the appropriate official at the Department of
Social Services or other appropriate agency. In the event none of the contingencies
enumerated in this subsection are applicable, the minor shall be released
by the Havre de Grace Police Department by 6:00 a.m. the following morning.
C.Â
Nothing in this chapter shall prevent a law enforcement officer who is responding to or processing a curfew violation from terminating his or her response to, or processing of, the curfew violation in order to respond to an emergency situation having priority over the particular curfew violation. In terminating the processing of a curfew violation in any such situation, the law enforcement officer shall, to the extent possible under the existing circumstances, use any reasonable means that may be available and feasible to carry out the purpose and intent of the enforcement procedures set forth in this § 52-4 concerning the minor involved before responding to the emergency. As used in this section, "an emergency situation having priority over the particular curfew violation" shall be as determined by the established procedures, rules, or regulations promulgated by the Chief of the Havre de Grace Police Department, or as otherwise required by governing law, procedure, rule, or regulation.
Any adult who violates a chapter shall intentionally violate a provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine not to exceed $1,000 and imprisonment for no more than 6 months. Imprisonment in default of fine and costs shall be regulated by the provisions of Article 38, Section 4 of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as the same may be amended from time to time. Any minor of the age of 15 or 16 years of age who shall intentionally violate a provision of this chapter shall be issued a juvenile referral and shall, upon adjudication of a delinquent act by the juvenile court, be subject to the disposition provisions of the juvenile court.
A.Â
The provisions of this chapter shall apply generally
to all public places throughout the City of Havre de Grace.
B.Â
The provisions of this chapter are intended for the protection
of public health, safety, and general welfare of minors, for the enforcement
of parental control over, and responsibility for, minors, for the protection
of the general public, and for the reduction of the incidence of juvenile
criminal activities, and to diminish the undesirable impact of this conduct
on the residents and business owners of the City of Havre de Grace.
If any section, sentence, clause or phrase of this chapter is held invalid
or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, then said ruling
shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this chapter.
