Ord 022-2001 3/12/2001ORDINANCE NO.
ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WICHITA
FALLS, TEXAS, REPEALING SECTION 20 -11 OF THE CODE OF
ORDINANCES IN ITS ENTIRETY AND ADOPTING A NEW SECTION
20 -11 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES, ENTITLED "CURFEW HOURS
FOR MINORS," OF CHAPTER 20, "OFFENSES AND MISCELLANEOUS
PROVISIONS "; DEFINING TERMS; CREATING HOURS OF CURFEW
FOR MINORS; CREATING OFFENSES FOR MINORS, PARENTS OF
MINORS, AND BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTS VIOLATING CURFEW
REGUATIONS; PROVIDING DEFENSES; PROVIDING FOR
ENFORCEMENT BY THE POLICE DEPARTMENT; PROVIDING
PENALTIES; PROVIDING A SAVING CLAUSE, PROVIDING A
SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY; AND
FINDING AND DETERMINING THAT THE MEETING AT WHICH THIS
ORDINANCE WAS PASSED WAS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AS
REQUIRED BY LAW.
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Wichita Falls has determined that
there has been an increase in juvenile violence, juvenile gang activity, and crime by
persons under the age of seventeen (17) in the City of Wichita Falls; and,
WHEREAS, persons under the age of seventeen (17) are particularly susceptible
by their lack of maturity and experience to participate in unlawful and gang - related
activities and to be victims of older perpetrators of crime; and,
WHEREAS, the City of Wichita Falls has an obligation to provide for the
protection of minors from each other and from other persons, for the enforcement of
parental control over and responsibility for children, for the protection of the general
public, and for the reduction of the incidence of juvenile criminal activities; and,
WHEREAS, a curfew for those under the age of seventeen (17) will be in the
interest of the public health, safety, and general welfare and will help to attain the
foregoing objectives and to diminish the undesirable impact of such conduct on the
citizens of the City of Wichita Falls.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS:
SECTION 1. That Section 20 -11 of Chapter 20 of the Code of Ordinances of the
City of Wichita Falls is hereby repealed, and a new Section 20 -11 to be entitled "Curfew
Hours for Minors" is hereby adopted, the same to read as follows:
"Sec. 20 -11. Curfew Hours for Minors.
(a) Definitions. In this section:
(1) Curfew Hours means:
(A) 11:00 p.m. on any Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
or Thursday, until 6:00 a.m. of the following day; and,
(B) 12:01 a.m. until 6:00 a.m. on any Saturday or Sunday.
(2) Emergency means an unforeseen combination of circumstances
or the resulting state that calls for immediate action. The term includes, but is not limited
to, a fire, a natural disaster, an automobile accident, or any situation requiring
immediate action to prevent serious bodily injury or loss of life.
(3) Establishment means 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.
(4) Guardian means:
(A) a person who, under court order, is the guardian of the
person of a minor; or,
(B) a public or private agency with which a minor has been
placed by a court.
(5) Minor means any person under seventeen (17) years of age.
(6) Operator means any individual, firm, association, partnership, or
corporation, operating, managing, or conducting any establishment. The term includes
the members or partners of an association or partnership and the officers of a
corporation.
(7) Parent means a person who is:
(A) a natural parent, adoptive parent, or step - parent of another
person; or,
(B) at least eighteen (18) years of age and authorized by a
parent or guardian in writing to have the care and custody of
a minor.
(8) Public Place means any place to which the public or a substantial
group of the public has access and includes, but is not limited to, streets, highways, and
the common areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses, office buildings, transport
facilities, and shops.
(9) Remain means to:
(A) linger or stay; or
(B) fail to leave premises when requested to do so by a police
officer or the owner, operator, or other person in control of
the premises.
(10) Serious Bodily Injury means 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.
(b) Offenses.
(1) A minor commits an offense if he remains in any public place or on
the premises of any establishment within the city during curfew hours.
(2) A parent or guardian of a minor commits an offense if he knowingly
permits, or by insufficient control allows, the minor to remain in any public place or on
the premises of any establishment within the city during curfew hours.
(3) The owner, operator, or any employee of an establishment
commits an offense if he knowingly allows a minor to remain upon the premises of the
establishment during curfew hours.
was:
(c) Defenses.
(1) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (b) that the minor
(A) accompanied by the minor's parent or guardian;
(B) on an errand at the direction of the minor's parent or
guardian, without any detour or stop;
(C) in a motor vehicle involved in interstate travel;
(D) engaged in an employment activity, or going to or returning
home from an employment activity, without any detour or
stop;
(E) involved in an emergency;
(F) on the sidewalk abutting the minor's residence or abutting
the residence of a next -door neighbor if the neighbor did not
complain to the police department about the minor's
presence;
(G) attending an official school, religious, or other recreational
activity supervised by adults and sponsored by the City of
Wichita Falls, a civic organization, or other similar entity that
takes responsibility for the minor, or going to or returning
home from, without any detour or stop;
(H) exercising First Amendment rights protected by the United
States Constitution, such as the free exercise of religion,
freedom of speech, and the right of assembly; or,
(1) married or had been married or had disabilities of minority
removed in accordance with Chapter 31 of the TEXAS FAMILY
CODE.
(J) attending an activity supervised by adult sponsors taking
responsibility for the minor, and each minor has written
permission from a parent or guardian to attend the activity;
the activity is supervised by an adult sponsor throughout the
length of the activity so that a minor may not leave the
premises or establishment where the activity is held without
a parent, guardian or other adult individual with which a
parent or guardian has given written permission to take the
minor from the activity's premises; all ingress and egress to
the facility must be controlled by the adult sponsor
throughout the duration of the activity to ensure that all
minors are in the premises where the activity is held.
(2) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (b)(3) that the
owner, operator, or employee of an establishment promptly notified the police
department that a minor was present on the premises of the establishment during
curfew hours and refused to leave.
(d)
Enforcement.
Before taking any enforcement action under this section, a police 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 in Subsection (c) is present.
(e) Penalties.
(1) A person who violates a provision of this section is guilty of a
separate offense for each day or part of a day during which the violation is committed,
continued, or permitted. Each offense, upon conviction, is punishable by a fine not to
exceed Five Hundred ($500.00) Dollars.
(2) When required by Section 51.08 of the TEXAS FAMILY CODE, as
amended, the municipal court shall waive original jurisdiction over a minor who violates
Subsection (b)(1) of this section and shall refer the minor to juvenile court."
SECTION 2. That Chapter 20 of the Wichita Falls Code of Ordinances, as
amended, shall remain in full force and effect, save and except as amended by this
ordinance.
SECTION 3. That should any section, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or
word of this ordinance be declared unconstitutional or invalid for any purpose, the
remainder of this ordinance shall not be affected thereby.
SECTION 4. That due to the fact that the subject matter of this ordinance affects
the public health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the City of Wichita Falls, this
ordinance is declared to be an emergency measure, and shall become effective
immediately upon its passage.
SECTION 5. That it is hereby officially found and determined that the meeting at
which this ordinance was passed was open to the public as required by law.
PASSED AND APPROVED this the 12th day of March 2001.
M YOR
ATTEST:
i
City Clerk
•
Affidavit of Publication
THE STATE OF TEXAS
COUNTY OF WICHITA 1299124
Here
ORDINANCE NO. his 27th day of March 2001 A.D appeared before me,
22-2001
O RD
CITY COUNCIL
OF
.undersigned authority, Saundra Barnett, bookkeeper for the Times Publishing
OF THE CITY OF ipany of Wichita Falls, publishers of the Wichita Falls Times/Record News, a
WICHITA FALLS, P 3'
TEXAS,REPEAL-
ING SECTION 20-11 spaper published at Wichita Falls in Wichita County, Texas, and upon being
OF THE CODE OF
ORDINANCES IN sworn byme, on oath states that the attached advertisement is a true and
ITS ENTIRETY AND
ADOPTING A NEW act copy of advertising published in one ((1) issues thereof on the following
SECTON
20-11 OF THE CODE March 25th, 2001.
OF ORDINANCES, ...
ENTITLED "CUR-
FEW HOURS FOR
MINORS,"OF CHAP-
TER 20,"OFFENSES
ANDMISCELLANE-
OUS
PROVISIONS";
DEFINING TERMS;
CREATING HOURS
OF CURFEW FOR Saundra Barnett
MINORS; CREAT-
ING OFFENSES BooSkkeeper for the Times Publishing
FOR MINORS, PAR- Company of Wichita Falls
ENTS OF MINORS,
AND BUSINESS ES-
TABLISHMENTS VI-
OLATING CURFEW
REGULATIONS;
PROVIDING DE-
FENSES; PROVID-
ENFO CEMENT BY ) Subscribed and sworn to before me this the day and year first above written:
THE POLICE DE-
PARTMENT; PRO-
P I D I N G
PENALTIES; PRO- /v
VIDING A SAVING
CLAUSE; PROVID-
ING A SEVERABILI- •''t,
TY CLAUSE ; FS ••
DECLARING AN •,
EMERGENCY; AND iyp•. c/
FINDING AND DE- (�
TERMINING THAT A �• N
THE MEETING AT Cl.
WHICH THIS ORDI-
NANCE WAS
PASSED WAS OPEN
TO THE PUBLIC AS
REQUIRED BY Tc '
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