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TOWN OF FORT FAIRFIELD
CURFEW ORDINANCE
ORDINANCE 96-32

The Town of Fort Fairfield hereby ordains the adoption of the following ordinance, to be known as the Town of Fort Fairfield’s Curfew Ordinance.

SECTION I     SHORT TITLE
This Ordinance shall be known and may be cited as the Curfew Ordinance

SECTION II    REPEAL
Enactment of this ordinance hereby repeals Chapter 70, Curfew as adopted on March 9, 1903 in its entirety as found in the Fort Fairfield Town Code. 

SECTION III   PURPOSES AND FINDINGS
This is a replacement of the previous Town of Fort Fairfield Curfew Ordinance.  It prescribes, in accordance with prevailing community standards, regulations for the conduct of minors on the streets or public places at night.  It is to be effectively enforced for the good of minors, for the furtherance of family responsibility, and for the public good, safety and welfare.  The Fort Fairfield Town Council makes the following findings in support of this Ordinance.

1. Effect on Juvenile Delinquency:  The curfew meets a very real local need and is a significant factor in minimizing juvenile delinquency.
2. Proper Time for Outdoor Activities:  The community sense of the proper time for cessation of outdoor activities by minors on the streets is reflected in the curfew hours declared by this Curfew Ordinance and also takes into consideration the danger hours for nocturnal crime and for accumulations of minors with potential risks incident to Maturity.
3. Parental Responsibility:  Parental responsibility for the whereabouts of children is the norm.  Legal sanctions to enforce such responsibility have had a demonstrated effectiveness over the years.  As parental control increases, the likelihood of juvenile delinquency decreases.  There is a continued need for the nocturnal curfew for minors that has achieved and will continue to achieve, under local conditions, the purposes hereinbefore stated.

SECTION IV   DEFINITIONS
For the purposes of the Curfew Ordinance the following terms, phrases, words, and their derivations shall have the meaning given herein.  When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future; words in the plural number include the singular; and words in the singular number include the plural.  The work “shall” is always mandatory and not merely directory.

1. “Town” is the Town of Fort Fairfield, Aroostook County, Maine.
2. “Minor” is any person under the age of sixteen (16).
3. “Parent” is any person having legal custody of a minor: (a) as a natural or adoptive parent, (b) as a legal guardian, (c) as a person who stands in loco parentis, or (d) as a person to whom legal custody has been given by order of court.
4. “Public Place” means any place to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access and includes common areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses, office buildings, and shops.
5. “Remain” means to stay behind, to tarry and to stay unnecessarily upon the streets, in which any minor involved would not be using the streets for ordinary or serious purposes such as mere passage or going home.
6. “Street” is a way or place, of whatsoever nature, open to the use of the public as a matter of right of purposes of vehicular travel or, in the case of a sidewalk thereof, for pedestrian travel.  The term street includes the legal right of way, including but not limited to the cartway or traffic lanes, the curb, the sidewalks whether paved or unpaved, and any grass plots or other grounds found within the named, whether alley, avenue, court, road or otherwise.
7. “Time of Night” referred to herein is based upon the prevailing standard of time, whether Eastern Standard Time or Eastern Daylight Saving Time, generally observed at that hour by the public in the Town, prima facie the time then observed in the Fort Fairfield Town Office and police station.

SECTION V    CURFEW FOR MINORS
It shall be unlawful for any person fifteen (15) or less years of age (under sixteen (16) ) to be or remain in or upon the streets or at public places within the Town of Fort Fairfield at night during the period ending at 6:00 A.M. and beginning at:

1. 9:00 P.M. (weekdays – Sunday through Thursday)
2. 10:00 P.M. (weekends – Friday and Saturday)

SECTION VI  EXCEPTIONS/DEFENSES
In the following exceptional cases, a minor on a Town street during the nocturnal hours for which the curfew is intended to provide the maximum limits of regulation (and a clear general guide for minors, their parents and their fellow citizens) shall not be considered in violation of the Curfew Ordinance:

1. Parent:  When accompanied by a parent of such minor.
2. Authorized Adult:  When accompanied by an adult at least eighteen (18) years of age, authorized by a parent of such minor for a designated period of time and purpose within a specified area.
3. On an Errand: When at the direction of the minor’s parent or guardian without detour or stop.
4. Emergency:  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.
5. Sidewalk Near Residence:  When the minor is on the sidewalk abutting the minor’s residence or abutting the residence of either next door neighbor if the neighbor did not complain to the police department about the minor’s presence or conduct.
6. Returning Home:  When returning home, by a direct route from and within thirty (30) minutes of the termination of a school activity, or an activity of a religious or other voluntary association supervised by adults or sponsored by the Town of Fort Fairfield, a civic organization, or another similar entity that takes responsibility for the minor, or a handwritten note in possession of the minor at attend a function.
7. Married/Emancipation:  When married or has been married or has been granted emancipation by the court in accordance with Title 15, Section 3506, Maine Revised Statutes Annotated.
8. In Motor Vehicle:  When the minor is, with parental consent , in a motor vehicle.  This contemplates normal travel.  From excess of caution, this clearly exempts bona fide between town movement through Fort Fairfield, particularly on normal routes such as Main Street.  This also exempts between town travel beginning or ending in Fort Fairfield.

SECTION VII             PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY:
It shall be unlawful for a parent having legal custody of a minor knowingly to permit, or by inefficient control to allow such minor to be or remain upon an6y Town streets or public places under circumstances not constituting an exception to or otherwise beyond the scope of the Curfew Ordinance.  The term “knowingly” includes knowledge that a parent should reasonably be expected to have concerning the whereabouts of a minor in that parent’s legal custody.  It shall be no defense that a parent was indifferent to the activities or conduct or whereabouts of such minor.

SECTION VIII         POLICE PROCEDURES:

1. General:  A police officer of the Town, upon finding or having attention called to any minor on the streets in prima facie violation of the Curfew Ordinance, normally shall take the minor to the Town Police Station.  A parent shall immediately be notified to come for such minor; whereupon they shall be interviewed.  This is intended to permit ascertainment, under constitutional safeguards, of relevant facts and to centralize responsibility in the officer there and then on duty for accurate, effective, fair, impartial and uniform enforcement and recording, thus making available experienced personnel, the best of facilities, and access to information and records.  In the absence of convincing evidence (such as a birth certificate), a police officer on the street shall in the first instance use his best judgment in determining age.
2. Refinement:  Police procedures shall constantly be refined in the light of experience and may provide that the police officer deliver to a parent thereof a minor under appropriate circumstances, for example a minor of ender age near home whose identity and address may readily be ascertained or is known.
3. Written Report:  In any event, such police officer shall within twenty-four (24) hours file a written report with the Chief of Police.
4. Release of Minor:  When a parent, immediately called, has come to take charge of the minor and the appropriate information has been recorded, the minor shall be released to the custody of such parent.  If the parent cannot be located or fails to take charge of the minor, then the minor shall be released temporarily to a relative, neighbor or other person who will on behalf of a parent assume the responsibility of caring for the minor pending the availability or arrival of a parent.
5. First Violation:  In the case of a first violation by a minor, the Chief of Police shall send to a responsible parent by mail a written notice of the violation with a warning that any subsequent violation will result in full enforcement of the Curfew Ordinance, including enforcement of parental responsibility and of applicable penalties.

SECTION IX              PENALTIES   
Parties found to be in violation of this Ordinance shall be subject to the following payments in lieu of court action.  Such payments are similar in nature to traffic or parking tickets.

1. Minor Child First Offense    Written warning
   Second Offense                $25.00
   Third Offense                   $50.00
   Thereafter                        $100.00

2. Parent – Parents are responsible for the control and behavior of their minor children.  Failure to exercise such parental authority is subject to penalty under this Ordinance.  Upon a third offense and for each subsequent offense by the minor child of said parent, the parent will be issued a citation.  The payment in lieu of court action assessed to the parent will be the same as that assessed to the minor child up to a maximum of one hundred dollars ($100), except as provided in Section X of this Ordinance. 

SECTION X    PROSECUTION OF VIOLATION
If payments in lieu of court action are not paid within thirty (30) days of violation, the Parent or Juvenile shall be issued a civil citation to the Second District Court in Presque Isle, Maine and subject to a civil forfeiture of double the amount of the original payment in lieu of court action if adjudicated to have committed the offense alleged.

SECTION XI              ENFORCEMENT
The Chief of Police or designee of Town of Fort Fairfield shall be responsible for enforcement of this Curfew Ordinance.

SECTION XII             SEVERABILITY CLAUSE
Severability is intended throughout and within the provisions of the Curfew Ordinance.  This Ordinance is intended to be constitutional and shall be constitutionally administered and construed.

INTRODUCED NOVEMBER 26, 1996
INTRODUCED BY Councilor:  Gary B. Sirois    
PUBLISHED January 7, 1997
PUBLIC HEARING January 15, 1997   
ADOPTED AT TOWN COUNCIL MEETING January 22, 1997
Gary B. Sirois, Chairman
Gary J. Cyr
Robert D. Ashby
Ronald Jalbert
Ruel W. Flannery
E. Ann Shaw, Town Council Secretary
Susan H. LeVasseur, Town Clerk