Newport Beach Municipal Code Ch. 10.36 Minor’s Curfew

The City Council declares its purpose and intent in enacting this chapter is as follows:

A. The hours between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. present unique public safety concerns because lawful recreational activities, youth programs, and commercial activities serving minors are substantially diminished during those hours, while opportunities for criminal activity, alcohol and drug use, vandalism, assaults, reckless conduct, and victimization increase.

B. Minors, because of their age and developmental maturity, generally possess a reduced ability to recognize dangerous circumstances, resist peer pressure, assess long-term consequences, and remove themselves from potentially hazardous situations during late-night hours without adult supervision.

C. Based on the Newport Beach Police Department's experience, together with the experience of numerous California jurisdictions that have juvenile curfew ordinances, having reasonable nighttime curfews contributes to reductions in juvenile victimization, vandalism, disorderly conduct, and other late-night public safety problems while encouraging parental involvement.

D. Juveniles present in public places during late-night hours are disproportionately vulnerable to becoming victims of violent crime, property crime, exploitation, alcohol-related offenses, drug activity, traffic collisions and other dangerous conditions.

E. Encouraging parental supervision during nighttime hours promotes the health, safety, and welfare of minors, reduces opportunities for juvenile crime and victimization, and strengthens parental responsibility without unreasonably interfering with legitimate nighttime activities, which are excluded from the curfew.

F. During designated high-risk periods including Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day, an earlier curfew is necessary in the West Newport Safety Enhancement Zone because the City experiences: (1) an extraordinary increase in visitors, traffic congestion, alcohol consumption, and large unsupervised gatherings that substantially elevate the risk of crime, disorderly conduct, fireworks violations, assaults, and juvenile victimization; and (2) crowd conditions that are fundamentally different from ordinary days, with rapidly increasing attendance beginning in the late afternoon and continuing into the evening, placing a severe demand on public safety personnel, which would be reduced if unsupervised juvenile attendance was restricted before dangerous crowd conditions develop.

G. The earlier West Newport Safety Enhancement Zone curfew is intended to prevent dangerous crowd formation before conditions become unmanageable.

H. The earlier West Newport Safety Enhancement Zone curfew is the least restrictive means to protect emergency access and juvenile safety because it is temporary, geographically limited, and applies only during recurring periods of demonstrated public safety risk.

I. The curfews established by this chapter are narrowly tailored because they apply only to those times when public safety risks are greatest, apply only to minors, contain reasonable exceptions for employment, emergencies, travel, religious activities, school functions, constitutional activities, and parental supervision, leaving open ample opportunities for lawful activity.

J. Protecting minors from harm, reducing juvenile victimization, encouraging parental supervision, preventing juvenile crime, and promoting the safe use of public spaces constitute compelling governmental interests supporting reasonable time, place and manner regulations applicable to minors.

(1949 Code § 4221 Ord. 1079; Ord. 85-20 § 1 (part), 1985; Ord. 85-21 § 1 (part), 1985; Ord. 2026-15, 9/22/2026)

For the purposes of this chapter, the following words, terms, phrases, and their derivations have the meanings given herein.

"Beach" or "beaches"

means any public ocean front or bay front beach within the City, including ocean or bay public piers, public floats, public wharves, or public strands adjoining public ocean front or bay front beach areas.

"Minor"

means any person under the age of eighteen (18) years who is not an emancipated minor, as provided in California Family Code Section 7002.

"Public plaza"

means an open public area that is owned or controlled by the State, the County, the City, or other public entity that has been physically improved, which allows access to the beach, a boardwalk, or public pier, and where people can gather.

"Public property"

means all property owned or controlled by the State, the County, the City, or other public entity including, but not limited to, any publicly owned or controlled building, structure, restroom, bridges, beach, parking garage, parking lot, passageway, pier, public right-of-way, public plaza, driveway, landscaped area, parkway, median, greenbelt, open space, public park, or park facility.

"Public rights-of-way" or "public right-of-way"

means the area or areas on, below, or above a public roadway, public highway, public street, public sidewalk, public path, public trail, public plaza, public bike lane or path, public boardwalk, public alleyway, or a utility easement in which the City has an interest.

"West Newport Safety Enhancement Zone"

means the area that has been designated by the City Council as the West Newport Safety Enhancement Zone pursuant to Section 1.04.060 and during the time that designation is in effect.

(1949 Code § 4222; Ord. 1079; Ord. 85-20 § 1 (part), 1985; Ord. 85-21 § 1 (part), 1985; Ord. 2023-22 § 455, 2023; Ord. 2026-15, 9/22/2026)

A. It shall be unlawful for any minor to be in or upon any public property, including but not limited to any beach, public plaza, public rights-of-way, or public park, between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. of the following day.

B. Notwithstanding the restrictions in subsection A, it shall be unlawful for any minor to be in or upon any public property, including but not limited to any beach, public plaza, public rights-of-way, or public park, in the area designated as the West Newport Safety Enhancement Zone between the hours of 6:00 p.m. on Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day, and 6:00 a.m. the following day.

C. It shall be unlawful for a parent or guardian of a minor to knowingly permit a minor to violate subsections A or B, or after obtaining knowledge of a curfew violation, fail to exercise reasonable supervision to prevent continued violations by the minor of subsections A or B.

D. The curfew set forth in subsections A and B shall not apply to the following:

1. A minor accompanied by a parent, legal guardian, or adult over the age of 25 whom the minor's parent or legal guardian has authorized to care for the minor;

2. A minor engaged in interstate or intrastate travel through the City or to destinations within the City;

3. A minor traveling directly to or from the minor's residence by the most direct and reasonably expeditious route, without unnecessary delay;

4. A minor responding to an emergency including obtaining medical assistance or responding to the direction of emergency personnel;

5. A minor traveling to or from lawful employment or while engaged in lawful employment;

6. A minor who is delayed because of transportation failure or vehicle breakdown;

7. A minor on the property where the minor resides, including the immediately adjacent public sidewalk, if any;

8. A minor attending organized associational activity, such as school meetings, classes or sporting events, religious meetings, dances, concerts, theatrical performances, or similar events;

9. A minor engaged in reasonable and direct travel, by the most reasonably expeditious route, to and from those activities described in subsection D.8 of this section; or

10. A minor exercising rights protected by the United States Constitution or California Constitution, provided the activity is conducted in a lawful manner.

(1949 Code § 4223; Ord. 1079; Ord. 85-20 § 1 (part), 1985; Ord. 85-21 § 1 (part), 1985; Ord. 2026-15, 9/22/2026)

Every police officer is hereby authorized and empowered to request from any person, whom the officer has reasonable suspicion to believe is in violation of Section 10.36.030, that such person give his or her name, address, proof of age, the name of the minor’s parent, guardian or adult over the age of 25 authorized by the parent or legal guardian to care for the minor, and other information reasonably necessary to determine whether such violation exists.

(1949 Code § 4224; Ord. 1079; Ord. 85-20 § 1 (part), 1985; Ord. 85-21 § 1 (part), 1985; Ord. 2026-15, 9/22/2026)