By Hilbert H.B. No. 1139
74R1551 CAG-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the power of a county to enact a juvenile curfew;
1-3 providing a penalty.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 351, Local Government Code,
1-6 is amended by adding Section 351.903 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 351.903. JUVENILE CURFEW ORDER. (a) In this section,
1-8 "juvenile" means a person under the age of 17.
1-9 (b) The commissioners court of a county by order may
1-10 regulate the movements or actions of juveniles by adopting a
1-11 curfew.
1-12 (c) This authority includes the authority to:
1-13 (1) establish the hours of the curfew, including
1-14 different hours for different days of the week;
1-15 (2) apply different curfew hours to different age
1-16 groups of juveniles;
1-17 (3) describe the kinds of conduct subject to the
1-18 curfew;
1-19 (4) determine the locations to which the curfew
1-20 applies;
1-21 (5) determine which persons incur liability if a
1-22 violation of the curfew occurs;
1-23 (6) prescribe procedures a police officer or other
1-24 person must follow in enforcing the curfew; and
2-1 (7) establish exemptions from the curfew.
2-2 (d) The order does not apply inside the limits of a
2-3 municipality.
2-4 (e) A person commits an offense if the person violates a
2-5 restriction or prohibition imposed by an order adopted under this
2-6 section. An offense under this subsection is a Class C
2-7 misdemeanor.
2-8 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
2-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-13 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-14 passage, and it is so enacted.