At Tuesday’s Highland Village City Council meeting, members approved the first read of an ordinance that would extend the termination date of the city’s juvenile curfew regulation.

“The only change in this ordinance is the date,” Police Chief Doug Reim said. “We are asking [council] to extend it for three more years.”

The city of Highland Village first enacted a juvenile curfew in 1995, establishing that children ages 16 and younger must remain inside between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, and between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday.

Some exceptions to the curfew include juveniles traveling on a direct route to and from a place of employment or emergency errands.

One of the general purposes of this ordinance includes supporting responsible parenting, Reim said. The ordinance is meant to be a tool used to protect minors and Highland Village residents by preventing juveniles from becoming crime victims as well as discouraging criminal activity and drug and alcohol abuse.

Reim presented the number of citations and warnings issued to juveniles in Highland Village since 2015. The statistics reflected that the amount of citations and warnings have decreased over the three year span. In 2017, one citation and 11 warnings were issued to juveniles. So far this year no citations have been issued and five warnings have been given.

City Council reviews the juvenile curfew regulations every three years and conducts a public hearing on the need to continue, modify or abolish the ordinance. The Highland City Council last amended the ordinance in June 2015, by extending the expiration date to June 30, 2018.

If council approves the second read of the ordinance, the termination date would be extended to June 30, 2021.