City Council approved the move at its Aug. 28 meeting to conform with a new legislation that went into place at the beginning of September.
“From a city standpoint, I believe that [the curfew] is ... a good tool to have to address issues,” City Manager Don Magner said. “All else being equal, we would have continued to renew the ordinance.”
The background
The local ordinance, which had been in place since 1994 and was reviewed every three years, mandated curfew hours for those under age 17 between 11 p.m.-6 a.m. Sundays-Thursdays and 12:01 a.m.-6 a.m. Fridays-Saturdays.
The move came ahead of House Bill 1819, which was passed by the 88th Texas Legislature in June and went into effect Sept. 1. The bill prohibits cities from enforcing ordinances that impose a curfew to regulate the actions of minors unless it is for emergency management purposes. According to a city memo, the bill is aimed at lessening adverse youth interactions with police that could result in a criminal record early on.
Going forward
Magner said while police won’t be able to enforce a curfew, the department has other ordinances aimed at addressing criminal activity. He added minors breaking the curfew had not been a major issue in the past.
“In terms of things like local control, it does bother me because I believe that the citizens of Richardson should be able to make that decision about Richardson,” Magner said. “It just continues to erode our ability to customize our community and to be responsive to what our residents say.”
