New law strikes down juvenile curfews in Texas cities and counties

House Bill 1819 takes effect on Sept. 1. It forbids Texas cities and counties from enforcing a curfew "to regulate the movements or actions of persons younger than 18 years of age."

LUBBOCK, Texas — In mid-May, police in Lubbock began a "directed enforcement" juvenile curfew program. But only 22 days later, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill to stop it.

House Bill 1819 takes effect on Sept. 1. It forbids Texas cities and counties from enforcing a curfew "to regulate the movements or actions of persons younger than 18 years of age." Emergency management curfews can still be imposed under a different section of state law.

An internet search revealed several Texas cities have juvenile curfew ordinances including Dallas, San Antonio, San Marcos, Allen and Leander.

Austin dropped its curfew in 2017. Houston eliminated its daytime curfew in 2019. Waco repealed a curfew years ago, and Fort Worth allowed its curfew ordinance to expire in early 2023.

"Our intention is to do the best we can for the rest of the summer because there is some effectiveness," Lubbock Mayor Tray Payne said. "I think it can be a deterrent to crime."

Payne, a former prosecutor, said Lubbock’s local juvenile curfew likely "dies by operation of law." He believes the state has the authority to stop cities and counties from enforcing a ban on juvenile curfews.

Unless there's another act of the legislature, Payne believes Lubbock’s juvenile curfew, which has been on the books in one form or another since 1983, is unenforceable as of Sept. 1.

Tim Lambert, president of the Texas Home School Coalition, praised the legislation, saying it had support from homeschoolers, the NAACP and some groups "left of center."

"The point we would make: the parents should make the decision on when kids can be out," Lambert said. "Home school students were picked up for not being in a school."

Lambert said it was not a frequent problem for homeschool families, but it it would happen from time to time.

"Police love this because they can use it as a weapon," Lambert said. "If you have probable cause to stop them, do an investigation. Being under 18 is not probable cause [of a crime]."

The law strikes down both daytime and nighttime juvenile curfews.

"Show us your data. The same holds true for nighttime curfews," Lambert said.

"Following the passage of House Bill 1819, the Lubbock Police Department is in discussion with city leaders and management to determine the logistics surrounding the directed enforcement of juvenile curfew and how to proceed," LPD said in a statement.

As for statistics, since the directed enforcement in Lubbock began — conducted on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays — police provided numbers for the last weekend in May and the first three weekends in June.

A total of eight juveniles were taken to the LPD East Substation to be picked up by their parents, 13 juveniles were cited and none were taken to the Lubbock County Juvenile Justice Center. The ordinance forbids businesses and parents from letting kids violate the curfew, and eight adults were cited.

The LPD statement concluded by saying, "The Lubbock Police Department will continue to arrest juvenile offenders who are violating other municipal and state laws regardless of the hour the crime is committed."

The Coalition for Juvenile Justice, or CJJ, in January said, "Currently over 400 towns and cities across the United States have active youth curfew laws."

According to CJJ, the justification is that these laws reduce youth crime and victimization.

"There is evidence that these laws prevent adverse health outcomes, such as automobile injuries. However, there is little to no evidence that supports youth curfew laws reducing rates of youth crime and victimization," CJJ said.

Texas Appleseed, which describes its mission as promoting social, economic and racial justice for all Texans, praised HB 1819, saying in part in an email press release, "Now, vulnerable youth, including those who may be homeless or fleeing abuse, cannot be punished for simply being in a public space at certain hours."