Aliso Viejo, CA Curfew Laws: Juvenile Curfew (2026)

Chapter 8.18 of the Aliso Viejo Municipal Code, adopted by the City Council in Orange County, California, sets a nightly curfew for minors. Section 8.18.020 defines curfew hours as the period from 11:00 p.m. any evening of the week until 6:00 a.m. the following day, and a minor as any person under 18 years of age. Under § 8.18.030(A) it is unlawful for a minor to be present in any public place or on the premises of any establishment within the city during those hours.

A public place is any place to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access, including streets, highways, and the common areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses, office buildings, transport facilities, and shops. An establishment is a privately owned place of business operated for profit to which the public is invited. Section 8.18.030(B) reaches the adults: a parent or guardian may not knowingly permit, or by insufficient control allow, a minor to be in those places during curfew hours. Subsection (C) lists nine exceptions, including a minor accompanied by a parent, guardian or responsible adult, one on an errand at a parent's direction without detour or stop, one traveling in a motor vehicle in interstate travel, one working or traveling to or from work without detour or stop, one responding to an emergency, one on the sidewalk abutting the minor's residence, one at an adult-supervised school, religious or recreational activity, one exercising First Amendment rights, and one who is emancipated.

Under subsection (D), before any enforcement action a deputy sheriff must ask the person's age and reason for being out, and cannot cite or arrest unless the deputy reasonably believes no exception applies.