Dearborn Heights, MI Curfew Laws: Juvenile Curfew (2026)

Dearborn Heights City Code § 20-401, carried forward from § 9.176(4) of the 1969 Code and Ord. No. H-91-8 adopted June 25, 1991, bars minors under the age of seventeen from loitering, idling, congregating or otherwise being in or on any public street, highway, alley, park or public place between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. Three exceptions apply: the minor is accompanied by a parent or guardian; the minor is with an adult over twenty-one whom the parent or guardian has delegated to supervise the child; or the minor's presence is required by legitimate work, a trade, a profession, or an emergency errand or other legitimate business directed by the parent or guardian.

A related section, § 20-403, makes the parent or guardian responsible for enforcing this curfew and § 20-402's separate ban on minors under twelve peddling goods on the street between the same hours, and § 20-404 creates a presumption that a parent or guardian assisted, aided or encouraged a violation whenever their minor is found breaking the curfew, unless rebutted. Neither § 20-401 nor § 20-403 states its own dollar penalty, so violations default to the city's general penalty under § 1-8: a fine of up to $500.00, up to 90 days in jail, or both, though § 1-8(b) requires that any minor under seventeen found violating the Code be handled under state juvenile law rather than the adult fine schedule.