Edison, NJ Curfew Laws: Juvenile Curfew (2026)

Edison's juvenile-curfew authority rests on two pillars. First, the state enabling statute: N.J.S.A. 40:48-2.52 authorizes any New Jersey municipality to adopt a curfew ordinance making it unlawful for a juvenile under 18 to be on a public street or in a public place between defined hours, typically 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., unless the juvenile is accompanied by a parent or guardian or engaged in a business or occupation, with carve-outs the statute permits municipalities to add. The statute defines the framework but leaves the specific hours and exceptions to municipal choice. Second, the Edison framework: Code Chapter 10 (Police Regulations) defines 'minor' or 'juvenile' as any person under the age of seventeen (17) - a narrower definition than the statewide 18 ceiling - and prohibits juveniles from being on public streets or in public places during the Township's overnight curfew hours absent the recognized exceptions (parent or guardian accompaniment, exercise of First Amendment rights, going directly to or from employment, going directly to or from an activity sponsored by the Township or a recognized civic, religious, school, or athletic organization, motor-vehicle travel through Edison with a parent or guardian, lawful errand or activity at the express direction of a parent or guardian, emergency, and the other statutorily permitted exceptions). The chapter also imports the parental-responsibility framework: a parent or guardian who knowingly permits a juvenile to violate the curfew is liable in Edison Municipal Court, and the chapter's Parental Responsibility for Juvenile Offenses provisions extend liability to other defined juvenile offenses. Edison Police are the primary enforcer; non-violent curfew violations are typically handled with on-scene return to the parent or guardian and a Municipal Court summons rather than physical custody. The framework runs alongside the Family Crisis Intervention Unit referral system under the New Jersey juvenile-justice framework at N.J.S.A. 2A:4A-20 et seq. Edison has not adopted a stand-alone park curfew separately from the juvenile-curfew provision and the general Chapter 10 prohibition on disturbances; Township parks close at posted hours administered by the Recreation Division.