Lexington, KY Curfew Laws: Juvenile Curfew (2026)
Key Facts
- Curfew hours
- Midnight to 5:00 a.m., every day
- Covered age
- Under 18 years old
- Parent penalty
- Up to $499 fine, Sec. 14-37
- Minor's consequence
- Escorted or taken home, no fine
- Exceptions
- 9 listed, incl. work, school events, First Amendment
- Governing section
- Code of Ordinances Sec. 14-37
Summary
Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government bars anyone under 18 from being in any public place, street, or highway between midnight and 5:00 a.m. under Code of Ordinances Sec. 14-37, with nine listed exceptions and a fine of up to $499 for a parent who knowingly lets a minor violate the curfew.
It shall be unlawful for a minor to be or remain in or upon any public assembly, building, place, street, or highway within the county between times of 12:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. It shall be unlawful for any parent of a minor to allow such minor to be or remain in or upon a public assembly, building, place, street, or highway in the county under circumstances not constituting an exception... Any parent of a minor allowing a minor to violate subsection (2) of this section shall be subject to a fine of no more than four hundred ninety-nine dollars ($499.00).
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Republication | Zoning Ordinance: Republication).
Full Breakdown
Sec. ,' defining 'minor' as anyone under 18. A parallel provision makes it unlawful for a parent to 'allow' a minor to violate the curfew, where 'allow' requires the parent's actual or constructive knowledge. Nine exceptions keep the ordinance narrow: a minor accompanied by a parent or a parent-authorized adult; exercising First Amendment rights with written, parent-countersigned notice in hand; returning home within one hour of a school, religious, or voluntary-association activity; covered by a mayoral regulation for group activities publicized in advance; working a job Kentucky law allows a minor to hold; a licensed minor driver passing through the county with passengers; and a married minor or one with disability of nonage removed by a court.
A police officer who finds a minor out after curfew can stop the minor, request name, age, and a parent's name and address, and either take the minor home, direct the minor home, or take the minor to a division of police facility; the parent, not the minor, is who ultimately faces the $499 civil fine. The ordinance dates to Ord. No. 5069 (1964) and was last amended by Ord. No. 43-2017 in April 2017, which added the current First Amendment and school-activity exceptions.
Violations & Fines
A minor caught violating curfew is not fined; a police officer instead escorts or directs the minor home or to a police facility. It is the parent who faces punishment: any 'parent of a minor allowing a minor to violate subsection (2) of this section shall be subject to a fine of no more than four hundred ninety-nine dollars ($499.00)' under Sec. 14-37, based on the officer's finding of the parent's actual or constructive knowledge.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Lexington's curfew hours for minors?
Who gets fined if a Lexington curfew is broken, the teen or the parent?
Are there exceptions to Lexington's juvenile curfew?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Lexington
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