Petaluma, CA Curfew Laws: Juvenile Curfew (2026)

Sonoma County is unusual among large California counties in that the Board of Supervisors has not enacted a generally applicable juvenile-curfew ordinance for unincorporated areas. A 1997 proposal would have made it illegal for anyone under 18 to be in any public or unsupervised area between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight to 6:00 a.m. Friday and Saturday, with a daytime truancy provision starting at 8:30 a.m. The proposal was discussed extensively in connection with concerns about gang activity and youth violence in the late 1990s but does not appear in the current Sonoma County Code; the Board ultimately did not adopt a county-wide curfew, leaving curfew enforcement to the individual cities and to California state laws of general application. As a result, in unincorporated communities - Bodega Bay, Boyes Hot Springs, Eldridge, Forestville, Fulton, Geyserville, Glen Ellen, Graton, Guerneville, Jenner, Kenwood, Larkfield-Wikiup, Mark West Springs, Monte Rio, Occidental, Penngrove, Roseland (annexed 2017), Sea Ranch, Two Rock, Valley Ford, and others - there is no time-based prohibition on minors being in public spaces. Sonoma County Sheriff deputies enforcing in unincorporated areas can still address minors found in problematic situations under California Welfare & Institutions Code Sec. 601 (status offenses, including curfew violations where a local ordinance exists) and Sec. 625.5 (which authorizes but does not impose curfew laws), Penal Code Sec. 647 (disorderly conduct), and Penal Code Sec. 308 (tobacco furnishing/possession). Within incorporated Sonoma County cities, separate curfew ordinances apply: Santa Rosa City Code Ch. 9-12 (curfew for minors under 18, generally 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.), Petaluma Municipal Code 9.16 (curfew for minors), Sonoma Municipal Code (curfew provisions), Rohnert Park Municipal Code, and others - each with its own hours, exceptions, and penalties. Federal and state law (the First Amendment plus California's Bantelman v. Hibbing line of cases) requires curfew ordinances to include exceptions for minors accompanied by a parent or guardian, traveling to or from work, school, religious activity, organized sporting or recreational events, attending an event protected by the First Amendment, responding to an emergency, or being on the sidewalk in front of the minor's own residence. Sonoma County Probation, Juvenile Court, and the Sonoma County Sheriff coordinate juvenile-justice responses through the Sonoma County Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council. During the COVID-19 statewide curfew (the 'Limited Stay at Home' order in late 2020), Sonoma County law enforcement explicitly stated they would not patrol or cite for curfew violations, reflecting the County's longstanding skepticism of broad curfew enforcement.