Pocatello, ID Curfew Laws: Juvenile Curfew (2026)

Pocatello City Code chapter 9.16 sets the curfew hours at 12:00 midnight to 5:00 A.M. for any unemancipated person under 18, covering public streets, roads, alleys, parks, playgrounds, other public grounds, places of amusement or entertainment, commercial establishments, or any unsupervised area. A parent who allows a child to violate curfew is also liable under the same section. Section 9.16.040 lists exemptions: a child accompanied by a parent, a child going to or from lawful employment, a child on an errand under parental instructions, a child responding to an emergency, and a child going to or returning directly home from school, church, or a youth group or other adult-supervised or parent-authorized social activity such as a movie, play or hayride.

Section 9.16.050 gives city law enforcement officers authority to stop and momentarily detain a child, or someone who appears to be a child, during curfew hours to obtain name, age and address along with the parent's name and address whenever officers have reasonable suspicion of a violation; the officer then directs or delivers the child to the parent's residence. Section 9.16.060 sets the penalty: upon a violation, the officer issues an infraction citation rather than a full misdemeanor charge. The chapter's stated purpose, per section 9.16.010, is securing the public health, comfort, convenience, safety, welfare, and peace and quiet of the city and its inhabitants.