Porterville, CA Curfew Laws: Juvenile Curfew (2026)

Porterville Municipal Code section 16-1 sets the curfew: a person under eighteen who loiters, wanders, strolls, loafs or plays about or upon the public streets, avenues, alleys, parks, public parking grounds or public places between 10:00 PM and sunrise the following day, unless accompanied by a parent or legal guardian with custody, or by a spouse over 21, is guilty of a misdemeanor. Section 16-2 extends liability up the household: any parent, guardian or other person having legal care, custody or control of a minor who allows or permits that minor to violate section 16-1 is separately guilty of a misdemeanor.

The chapter, titled MINORS, sits in Chapter 16 of the code and traces to Ord. Code section 6211 and 6211.1, showing the curfew predates the current codification. Porterville Police Department officers enforce the curfew citywide, including in the central traffic district and city parks named elsewhere in the traffic and parks chapters. The ordinance does not create a curfew center or diversion program in the text itself; the operative rule is the misdemeanor charge against the minor and the companion misdemeanor against the responsible adult.

Because the offense is a straight misdemeanor rather than an infraction, a violation can carry the general misdemeanor exposure applied elsewhere in the code (fine and/or jail) unless a citing officer or the city attorney elects to charge it down.