Portsmouth, VA Curfew Laws: Juvenile Curfew (2026)

m. Listed exceptions cover a minor carrying a parent's written permission slip, a minor accompanied by a parent, guardian or supervising adult, travel directly to or from bona fide employment, a minor on the sidewalk of their own home or a consenting next-door neighbor's, interstate or intrastate travel passing through the city, and cases of reasonable necessity such as an authorized event running late for reasons beyond the minor's control. For a first violation, a cooperative minor with a city address is transported home, given a verbal warning with a copy of the ordinance, and released to a responsible adult who signs a Portsmouth Police Department Youth Card; a minor from outside the city, or one for whom no responsible adult can be reached, is taken to the police department, where an on-call intake worker arranges protective custody placement if a parent cannot be reached promptly.

6. Parents share liability: it is unlawful for a parent to permit a minor to violate the section, and on a second detention the parent is charged; if the court finds the parent willfully contributed to, encouraged or caused the violation, that parent is guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor.