Smyrna, TN Curfew Laws: Juvenile Curfew (2026)

Title 11, Chapter 12 of the Smyrna Municipal Code sets a nightly curfew. Curfew hours are the hours of 12:30 a.m. through 5:00 a.m. each day. A minor is any person under 18 years of age who has not been emancipated under T.C.A. §§ 29-31-101 et seq. The Town Council states three purposes in § 11-1201: reducing juvenile violence and crime, protecting minors from becoming participants in unlawful activity or victims of older criminals, and strengthening parental responsibility.

Section 11-1203 covers three settings: any public place in the town, any motor vehicle operating or parked on a public place, and the premises of any establishment. Public place includes streets, sidewalks, alleys, parks, and the common areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses, office buildings, transportation facilities, and shops. "Remain" includes lingering or staying, and failing to leave when requested by a law enforcement officer or the person in control of the place.

Eight exceptions apply: the minor is accompanied by a parent; is involved in an emergency; is engaged in employment or is going to or returning home from it without detour or stop; is on the sidewalk directly abutting the place where he or she resides with a parent; is attending an adult-supervised activity sponsored by a school, religious, civic, or public organization, or is going to or returning from it without detour or stop; is on a parent's errand and carries a signed writing with the parent's name, signature, address, and telephone number, the number where the parent can be reached, the minor's name, and a description of the errand, destinations, and authorized hours; is involved in interstate travel through, or beginning or terminating in, the town; or is exercising First Amendment rights.

Section 11-1208 requires the officer to investigate immediately before any enforcement action. The officer can charge the minor and issue a citation to appear in juvenile court, and must release the minor to a parent as soon as practicable. If the minor refuses to give a name and address, or no parent can be located or appears, the minor can be taken to a crisis center or juvenile shelter, or to a judge or juvenile intake officer. The chapter defines a temporary care facility as a non-locked, non-restrictive shelter, and a minor there cannot be handcuffed to any stationary object.