Stockton, CA Curfew Laws: Juvenile Curfew (2026)

Stockton Municipal Code Chapter 9.24 'Curfew Regulations' (under Title 9 — Public Peace and Welfare) provides that it is unlawful and a misdemeanor for any minor under the age of 18 years to remain in or upon any public street, sidewalk, park or other public place within the City during curfew hours, unless such minor is accompanied by a parent, guardian or other adult person having the care, control or custody of the minor. The chapter further makes it unlawful and a misdemeanor for any parent or guardian having the legal care or custody of a minor under the age of 18 to knowingly allow or permit the minor to violate the curfew. 'Nighttime' is defined in the chapter as the hours after 11:00 p.m. (with curfew running until early morning) — Stockton PD enforcement practice treats the curfew window as approximately 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. Exemptions: the curfew does NOT apply when a minor is (a) accompanied by a parent or guardian, (b) on an emergency errand at the direction of a parent or guardian, (c) actively proceeding to or returning from a legitimate employment, educational, religious, or organized recreational activity, (d) engaged in interstate travel, (e) on the sidewalk in front of the minor's home, or (f) exercising First Amendment rights (speech, religion, assembly). The chapter recites Council findings of increased juvenile gang activity and crime by persons under 18 as the police-power justification — language consistent with the constitutional standard upheld in Nunez v. City of San Diego (9th Cir. 1997) and Hodgkins v. Peterson (7th Cir. 2004). California Welfare & Institutions Code §625 authorizes a peace officer to take into temporary custody any minor found violating a city curfew ordinance.