Newark, OH Curfew Laws: Park Curfew (2026)

Newark City Council did not fix a single closing time in the Code of Ordinances. Instead, Section 1068.07(b) delegates the schedule to the Superintendent of Parks and Recreation, who can promulgate regulations establishing the times during which park and recreation areas are open to the public for recreational use. Two procedural steps give those hours legal force. The Superintendent files a copy of the regulations with the Clerk of Council, and the Superintendent causes a sign or other notice to be posted at each affected park or recreation area setting forth the times during which that area is closed to the public.

The enforcement hook is the trespass offense. Any person found within a park or recreation area during the time it is closed is subject to arrest and prosecution for trespass as provided in Section 642.12 of the General Offenses Code, which is part of the City of Newark's own Codified Ordinances. The park rules therefore do not rely on a separate curfew penalty; the closed-hours rule borrows the trespass charge.

The chapter's scope matters for where the rule applies. Under Sections 1068.01 and 1068.02, Chapter 1068 covers every park, playground, playfield, Municipal swimming pool, recreational center and other city-owned area devoted to active or passive recreation, along with The Square, the city-owned land around the Licking County Courthouse out to the curb of the four perimeter streets. All of those areas fall under the Department of Public Service, Division of Parks and Recreation.

Swimming pools have a parallel rule in Section 1068.07(a). The Superintendent can issue conduct regulations for Municipal swimming pools, post them at each pool, and eject violators. An ejected person cannot re-enter that same working day, gets no refund of the entrance fee for that day or any part of it, and faces arrest and prosecution for trespass under Section 642.12 for coming back.