Indianapolis City-County Council tables amendment surrounding curfew fines for parents

INDIANAPOLIS — A proposal that would penalize parents of children who violate the curfew established by the city of Indianapolis has been tabled.

During Monday’s meeting of the Indianapolis City-County Council, councilors voted 18-7 to table the proposal, which would have implemented financial penalties for parents of children who violated the curfew.

According to previous reports, the city requires juveniles aged 15 to 17 to be home by 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Kids aged 15 to 17 are required to be home by 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday.

Those under the age of 15 are required to be home by 9 p.m. daily. Curfew rules expire at 5 a.m. every day in Marion County.

To enforce that new curfew law, Michael-Paul Hart, the Republican District 20 councilor, proposed an amendment, which would lead to the issuance of fines to the parents of children picked up by law enforcement for violating curfew. According to previous reports, the amendment would have established the following enforcement actions:

• Written notice from the city of Indianapolis when the children violate the curfew rules for the first time
• A $500 fine if the children violate the curfew rules a second time
• A $1,500 fine if the children violate the curfew rules three or more times.

During Monday’s meeting, Democratic members of the Indianapolis City-County Council opted to hold off on the amendment, stating that more discussion of possible penalties needs to occur before implementation.

“We believe in accountability,” Leroy Robinson, the Democratic District 1 councilor. “There needs to be more accountability to parents, but I think we need more information and more discussion with outside stakeholders before we add additional penalties for the parents.”

John Barth, the Democratic District 7 councilor, agreed, stating that the proposal is well-intentioned but “not fully baked yet.”

“It needs some more time, especially engagement with the community,” Barth said. “I think we could come up with something that’s more bipartisan and thoughtful at the end of the day.”

During the meeting, Hart suggested lowering the fines after feedback from Democrats. However, he said he was concerned about tabling the discussion overall.

“I’m happy to work forward with everybody. I’ll always do that, I’ll never turn down the opportunity to work on proposals with y’all in the future. I do think it’s a time to act, and that time to act is now,” Hart said. “If you’re gonna continue to work on something, what concerns me is the time frame where we’re gonna miss on that. You can always adjust these in the future in any future amendment or proposal that you put forward. Moving this forward today would get us something in the municipal code that holds parents accountable.”