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PR26-0231 • 2025

Juvenile Curfew Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2025

Juvenile Curfew Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2025

Children Parental Rights
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
at the request of the Mayor
Last action
2025-07-11
Official status
Approved
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on the duration of the emergency measures beyond the summer months, leaving this aspect uncertain.

Emergency Juvenile Curfew Rules for Summer 2025

This resolution allows the Mayor to extend curfew hours and gives police more power to set special curfew zones during emergencies to protect young people and public safety.

What This Bill Does

  • Allows the Mayor to change curfew times if needed for safety reasons.
  • Gives the Chief of Police the ability to create specific areas with extended curfews when necessary.
  • Starts a curfew at 11 p.m. every day in June, July, and August 2025 for young people under 18.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Young people aged 14-17 (and now also 17-year-olds) in Washington, D.C. during summer months and other emergencies.
  • Parents or guardians of young people who must ensure their children follow the curfew rules.
  • Law enforcement officers responsible for enforcing the new curfew laws.

Terms To Know

Juvenile Curfew Act
A law that sets specific hours when young people under a certain age must be indoors and not out on the streets.
Emergency Declaration
A decision by government officials to declare an emergency situation, allowing them to make quick changes in laws or rules for safety reasons.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The resolution only applies during specific times and under certain conditions as declared by the Mayor.
  • It does not specify how long these special curfew rules will last beyond summer 2025.

Bill History

  1. 2025-07-11 Council of the District of Columbia LIMS

    Resolution R26-0160, Effective from Jul 01, 2025 Published in DC Register Vol 72 and Page 007720

  2. 2025-07-01 Council of the District of Columbia LIMS

    Legislative Meeting

  3. 2025-07-01 Council of the District of Columbia LIMS

    Approved with Resolution Number R26-0160

  4. 2025-06-17 Council of the District of Columbia LIMS

    Retained by the Council with comments from the Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety

  5. 2025-06-13 Council of the District of Columbia LIMS

    PR26-0231 Introduced by Chairman Mendelson at Office of the Secretary

Official Summary Text

Juvenile Curfew Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2025

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
ENROLLED ORIGINAL

1

A RESOLUTION

26-160

IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

July 1, 2025

To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the the Juvenile
Curfew Act of 1995 to authorize the Mayor to extend the juvenile curfew hours in the
District when appropriate to protect public safety or public or private property, to
authorize the Chief of Police to establish extended juvenile curfew hour zones in
specified circumstances, to start the juvenile curfew hours at 11 p.m. every day in June,
July, and August 2025, and to extend the applicability of the juvenile curfew to 17-year
olds.

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
resolution may be cited as the “Juvenile Curfew Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2025”.

Sec. 2. (a) The Juvenile Curfew Act of 1995, effective September 20, 1995 (D.C. Law
11-48; D.C. Official Code § 2-1541 et seq.) (“Juvenile Curfew Act”), was enacted for the
protection of minors to prevent violence and crime in the interest of public health, safety, and
general welfare.
(b) The Juvenile Curfew Act has subsequently been amended multiple times to extend the
curfew period in the Fiscal Year 2003 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2002, effective July 23,
2002 (D.C. Act 14-453; 49 Stat. 8026), and the Enhanced Crime Prevention and Abatement
Emergency Amendment Act of 2006, effective July 21, 2006 (D.C. Act 16-446; 53 DCR 6477).
(c) Since 2023, the District has seen a rise in unruly behavior by some juveniles. Already
this spring, the District has had several instances of large groups of juveniles engaging in
harmful, and often times, criminal conduct in multiple areas around the city, including the
Wharf, Navy Yard, and U Street. Multiple fights have broken out, robberies, assaults, and
shootings have occurred. This past week, multiple youth were injured during melees in Dupont
Circle and U Street. While MPD has used various methods to address this conduct, including
enhanced enforcement of the disturbance of the peace offenses, working with local businesses on
signage related to trespassing by unaccompanied minors, and requests for a restricted curfew in
the Wharf, the tools available are limited. With summer, a time when we know that incidents of
violence tend to tick upward citywide particularly amongst juveniles, the District is seeking
flexibility in our juvenile curfew to allow MPD to ensure the safety of both juveniles and the
public in order to more nimbly address significant safety concerns.
ENROLLED ORIGINAL

2

(d) Therefore, emergency legislation is needed to address the safety of minors in the
District.

Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances
enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the
Juvenile Curfew Emergency Amendment Act of 2025 be adopted after a single reading.

Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.