Lancaster May Penalize Parents of Youths Who Violate Curfew : City Council: Officials consider billing residents up to $200 per offense. Fines would offset enforcement costs.

Parents whose teen-ager is picked up by sheriff’s deputies for a curfew violation here may soon be hit by a second headache--a bill from City Hall.

The City Council tonight will consider changing its curfew law to allow Lancaster to seek reimbursement for curfew enforcement costs, totaling as much as $200 per offense. The curfew law forbids anyone younger than 18 from loitering in public places between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The city fee would be on top of a court-imposed fine of up to $500 per incident.

Lancaster officials say the new charge would offset the cost of assigning extra deputies to conduct periodic “curfew sweeps” to round up minors on public streets, outside fast-food restaurants and in local parks. Also, they believe it will cause parents to pay more attention to their youngsters’ late-night whereabouts.

Some civil libertarians have criticized curfew laws, saying they can be used to harass young people who are merely meeting in a public place after dark. But city officials say the sweeps help prevent vandalism, drug and alcohol abuse, and other crimes among unsupervised minors.

“I’ve had to deal with too many homeowners and shop owners who feel like congregating groups of kids in the late hours are a threat to their security,” said Councilman George Runner, who supports the proposal. “What this does is it takes the responsibility off taxpayers and puts it back on the parents, who need to know where their children are after 10 o’clock.”

If the council approves the collection plan, it could be put into effect within a few weeks, said Dennis Davenport, assistant city manager.

Lancaster’s curfew sweeps are among several special crime-fighting efforts funded annually under a $50,000 Target Oriented Policing program. Since last July, deputies have conducted four curfew sweeps in Lancaster.

Palmdale also pays for occasional curfew sweeps, but its officials have not yet decided whether to seek reimbursement from parents.

Each deputy who works overtime on a curfew sweep earns more than $40 an hour, a sheriff’s administrator said. The reimbursement plan proposed in Lancaster is aimed at recovering this money and other costs.

Under a state law that took effect Jan. 1, cities are allowed to recoup the cost of identifying, detaining and transporting curfew violators back to their parents or guardians.

Sheriff’s Lt. Ron Shreves, who supervises Target Oriented Policing in Lancaster, said deputies make contact with as many as 70 minors during each curfew sweep.

In some instances, deputies merely warn youngsters about the law, but in other cases, the youths are cited and detained until their parents or guardians arrive.

“The responses run the gamut from parents who are shocked to find out that their kids aren’t where they’re supposed to be, to parents who ask: ‘Don’t you guys have something better to do than to harass kids?’ ”

Judges have struck down curfew laws that have no provisions for legitimate late-night activities involving minors. To avoid this, Lancaster’s ordinance allows a minor to be out after 10 p.m. if he or she is accompanied by a parent, is running an errand for a parent or is returning home from a public meeting or a place of public entertainment, such as a movie theater.

Minors who have jobs requiring them to be out late are also exempt.

Under Lancaster’s new proposal, the parents of youngsters who violate curfew would receive a warning notice for a first offense. If a second occurs, the parents would be ordered to pay enforcement costs.

A parent or guardian could ask the city to waive the fee, however, if he or she can show that the family does not have the funds to pay. A parent or guardian could also be excused “upon determination that the person has made reasonable efforts to exercise supervision and control over the minor.”

Finally, the plan allows the city to order community service in lieu of the payment.