Panel Wants Curfew By Summer County Prodded To Take Action Before Children Get Free Time

With the number of school days dwindling, members of the county youth task force say it’s time for a county-wide curfew.

For nine months, Kootenai County commissioners have dragged their feet on a proposed curfew and runaway law for kids under 18, said Gary Stampert, a task force member.

Now that school is almost out, “it’s urgent that something be done,” Stampert said. “Kids have more time on their hands. That’s when they get into trouble.”

But Kootenai County commissioners say kinks in the law must be ironed out before they’ll consider approving it. And Kootenai County Sheriff’s officials are worried the law would turn busy cops into baby sitters.

“The concept is sound but applying it is impossible with the current resources,” said Capt. Ben Wolfinger.

The ordinance would be similar to a Coeur d’Alene city curfew already in place. The county law would require kids to have adult permission to be out after 10:30 p.m. on weeknights and midnight on weekends.

Truancy from school and running away would also be against the law.

Currently, when minors are out at night in the county, sheriff’s deputies cannot force them to go home unless they are breaking the law.

For parents like Stampert, that’s unsettling.

Kootenai County deputy prosecutor Barry Black handles youth crime and authored the proposed law. Youths have told him that they mark out exactly where the line between the county and city is so they know where they can hang out without getting in trouble.

Coeur d’Alene Police Sgt. Greg Smith believes the city curfew helps cut down on crime and says kids are usually responsive.

“It usually only takes one reminder that they’re out past the pumpkin hour,” he said.

But late nights are not the only problem, Stampert and Black say.

During 1994, the Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls police departments along with the sheriff’s department, took 452 runaway reports.

There’s little police can do with those reports since it’s not against the law to run away in Idaho.

“The parents’ frustration is incredible,” said Milt Parham, a youth counselor who supports the proposed law. “It would give the family tools they could use, it would give police tools they could use.”

Under the county’s plan, a youth could spend up to 30 days in the detention center if they violate the curfew, runaway or truancy law more than two times.

But Capt. Wolfinger said the new law would be a burden for already overworked deputies and a crowded Juvenile Detention Center.

“What happens when we go to a kegger and we have a hundred juveniles and they’re all in violation of the ordinance?” Wolfinger said. “We have limited manpower out there and we don’t have people to baby-sit.”

County commissioners insist they aren’t dragging their feet and will probably consider the proposal later this summer.

“For awhile there it was everybody’s stepchild, but no one had taken ownership of it,” Commissioner Dick Compton admitted. But, “We have somebody working on it now.”

Commissioner attorney Scott Wayman said he is reviewing the ordinance with the other cities in the county.

If commissioners do pass the law it will only apply to county territory. It would be up to each city to decide whether or not they want the law.

“We want to make sure it’s one that will hopefully work with all the cities,” Wayman said.