§ 13:1058. Children of compulsory school age to be in attendance at school; parental duty imposed.
(a)
No child between the ages of seven (7) and fifteen (15), inclusive, other than a child that has been suspended or expelled from school shall be at any place within the city/parish limits except in attendance at school, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. during any school day as defined by the East Baton Rouge Parish school board, the B.E.S.E. board, and the private school system, depending on which entity governs the school the child attends, unless the child has written proof from school authorities excusing him or her from attending school at that particular time, or, unless the child is accompanied by a parent or legal guardian or a responsible adult selected by the parent or legal guardian to supervise the child or is otherwise lawfully excused from being present in school such as in the case of persons who are being instructed at home as home schoolers.
(b)
Each parent or legal guardian of a child between the ages of seven (7) and fifteen (15), inclusive, shall have a duty to prohibit the child from behaving contrary to subsection (a) of this section. No person shall negligently fail to fulfill the duty imposed by this provision.
(c)
Owners, operators or employees of any establishment, "establishment" being defined as any privately owned place of business which provides amusement or entertainment to which the public is invited, shall not knowingly allow a minor to remain upon the premises of the establishment where the minor is behaving contrary to subsection (a) of this section. A violation of this subsection shall subject to violator to a written warning on the first violation, and a fine of one hundred dollars ($100.00) for each additional violation.
(d)
It shall be an affirmative defense to subsections (a), (b) and (c) of this section that the child, at the time he or she was found at a place other than in school, was not required by law to be in attendance at school.
(e)
It shall be an affirmative defense to subsection (b) of this section that the parent or legal guardian initiated the jurisdiction of the juvenile court against the child prior to the time that the child was found violating subsection (a) of this section.
(f)
Any police officer or school attendance officer may transport any child found violating this section to the child's residence and may release the child into the care of a parent or court-appointed tutor or legal guardian, to the school the child usually attends, or to any location designated by the authorities of the school which the child usually attends as a receiving center of such children, the choice of destination to be made at the discretion of the police officer or school attendance officer based on proximity of the destination and other relevant factors, and subject to the need to respond to emergency or priority calls.
(g)
A child violating this section, his/her parent, tutor or other court appointed legal guardian or other adult person having the care and custody of the child, may be the subject of a complaint under Title VII of the Children's Code (Families in Need of Services) and subject to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.
(h)
If a child is found in violation of this section, on the third or subsequent occasion within a three hundred sixty-five-day period, the parent, tutor or other court appointed legal guardian or other adult person having the care and custody of the child, after having previously been notified of these violations, shall be guilty of negligently failing to supervise a child of compulsory school age, a misdemeanor, subject to the jurisdiction of the court having jurisdiction over this offense and be fined not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each offense or sentenced to not more than thirty (30) days in jail or both.
(Ord. No. 10269, § 1, 5-10-95)