Euclid City Council is considering increasing penalties faced by parents if their children were “arrested or detained for the commission of any delinquent act within the city.”
Delinquency and unruly cases and charges involved 119 juveniles, according to Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court Statistics. Thta number rose to 154 in 2022.
In response, Euclid is proposing that parents will face additional charges if they fail to keep their children from gaining access to illegal drugs or firearms, except those used for hunting.
The legislation also calls on parents to “exercise and have in place reasonable controls so as to prevent such a child from maliciously or willfully damaging, defacing, destroying real or personal property, and to place in controls to keep their children from stealing, and prevent their child from engaging in violent assaultive behavior.”
Although the change would not apply to foster parents, teachers or employees of public or private schools, anyone else defined as a parent who has parental rights and responsibilities over a child would be affected by the proposed ordinance.
The ordinance states that it will not take into consideration if the parent knew of the activities the child was participating in. According to the ordinance, failure to control children will start with a minor misdemeanor, then, if an offender has been convicted before of the parental responsibility ordinance, it would be a fourth-degree misdemeanor, with subsequent charges up to a third-degree misdemeanor for repeated violations.
“Whenever a child is arrested or detained for the commission of any delinquent act within the city, the parent or person charged with parental control and authority over the child shall be notified by the Euclid Police Department in writing for the first offense, advising the parent of such arrest or detention, the reason therefor, and the parent’s responsibility under this chapter. A written record of such notifications shall be kept by the Police Department,” states the proposed ordinance.
The proposed ordinance heads to City Council’s Safety Committee for review.
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