Court and Law Questions

The following frequently asked questions deal with State/Local Laws and the Courts:

Q: Where and When do I appear for my court date?
Q: What are the fines for traffic tickets/citations?
Q: Can the Lincoln Police Department do a background check for employment in my business/organization?
Q: What is the curfew age?
Q: What is the emancipation age and what is the process?

Q: Where and When do I appear for my court date?

A: Please contact the Logan County Circuit Clerk's office for questions about your court date and when you need to appear. Lincoln City Ordinance violations will be prosecuted by the Lincoln City Attorney.

Q: What are the fines for traffic tickets/citations?

A: Please visit the Logan County Circuit Clerk's Office Website for details about fines and appearances for traffic citation.

Q: Can the Lincoln Police Department do a background check for employment in my business/organization?

A: The Lincoln Police Department will not inquire state and federal databases for background checks other than department related purposes. If your organization has an applicant and you would like to find out more information on this person please check with the following agencies:
Illinois State Police
Illinois State Police Sex Offender Registry
Logan County Circuit Clerk
Illinois Department of Corrections

Q: What is the curfew age?

A: Anywhere in the State of Illinois the curfew age is under 17 years of age. However the Lincoln City Ordinance is under 18 years of age. If you are within Lincoln City Limits and you are 17 years of age you can be cited for curfew under the City Ordinance. If you are outside of Lincoln City Limits, not within another jurisdiction's curfew ordinance, then you can be cited under the State Statue if you are 16 years of age. Those under 17 years of age driving a motor vehicle in violation of the State Curfew Act can be cited for driving without a valid driver's license.

Applicable Laws:

Lincoln City Ordinance 6-4-20 "Minors, Curfew":

(A) Children on Streets: No person under the age of eighteen (18) years shall be present at or upon any public assembly, building, place, street or highway at the following times unless accompanied and supervised by a parent, legal guardian or other responsible companion at least twenty one (21) years of age approved by a parent or legal guardian, or unless engaged in a business or occupation which the laws of this State authorize a person less than eighteen (18) years of age perform:

Between 12:01am and 6:00am Saturday
Between 12:01am and 6:00am Sunday
Between 11:00pm on Sunday to Thursday, inclusive, and 6:00am on the following day.

(B) Permitting Child to Violate Curfew: No parent, legal guardian or other person shall knowingly permit a person in his custody or control to violate subsection (A) of this section. (1975 Code)

Illinois Compiled Statues:

(720 ILCS 555/1) (from Ch. 23, par. 2371)
Sec. 1. Curfew.
(a) Definitions. In this Section.
(1) "Curfew hours" means:
(A) Between 12:01 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. Saturday;
(B) Between 12:01 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. on Sunday;

and

inclusive, and 6:00 a.m. on the following day.

(2) "Emergency" means an unforeseen combination of

circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action. The term includes, but is not limited to a fire, a natural disaster, an automobile accident, or any situation requiring immediate action to prevent serious bodily injury or loss of life.

(3) "Establishment" means any privately‑owned place

of business operated for a profit to which the public is invited including but not limited to any place of amusement or entertainment.

(4) "Guardian" means:
(A) a person who, under court order, is the

guardian of the person of a minor; or

(B) a public or private agency with whom a minor

has been placed by a court.

(5) "Minor" means any person under 17 years of age.
(6) "Parent" means a person who is:
(A) a natural parent, adoptive parent, or

step‑parent of another person; or

(B) at least 18 years of age and authorized by a

parent or guardian to have the care and custody of a minor.

(7) "Public Place" means any place to which the

public or a substantial group of the public has access and includes but is not limited to streets, highways, and the common areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses, office buildings, transport facilities, and shops.

(8) "Remain" means to:
(A) linger or stay; or
(B) fail to leave premises when requested to do

so by a police officer or the owner, operator, or other person in control of the premises.

(9) "Serious bodily injury" means bodily injury that

creates a substantial risk of death or that causes death, serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.

(b) Offenses.
(1) A minor commits an offense if he or she remains

in any public place or on the premises of any establishment during curfew hours.

(2) A parent or guardian of a minor or other person

in custody or control of a minor commits an offense if he or she knowingly permits the minor to remain in any public place or on the premises of any establishment during curfew hours.

subsection (b) that the minor was:

(A) accompanied by the minor's parent or guardian

or other person in custody or control of the minor;

(B) on an errand at the direction of the minor's

parent or guardian, without any detour or stop;

travel;

(D) engaged in an employment activity or going to

or returning home from an employment activity, without any detour or stop;

(E) involved in an emergency;
(F) on the sidewalk abutting the minor's

residence or abutting the residence of a next‑door neighbor if the neighbor did not complain to the police department about the minor's presence;

(G) attending an official school, religious, or

other recreational activity supervised by adults and sponsored by a government or governmental agency, a civic organization, or another similar entity that takes responsibility for the minor, or going to or returning home from, without any detour or stop, an official school, religious, or other recreational activity supervised by adults and sponsored by a government or governmental agency, a civic organization, or another similar entity that takes responsibility for the minor;

(H) exercising First Amendment rights protected

by the United States Constitution, such as the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, and the right of assembly; or

(I) married or had been married or is an

emancipated minor under the Emancipation of Minors Act.

(d) Enforcement. Before taking any enforcement action

under this Section, a law enforcement officer shall ask the apparent offender's age and reason for being in the public place. The officer shall not issue a citation or make an arrest under this Section unless the officer reasonably believes that an offense has occurred and that, based on any response and other circumstances, no defense in subsection (c) is present.

(e) A person convicted of a violation of any provision of this Section shall be guilty of a petty offense and shall be fined not less than $10 nor more than $500, except that neither a person who has been made a ward of the court under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, nor that person's legal guardian, shall be subject to any fine. In addition to or instead of the fine imposed by this Section, the court may order a parent, legal guardian, or other person convicted of a violation of subsection (b) of this Section to perform community service as determined by the court, except that the legal guardian of a person who has been made a ward of the court under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 may not be ordered to perform community service. The dates and times established for the performance of community service by the parent, legal guardian, or other person convicted of a violation of subsection (b) of this Section shall not conflict with the dates and times that the person is employed in his or her regular occupation.
(Source: P.A. 93‑1092, eff. 3‑29‑05.)

625 ILCS 5/6‑110) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 6‑110)
Sec. 6‑110. Licenses issued to drivers.

..."If the licensee is less than 17 years of age, the license shall, as a matter of law, be invalid for the operation of any motor vehicle during any time the licensee is prohibited from being on any street or highway under the provisions of the Child Curfew Act."...

Q: What is the emancipation age and what is the process?

A: It is not only just the age a minor can be emancipated, but other factors must be present before a judge can award a minor emancipation: '"Mature minor" means a person 16 years of age or over and under the age of 18 years who has demonstrated the ability and capacity to manage his own affairs and to live wholly or partially independent of his parents or guardian.'

Please refer to the Illinois Compiled Statues for full details of the law:
(750 ILCS 30/) Emancipation of Minors Act