Florida Curfew for Minors: Hours, Exemptions, and Penalties

The Florida curfew for minors is not a single statewide rule. State law provides a curfew framework in Sections 877.20 through 877.24 of the Florida Statutes, but those provisions apply only where a county or city has formally adopted them by ordinance. Local governments can also write their own curfew rules with different hours, ages, and exemptions. What restricts a young person in one Florida city may not exist at all a few miles away.¹

So the first question to answer is not “what does Florida say,” but “what has my county or city adopted.” A quick call to the local police department, or a search of the county or municipal code online, will tell you whether a curfew applies where you live and, if so, whose version.

Curfew Hours Under the State Framework

Where a local government has adopted the state framework by reference, Florida Statute 877.22 sets the restricted hours as follows:

Sunday through Thursday nights (excluding legal holidays): 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. the following morning.
Friday and Saturday nights, and legal holidays: 12:01 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.

During those hours, a covered minor may not be in a public place or on the premises of a business establishment.²

A jurisdiction that adopts the state framework by reference has to follow those hours as written. A jurisdiction that writes its own ordinance can pick different hours. Miami-Dade County, for instance, runs its weekday curfew from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. and its weekend curfew from midnight to 6:00 a.m. — close to the state model but an hour longer on weekday mornings.³

Which Ages Are Covered

The operative curfew provision in Section 877.22 does not itself define “minor,” and local ordinances set their own age cutoffs. Miami-Dade applies its curfew to anyone under 17.³ Other Florida jurisdictions use 16 or 18. The only reliable way to know the age line where you live is to read the local ordinance.

Exemptions: When the Curfew Does Not Apply

The state statute sets hours and penalties but does not list exemptions. Those come from local ordinances, and Florida cities and counties tend to write similar carve-outs. Miami-Dade’s ordinance exempts a minor who is:

Accompanied by a parent or guardian, or by another adult at least 21 years old with parental permission.
Going directly to or from work, with a reasonable travel window.
Traveling in interstate travel through the jurisdiction.
Attending an official school, religious, civic, or county-sponsored activity.
Running a specific errand with written permission from a parent.
Responding to an emergency.
Exercising First Amendment rights, such as attending a protest or religious service.
Emancipated by marriage or court order.
On the sidewalk in front of the minor’s home, or a neighbor’s home with the neighbor’s consent.

Those exemptions come from the Miami-Dade ordinance and reflect the pattern most Florida curfews follow.³ If you rely on an exemption — a work shift, a religious service, a parent’s errand note — carrying something that documents it makes the encounter with an officer much shorter.

Penalties for a Curfew Violation

Under the state framework, penalties start mild. A first violation gets a written warning. Only after that warning does a subsequent violation become a civil infraction with a fine of up to $50 per incident.²

A civil infraction is not a criminal charge. There is no arrest, no criminal record, and no jail time. Local ordinances that set their own penalty structures may impose different amounts or add consequences such as parenting classes, so the $50 figure applies specifically where the state statute has been adopted.

What Happens When a Minor Is Picked Up

If an officer takes a minor into custody for a curfew violation, Section 877.22 sets out what comes next. The minor is transported to a police station or to a facility operated by a religious, charitable, or civic organization that runs a curfew program with local law enforcement. The officer records the minor’s information and attempts to reach a parent or guardian.²

If a parent is reached, the parent is asked to come pick the child up. If a parent cannot be reached within two hours, or refuses to take custody, the officer either transports the minor home or proceeds under the dependency provisions of Chapter 39. For most families, the encounter ends with a phone call and a drive to the station.

The Daytime Rule for Suspended or Expelled Students

Section 877.22 also contains a narrower daytime restriction that applies only to a specific group: minors who have been suspended or expelled from school. Those students may not be in a public place, in a business establishment, or within 1,000 feet of any school between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on school days.²

This is not a general daytime curfew on all minors. It applies only to students formally removed from school through suspension or expulsion. The 1,000-foot buffer can reach farther than parents expect, sweeping in nearby restaurants, parks, and sidewalks.

Parent and Guardian Liability

The curfew statute itself does not fine parents. Florida Statute 827.04 does something broader: it makes it a first-degree misdemeanor to commit any act that causes, encourages, or contributes to a child becoming delinquent or dependent.⁴ A first-degree misdemeanor in Florida carries up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

A single missed curfew is not going to trigger a contributing-to-delinquency charge. A pattern of a parent knowingly allowing a young child to be out late is a different matter. Some local curfew ordinances also add their own parent-directed penalties, such as escalating fines or mandatory parenting classes, that can apply on their own terms.

Teen Driving Hours Are a Separate Rule

Curfew ordinances and Florida’s teen driving restrictions are two different systems. Even where no curfew applies, the graduated driver license program limits when younger drivers can be behind the wheel:

Learner’s license: daylight hours only for the first three months, then until 10:00 p.m.
Licensed 16-year-olds: may drive only between 6:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m.
Licensed 17-year-olds: may drive only between 5:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m.

Both the 16- and 17-year-old restrictions include exceptions for driving to and from work, or when accompanied by a licensed driver at least 21 years old.⁵

These restrictions are enforced under traffic law, not curfew ordinances. A 16-year-old driving home at 11:30 p.m. in a city with a midnight curfew is complying with curfew but violating the driving-hour rule. The two questions have to be checked separately.

1
My Florida Legal. Juvenile Curfews – Municipalities – Ordinances
2
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 877.22 – Minors Prohibited in Public Places and Establishments During Certain Hours; Penalty; Procedure
3
Miami-Dade County. Juvenile Curfew Ordinance
4
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 827.04 – Contributing to the Delinquency or Dependency of a Child; Penalty
5
Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Licensing Requirements for Teens, Graduated Driver License Laws, Driving Curfews