[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council
of the Borough of Palmyra as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 7-13-1998 by Ord. No. 1998-8 (Ch.
85A, Art. I of the 1971 Code)]
No person under the age of 18 shall purchase
or within or upon any public place or area use cigarettes or other
tobacco products within the Borough of Palmyra.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any place or area to which the public is invited or upon
which the public is permitted, including but not limited to any sidewalk,
street or any other right-of-way, park, playground and any other property
owned by the borough, any mall or shopping center, including business,
industrial and commercial properties, and any school property.
Any product made from the tobacco plant for the purpose of
smoking, chewing, inhaling or other personal use, including cigars,
chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco, snuff and cigarettes in any form.
It shall be unlawful for a parent or guardian
having legal custody of a juvenile knowingly to permit or by inefficient
control to allow the juvenile to purchase or use cigarettes or other
tobacco products in any public place. The term "knowingly" includes
knowledge which a parent should reasonably be expected to have concerning
the purchase or use of cigarettes or other tobacco products by a juvenile
in that parent's legal custody. It is intended to hold parents and
guardians to a reasonable community standard of parental responsibility
through an objective test. It shall, therefore, be no defense that
a parent was inattentive or indifferent to the activities or conduct
of such juvenile.
A.
If a police officer reasonably believes that a juvenile
is purchasing or using cigarettes or other tobacco products in a public
place in violation of this article, the officer shall so advise the
juvenile and take the juvenile into custody. The juvenile shall then
provide his or her name, age, address and telephone number and advise
the officer where and how to contact his or her parent or guardian.
The juvenile shall then be taken to the police station where a parent
or guardian shall immediately be notified to come and take custody
of the juvenile, or, at the officer's discretion, the juvenile may
be warned and the officer may notify the parents by phone of the violation
of the first offense.
B.
If the parent or guardian cannot be located or fails
to take custody of the juvenile, then the juvenile shall be released
to the juvenile authorities or, in appropriate cases, may be temporarily
entrusted to an adult neighbor or other person who will, on behalf
of a parent or guardian, assume responsibility for the juvenile.
C.
In the absence of documentary evidence, a police officer
may use his or her best judgment in determining age.
D.
Within 24 hours of the violation, the police officer
who took the juvenile into custody shall file a written report, in
a form to be prescribed by the Chief of Police, with the office of
the Chief.
E.
In the case of a first violation, the Chief of Police
or his designee shall, by certified mail or regular mail, send to
the parent or guardian written notice of the violation. The notice
shall advise the parent or guardian of his or her right to contest
the charge in Municipal Court and that the failure to contest the
charge will be deemed an admission by the parent or guardian that
the violation occurred. The notice will further advise the parent
or guardian that there are no penalties for first offenses but that
a subsequent violation by the juvenile will result in the imposition
of monetary penalties upon the parent or guardian. This notice shall
be deemed received upon mailing.
A.
If, after the parent or guardian receives the notice pursuant to § 256-4 of this article, the juvenile violates this article a second time, this shall be treated as a first offense by the parent. Upon a finding of parental culpability for the first parental offense, a parent shall be subject to a fine of $50. For each subsequent offense by a parent, the parent shall be subject to a fine as follows:
B.
The penalty for each offense thereafter shall be not
less than $500 and not more than $1,000.
This article shall be liberally construed for
the protection of the health, safety and welfare of the people, the
citizens of the Borough of Palmyra.
