Lago Vista repeals minors' curfew, financial impact listed as N/A

Host 1. Welcome to the Lago Vista Watchdog podcast. The two voices you're hearing are AI generated, and every fact comes from a public record.

Host 2. Today's story is about a curfew for minors that Lago Vista kept in its code years after the state took that power away.

Host 1. Here's the bottom line. On Nov. 5, 2026, the Lago Vista City Council voted unanimously to repeal the city's juvenile curfew.

Host 2. A state law has barred Texas cities from enforcing curfews like it since Sept. 1, 2023. And the city's staff report lists the financial impact of the repeal as N/A, or not applicable.

Host 1. One more thing up front. When we wrote this story, the city had not posted minutes for this meeting, so the story is based on the meeting video.

Host 2. So what did the curfew actually say?

Host 1. The council adopted it on July 6, 2017. It made it an offense for anyone under 17 to stay in a public place or a business in the city during curfew hours.

Host 2. And those hours were?

Host 1. From 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Sunday through Thursday nights. On weekends it ran from 12:01 a.m. to 6 a.m., so the hours after midnight on Friday and Saturday nights.

Host 2. Was it just the teenager who could get in trouble?

Host 1. No. A parent who let a minor stay out could also be charged, and so could a business that let a minor stay. Each offense carried a fine of up to $500.

Host 2. There were exceptions, though.

Host 1. Right. Minors going to or from work were covered, and so were errands for a parent and emergencies, among other reasons.

Host 2. Now to the state law. In 2023 the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1819.

Host 1. It says a city or county may not adopt or enforce a curfew for anyone younger than 18. Governor Greg Abbott signed it on June 9, 2023.

Host 2. And it went further. No juvenile curfew violation may be prosecuted after the law took effect. It does still allow a curfew during an emergency, under the state's disaster law.

Host 1. So how did this end up on the agenda?

Host 2. Court Administrator Stephanie Alff submitted the repeal. Her report said local governments can no longer enact or enforce daytime or nighttime curfews that restrict the movement of minors.

Host 1. City Secretary Robin Smith certified the agenda was posted at City Hall by 6 p.m. on Oct. 29. It was a work session item, listed as discussion and possible action.

Host 2. Take us into the meeting.

Host 1. The council met in its chambers on Thunderbird for a regular meeting set for 3 p.m. The mayor opened with six of the seven council members there, and said Council Member Amanda Chavarria was on her way.

Host 2. Mayor Shane Saum read the curfew item aloud and handed it to a staff member the mayor called Chief.

Host 1. That staff member said staff had found an ordinance that should have been repealed back in 2023, and asked the council to repeal it.

Host 2. Chavarria had a personal take on this one.

Host 1. She did. She said she was glad to see it. In her words, I was a victim of ordinances like this back in the day.

Host 2. What happened to her?

Host 1. She said she worked late hours closing grocery stores at 16 and was pulled over often on her way home. She mentioned a hardship permit but didn't say what kind.

Host 2. She called the curfew an unnecessary ordinance for teens who work weekends and Fridays. And she said she was glad the city was finally coming into compliance with state law.

Host 1. Then came the vote. The mayor asked whether any residents wanted to speak on the item.

Host 2. Council Member Adam Benefield moved to approve it, and Chavarria seconded. No one spoke during discussion, and the mayor announced it approved unanimously.

Host 1. It was a voice vote, and the mayor did not call the roll. No one was heard voting no.

Host 2. Someone added a footnote after that, right?

Host 1. Yes. A speaker the mayor did not name said they doubted the city's municipal court had enforced the curfew since the state law passed.

Host 2. That speaker called it good housekeeping to take rules like this off the books. Once a state law passes, the speaker said, they become dead letters. That means they stay on the books but no longer matter.

Host 1. So what does this mean for taxpayers?

Host 2. The old rule let the city's court fine each offense up to $500. Under the state law, no curfew case could be prosecuted after Sept. 1, 2023. And no one who spoke on the item gave a count of curfew cases or fines.

Host 1. The 2017 rule also told the city manager to report to the council within six months of first enforcing it. That report was supposed to include the city's net cost of enforcing the curfew.

Host 2. And on the day of the vote, the city's online code of ordinances still listed the curfew.

Host 1. Here's what we could not find. How many curfew citations the city wrote from 2017 to 2023, and how much it collected in fines.

Host 2. We also couldn't find the city manager's six-month report, or a record of which members were present for the vote and how each one voted.

Host 1. Plus the signed repeal ordinance and its number, which the packet copy leaves blank, and the minutes of the Nov. 5 meeting.

Host 2. If you want to dig in, you can ask the city for its curfew citations and fines from 2017 through 2023, and that six-month report, through the city's records request page.

Host 1. To speak during citizen comments, fill out the city's citizen participation form and give it to the mayor before the meeting starts. If you join online, email the form as it directs.

Host 2. And if you have records on this, you can share them with us at lagovistawatchdog.com/share-records.

Host 1. Thanks for listening to the Lago Vista Watchdog.