EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Starting Sept. 1, El Paso will no longer have a curfew for juveniles because of new state legislation that prohibits municipalities across Texas from enforcing curfews.

The curfew in El Paso has been set in place since 1991 and has been renewed every year since.

Sgt. Rober Gomez with El Paso Police Department said it was implemented with a goal of decreasing and preventing juvenile crime, especially in the summer months when kids are out of school.

The curfew states anyone under the age of 18 cannot be outside of their home without their parents or guardians after 11 p.m. and before 6 a.m.

One parent KTSM spoke to, Monica Downing, said this legislation is concerning.

“Nothing good happens after midnight. What are they going to do after midnight? They can’t get into bars. They’re going to cause trouble. I don’t understand the point of this (state) legislation,” she said.

Gomez explained it’s hard to predict at this time whether the removal of the curfew will cause a spike in juvenile crimes.

A local attorney who specializes in juvenile crime, Omar Carmona, said he doesn’t believe this will affect crime rates.

“I don’t think kids are considering curfew when they’re deciding to maybe make a bad choice. So, I don’t think it’s going to affect anything as much. I do think for child safety, I can see a problem with it,” Carmona said.

However, he did fear this could interfere with probational curfews for minors who are supposed to be supervised.

KTSM reached out to Rosie Medina, chief of El Paso County Juvenile Probation Department. She said in a statement that the bill will not affect court orders:

“The new legislation impacts cities, municipalities and counties from imposing curfew ordinances. It does not impact the juvenile courts. The juvenile courts continue to have the authority to impose and enforce conditions of probation, to include imposing a curfew,” Medina said.

At this time, El Paso Police is not enforcing the curfew and will not be issuing citations since all the issued citations will be void as of Sept. 1.

For all those who have been found guilty with breaking the curfew, which is considered a misdemeanor, they will still have to pay the fine which can be up to $500.

This new bill does make an exception for curfews imposed during an emergency declaration.