INDIANAPOLIS — With a 21-2 vote, the Indianapolis City-County Council on Monday night approved a proposal to adjust the youth curfew hours.
A council spokeswoman said Democratic Mayor Joe Hogsett has 10 days to sign the measure to make it official. Once he’s signed off, the curfew will begin and last 120 days.
In 2025, the city of Indianapolis also adjusted the youth curfew hours during the warmer months. That change came five weeks after a July 4 mass shooting that killed two teens.
This year’s curfew, as proposed, would be two hours earlier than the one initiated last summer.
Chief Tanya Terry of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department backed the proposal, citing a troubling rise in youth violence. She said last month that youth shooting victims were up 22% in the first three months of 2026 compared to the same time in 2025. Youth homicides were up by 4% in those three months.
At Monday’s council meeting, Terry said youth homicides were up 3% in the first four months of 2026 compared to the same time in 2025. Nonfatal shootings with juvenile victims increased 4% in the first four months of 2026.
Terry said Monday, “I would say, admittedly, the majority of those crimes are not during curfew hours, but we’ve had 1 out of 3 homicides involving juvenile victims this year that have been during curfew hours. … I think that’s somebody that lost their live that was out past curfew. I think that one was at 1:30 in the morning, if I recall. Maybe it would have made a difference; maybe not. I don’t know.”
The police chief noted that her numbers did not include an early Sunday morning shooting on North Park Avenue, in which a woman was killed and two other people were hurt when young people were at an after-party.
Under this year’s proposed curfew, people younger than 15 would not be allowed to be in public after 9 p.m. or before 5 a.m. on any day. For ages 15 to 16, the curfew would require them to be home by 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and by 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Ages 15 and 16 also would not be allowed in public before 5 a.m. on any day.
Indiana law dictates that people under 15 must be home between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. For ages 15 to 17, the state law requires them to be home by 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and by 1 a.m. Friday through Saturday.
If the Indianapolis proposal takes effect, 17-year-olds in the city would continue to be subject to state law.
Councilor Leroy Robinson, a Democrat, noted that the curfew isn’t the city’s only tool.
“The City-County Council can’t do it alone. IMPD can’t do it alone. What folks can say is that we need to be doing more. We are doing more. We can always do more, but the priority is that we’re already given funds to Elevation grants, crime-prevention grants. … There’s more work to be done. But we need partnership to support these young people on our streets.”
