Rolling Meadows want to fine parents for kids' crimes
The cost of parenting is going up in Rolling Meadows.
The city is preparing to levy fines against parents whose minor children commit crimes in Rolling Meadows, and to raise the potential restitution for property damage to $20,000.
The new get-tough policy for parents is intended to prod them into taking greater responsibility for their children and lessen the acts of truancy, vandalism, and gang and drug activity, among other typical teenage crimes, officials say.
The proposed fines are $100 for a child's first offense and $200 for subsequent offenses, on top of whatever court costs are assigned. “Minor” in this case refers to children ages 11 to 19 years old who live with their parents in Rolling Meadows.
The ordinance, which passed a first reading 4-1 at this week's city council meeting and is expected to get final approval Feb. 28, also raises the amount of restitution the city can demand, to $20,000 from $2,500. That is the most Illinois law allows communities to collect.
“It will get their attention,” Rolling Meadows Police Chief David Scanlan said. “It's about accountability; they're the parents.”
Parents will be fined by the city only when the child is convicted of the crime, and the handling of restitution payments will be monitored by the courts, police said.
Scanlan said the details of the ordinance may still be tweaked before it's brought up for second reading at the next city council meeting. It's not clear, for instance, if an appeal process for parents will be written in.
Alderman Brad Judd, the lone dissenter on the city council, said the provision gives troublesome kids too much power over their parents to commit offenses and incur fines with little responsibility for themselves, even after the age of 18.
“We'll let him vote, we'll let him join the military, but when it comes to getting in trouble, the actual dollar cost falls back to the parents,” Judd said.
“You might have a parent who is doing everything in their power to discipline a child, and we're going to say, ‘OK, you didn't do a good job and we're going to fine you.' I find that completely wrong,” he said.
The state of Illinois has long considered children to be minors until age 19 to be able to crack down on truancy and other crimes committed by high school students older than 18 but for whom their parents are still responsible, Mayor Tom Rooney said.
Rooney said the fine is not intended to raise revenue for the city but as a way to push parents to get involved and take responsibility when their child is continuously breaking the law. There was no one issue that prompted this, officials said, and police don't have readily available statistics for the number or types of crimes committed by 11- to 19-year-olds.
Larry Bury, policy director with the Northwest Municipal Conference, said this is the first he's heard of a suburb fining parents for their children's lawbreaking.
Aldermen Mike Cannon and Larry Buske were absent from this week's meeting and did not vote on the first reading.