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Trick-or-treating has an age limit in this Virginia town

Anyone over the age of 14 can face jail time for trick-or-treating in Chesapeake, Virginia.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. — It's nearly that time of year where kids in costumes scour neighborhoods in search of candy, and the occasional fright. Trick-or-treating has been a Halloween tradition for years, but that fun, however, ceases in early teenage years in towns like Chesapeake, Yorktown, Suffolk, Hampton Roads and Norfolk. 

Anyone over the age of 14 who is trick-or-treating can spend time in jail and/or pay a fine in Chesapeake, Virginia. Anyone trick-or-treating after 8 p.m. in the town could also meet the same fate.

Parents and other adults are allowed to chaperone younger kids but aren't allowed to collect candy for themselves.

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"If any person over the age of 14 years shall engage in the activity commonly known as "trick or treat" or any other activity of similar character or nature under any name whatsoever, he or she shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor," according to an ordinance.

Additionally, if anyone at any age trick-or-treats after 8 p.m., they could also face a class 4 misdemeanor charge.

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The City’s trick-or-treat ordinance was updated in 2019 when City Council voted to remove the penalty of jail time and to raise the age limit to 14, which makes it one of the least restrictive ordinances in Hampton Roads, according to the city's website.

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