Towns make trick-or-treating illegal for kids over 12

Halloween is a time for fun and candy for all, but in some towns, anyone over age 12 could get in trouble for trick-or-treating.

WAVY's hrScene reported in 2017 that nine towns in the state of Virginia have laws and guidelines that make it illegal for people in their teens -- 13 to 18 -- to trick-or-treat.

Some towns only allow teens to be out with a parent or guardian.

In other cases, teens are only allowed to be out if they are going to or from a place of lawful employment.

Such laws are not anything new in the state.

A 2015 article from Norfolk, Virginia, TV station WTKR said that Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Suffolk each had laws that would lead to a misdemeanor charge if a person over 12 goes trick-or-treating.

Such laws are not limited to Virginia. In 2010, The Associated Press reported that Belleville, Illinois, Meridian, Mississippi, Bishopville, South Carolina and Boonsboro, Maryland all had trick-or-treating laws.

Cox Media Group