Middletown officials told residents that kids under 18 needed to be home by 9 p.m. on Halloween.

The city is enforcing its annual curfew on Halloween - one of the strictest holiday curfews in all of the Hudson Valley.

Middletown Mayor Joseph Destefano says the ordinance states minors can't be in any public place, including streets, shops, restaurants, parks and even theaters unless accompanied by a parent or guardian. They also can't be on any private property, like a friend's house, unless a parent is present.

“We don't go rounding up kids and herding them like cattle, but it's a tool for police,” he says.

The ordinance even says that minors who don't comply with police order to go home may be fined $250 or even sent to jail.

However, officers say that would never happen.

According to police, the curfew has been in place for some 20 years -- something residents say they're grateful for.

Yonkers also has a Halloween curfew. Kids 11 and under must be home by 10 p.m. Kids ages 12 and 13 have a curfew of 10:30 p.m. and 14- to 16-year-olds have to be home by 11 p.m.