LegalVerity & HHC | YIC Featured Initiative
A cooperative sponsorship so young people can step off campus, with parent permission, into gatherings that hold Judeo-Christian values, scripture, peer conversation, arts, sports, music, and stages.
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In the USA, students can receive values-based instruction according to provisions that vary by state. For example, California (CA) excuses for not more than four days per school month. In Minnesota (MN), a parent may ask that a public-school student be excused for up to three hours in any week to attend off-campus religious instruction. The class is private. The school does not pay for it or host it. See more states below.
Released time is a state-and-local accommodation under Zorach v. Clauson (1952). Shall means the district or principal must excuse when conditions are met. May means a statute exists but the local board decides. No statute means only the federal framework plus local policy. Hours below are statutory ceilings or floors, not a promise every district uses the full amount. Re-check the live code before relying on a quote.
If you observe statutory policy changes before we do, you may notify us here to request updates for the table below. Thank you.
| State | Type | Hours / time provisioned | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | May | No weekly hour cap; elective credit allowed; no release from core class | Ala. Code § 16-1-20.6 |
| Alaska | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
| Arizona | May | Board must adopt a policy on religious excuse; no statewide weekly cap | A.R.S. § 15-806 |
| Arkansas | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
| California | May | Board resolution first; student still meets minimum day; not more than 4 days per school month | Cal. Educ. Code § 46014 |
| Colorado | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
| Connecticut | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
| Delaware | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
| District of Columbia | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
| Florida | Shall (policy) | Boards must adopt a policy allowing release on parent request; hours set in the policy | See district policy; state mandate in recent education session law |
| Georgia | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
| Hawaii | Shall | Not to exceed 60 minutes each week | Haw. Rev. Stat. § 302A-1139 |
| Idaho | May | Board authority; common local cap grades 9–12 up to 5 periods/week | Idaho Code § 33-512 |
| Illinois | Shall (excuse) | Religious instruction is a listed attendance exemption; no weekly hour cap in § 26-1 | 105 ILCS 5/26-1 |
| Indiana | Shall | Elem: 120 minutes/week. Secondary: time equal to one elective course that week | IC 20-33-2-19 |
| Iowa | Shall | At least 1 hour and not more than 5 hours per week | Iowa Code § 299.1D |
| Kansas | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
| Kentucky | Shall | Boards excuse students desiring moral instruction at least one hour each day (local scheduling still applies) | Ky. moral-instruction / released-time provisions |
| Louisiana | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
| Maine | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
| Maryland | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
| Massachusetts | May | Often implemented as not more than one hour each week | Mass. G.L. c. 76 attendance exemptions |
| Michigan | Shall | Not more than two hours a week on written parent request | Mich. compulsory-attendance / released-time provisions |
| Minnesota | May | Not exceeding three hours in any week; off campus; no public expense; includes Tribal spiritual or cultural instruction | Minn. Stat. § 120A.22, subd. 12 |
| Mississippi | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
| Missouri | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
| Montana | Shall | 2025 mandate to excuse for off-campus religious instruction; hours in the act / local policy | 2025 Montana released-time act |
| Nebraska | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
| Nevada | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
| New Hampshire | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
| New Jersey | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
| New Mexico | May | Policy approach; hours local | N.M. school-board policy statutes |
| New York | Shall (reg) | Not more than one hour each week (K–12); time fixed by local authorities, usually close of morning or afternoon session. NYC DOE sets the last instructional hour on Wednesdays. | 8 NYCRR § 109.2 |
| North Carolina | Shall | One to four hours weekly; districts may set a lower local cap | N.C. 2025 budget released-time section |
| North Dakota | Shall | Up to one hour each week | N.D.C.C. § 15.1-19-04 |
| Ohio | Shall | Board must adopt a policy; default often 2 periods/week (elem/middle) or 2 credit units/week (HS); boards may extend | Ohio Rev. Code § 3313.6022 |
| Oklahoma | Shall (policy) | Up to three class periods per week; elective credit possible | Okla. 2024–25 released-time act (70 O.S.) |
| Oregon | May | 2 hours/week elementary; 5 hours/week secondary | ORS 339.420 |
| Pennsylvania | Shall | Up to 36 hours per school year on written request | 22 Pa. Code § 11.21 |
| Rhode Island | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
| South Carolina | May / credit | Elective credit allowed; weekly hours local | S.C. released-time credit statutes |
| South Dakota | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
| Tennessee | May / credit | Elective credit allowed; cannot replace core class; hours local | Tenn. released-time credit statutes |
| Texas | Shall | 2025 guarantee of excuse for off-campus religious instruction; hours in the act / local policy | 2025 Texas released-time act |
| Utah | No statewide cap | Programs exist locally; no uniform hour statute | — |
| Vermont | Shall | Must accommodate parent-requested released time; hours local / statute | Vt. released-time statute |
| Virginia | No statewide cap | Long local WRE tradition; hours by division policy | — |
| Washington | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
| West Virginia | May | Hours local unless a later act is in force | W.Va. Code education title |
| Wisconsin | Shall | Must accommodate; hours local / statute | Wis. released-time statute |
| Wyoming | No statute | Local board policy only | — |
Compilations for cross-check: releasedtime.org/statelaws · respectpublicschools.com/laws.php
Up to three hours in any week, with written parental wish excusing minors, so a student can leave campus for instruction that the family chooses, not a school-run religion class.
Instruction stays off public-school property and is not maintained at public expense. Churches, associations, and Tribal spiritual or cultural advisors can host what the statute allows.
Thoughts continue that "No school official should steer a child in or out." Students who stay in the building keep a real class. Families who opt in do so because they want the hour, not because systems force it.
A young person in crisis often needs more than a hallway and a bell schedule. Released Time can open a weekly hour with trusted adults, peers, and a moral vocabulary if the gathering is honest, off-campus, and freely chosen. LegalVerity brand contribution helps communities stay inside the statutory lines. Happy Hour Church helps the hour itself feel like belonging.
Featured on the main YIC page under Featured Initiatives as Released Time.
Touchpoints in varied places, contexts, and environments: not a single room and not a single mood.
Youth on a stage learn voice, timing, and courage. Released Time hours can sit beside rehearsals, showcases, and spoken-word nights that treat the arts as formation, not filler.
Courts, studios, practice rooms, and fields are already where many young people tell the truth. The cooperative sponsors treat those rooms as worthy contexts for character and conversation.
Judeo-Christian values held with the text open: reading, asking, arguing fairly, and letting peers speak. Analysis first. Slogans last.
Small circles where students talk to each other, not only to a lecturer, about hope, harm, family, work, and what a good hour of the week could change.
A church hall one week, a courtyard the next, a community theater lobby when that is the honest room. The statute requires off-campus. It does not require bland.
Happy Hour Church has said since its public note that youth gathering in spiritual contexts can be one of the happiest hours of their week, and that the name does not regard illicit substance use.
Local boards still handle sign-out, make-up work, and logistics. This page does not replace a district policy or a parent’s written request.
Explore YIC Emotional Support & Crisis ResourcesCooperative sponsors
One initiative. Two houses. Shared care for the hour young people are released to grow.
Twin Cities desk for files, drafts, contractual and statutory review, and close-through work. On this page, LegalVerity advances Released Time as a civic and parental option: helping communities name the off-campus, no-public-funds, parent-permission lines without turning the hour into a lawsuit.
Statements here not a substitute for licensed counsel.
Visit legalverity.comMultimissional ecclesia. Public labors since 2007 have regarded youth outreach. The name points to a gathered hour of joy → not bar culture, not substances. HHC holds the room for scripture, peer talk, performance, and the ordinary courage of showing up.
happyhourchurch.com describes a multimissional undertaking expanding services while staying focused on youth.
Visit happyhourchurch.comLegalVerity brand does not speak for Happy Hour Church. Happy Hour Church does not practice law. Together these support Released Time on behalf of youth who need a better hour in the week.
Direct support toward this cooperative initiative, the same invitation as the main Youth in Crisis Featured Initiatives row.
Fuel off-campus gatherings, stages, peer circles, and the quiet logistics that keep a weekly hour honest and available.
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