Macon County has no set hours for trick-or-treating on Halloween, Saturday, Oct. 31, but La Plata Police Chief Jason Bunch is recommending families in his town go out from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Bunch's recommendation is unofficial; La Plata does not set hours, according to answers the city clerk's office relayed Oct. 15. Sheriff Kevin Shoemaker said the county does not set them either.
"Macon County has no set times for trick or treating," Shoemaker said in an email. "All of the towns rely on us for their law enforcement needs, even those with municipal police departments such as Bevier, La Plata, and Macon."
Sunset in Macon is 6:09 p.m. Oct. 31, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory.
Several community events come the day before. Boo on the Block runs from noon to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, on the Downtown Macon Square, according to the Macon Area Chamber of Commerce calendar.
In La Plata, the Monster March is from 1 to 2 p.m. Friday at La Plata Elementary, according to the city clerk's reply. Bunch said the march does not change trick-or-treating on Oct. 31.
The Halloween Spooktackular Dance is from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Gary Cunningham Event Center, 202 E. Moore St., La Plata. The dance and costume party is free, open to all ages, and features DJ Andre Swift, according to the event center.
Bunch said La Plata officers will patrol throughout Halloween night and will run random checks on whether registered sex offenders are following the state's Halloween rules. He said the department is also willing to check candy on request.
Shoemaker said the sheriff's office always has extra coverage on Halloween because of sex offender compliance checks. Deputies will check people required to follow Missouri's Halloween rules, including staying inside from 5 to 10:30 p.m., avoiding Halloween-related contact with children, and keeping outside residential lights off after 5 p.m., he said.
Shoemaker also encouraged children and parents to be courteous and respect others' property.
Bunch's safety tips for parents include going along with children under 12 and making sure older children travel in groups on an agreed route. Children should use sidewalks, look both ways before crossing, never dart out between parked cars, carry a flashlight or glow stick after dark, never walk alone, and never go into a stranger's home for a treat, he said.
Registered sex offenders in Missouri are not required to post a "No candy or treats" sign on Halloween. A federal judge in St. Louis ruled in 2024 that the sign provision of the state's Halloween law, Section 589.426.1(3), violates the First Amendment, and the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling Jan. 2, 2026, in Sanderson v. Hanaway. The appeals court also sent the case back to narrow the lower court's order, which now applies directly only to the man who sued, but its finding that the sign rule is unconstitutional stands. The Missouri Revisor of Statutes now notes the ruling under the law. The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 19 turned down Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway's request to review the case, leaving the appeals court's ruling in place, according to the court's order list. Justice Samuel Alito noted he would have taken the case.
The ruling covered only the sign. The rest of the law still applies: on Oct. 31, people on the registry must avoid all Halloween-related contact with children, stay inside their homes from 5 to 10:30 p.m. unless they have just cause to be elsewhere, such as work or a medical emergency, and leave outside residential lights off after 5 p.m. A violation is a class A misdemeanor.
"Sex offenders no longer have to post a sign on the door saying 'no treats no candy,'" Shoemaker said.
The state sex offender registry can be searched on the Missouri State Highway Patrol website.