Okaloosa County, FL Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

Sec. 5-45 of the county code defines feeding as giving, placing, exposing, depositing, distributing or scattering any edible material with intent to feed, attract or entice birds. The ban applies only in South Okaloosa County, defined by the code as the area south of the situs line at Range Road 215 West and Range Road 213 East, and only on public beaches and public waterfront parks in that zone; it does not reach private yards or unincorporated areas north of the line. The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission both have enforcement authority.

Penalties escalate with each violation: a first offense draws a verbal warning only, a second draws a $100 fine, and a third draws a $250 fine plus a criminal misdemeanor charge, a step up from the general animal-control civil penalty schedule that applies elsewhere in this chapter. The ordinance was adopted by Ord. No. 20-20 on November 17, 2020, to curb the beach and dune impacts of large-scale bird feeding around Fort Walton Beach and Destin's waterfront parks. Sitting in Chapter 5, Article II (Animal Control) rather than the sea turtle lighting article, it functions as a public-health and nuisance measure alongside, not instead of, the county's separate sea turtle conservation ordinance covering the same beaches.