Public Conduct in Charleston, SC (2026)
7 verified public conduct rules for Charleston, South Carolina, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Aggressive Panhandling
Charleston bans soliciting 'in an aggressive manner' anywhere on public rights-of-way or other city-owned property under Sec. 17-101. Sec. 17-92 defines aggressive manner to include following or approaching someone in a way likely to cause fear, touching a person or vehicle without consent, blocking a pedestrian's path, and using threatening gestures or intimidating profanity.
Charleston Aggressive Panhandling Ban
Heavy RestrictionsCharleston City Code §§ 17-92, 17-101
Aggressive manner shall mean any of the following: (1)Approaching or speaking to a person, or following a person before, during or after soliciting if that conduct is intended or is likely to cause a reasonable person to fear bodily harm to oneself or to another, damage to or loss of property, or to otherwise be intimidated into giving money or other thing of value;(2)Intentionally touching or ...
Public Urination
Charleston makes it unlawful to urinate or defecate on any public or private property in the city, indoors or out, unless you're in a restroom or another facility designed for it. Section 21-90 draws no exception for private property, meaning the ban covers a person's own yard as much as a public sidewalk.
Charleston Public Urination Ban
Heavy RestrictionsCharleston City Code § 21-90
It shall be unlawful for any person to urinate or defecate on or in any public property or private property within the city except in a restroom or other toilet facility designated for the sanitary disposal of human waste.
Skateboarding Rules
Skateboarders riding on a Charleston roadway have the same rights and duties as a vehicle driver under Sec. 19-93, must ride near the right side of the road, wear footwear, use hand signals, and stay visible with reflective gear from 500 feet. Riding is banned in city parking garages and athletic fields, and prohibited entirely on specific streets listed in Ordinance No. 2024-096.
Charleston Peninsula Skateboard Rules
Some RestrictionsCharleston City Code § 19-93(c), (k), (o)
(c)Every person riding a skateboard upon a roadway shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle by the laws of this state declaring rules of the road applicable to vehicles or by the traffic regulations of this city applicable to the driver of a vehicle, except as to special regulations in this section...(k)Skateboarders must...
Loitering Rules
Charleston's loitering ordinance bans lingering without lawful purpose in eight specific settings, from restaurants and taverns after being told to leave, to residential yards, parking lots, and schools. Section 21-108 lets a court add a geographic ban from part of the city on top of a fine or jail time for repeat violations.
Charleston Loitering Ordinance Rules
Significant RestrictionsCharleston City Code § 21-108
(a) Loitering. No person shall loiter or prowl in a place, at a time or in a manner not usual for law abiding individuals under circumstances that warrant alarm for the safety of persons or property in the vicinity. ... a police officer, prior to any arrest for an offense under this subsection, shall afford the actor an opportunity to dispel any alarm which would otherwise be warranted, by requ...
Outdoor Smoking Restrictions
Charleston bans smoking, including e-cigarettes, hookah and vapor devices, in every public park and playground the city owns, leases or operates. City Code § 21-133 allows narrow exceptions for recreation-commission-designated smoking areas, theatrical performers, religious ritual and medical research, and violators face a $10 to $25 infraction fine plus possible nuisance-abatement action.
Smoking Banned in Charleston City Parks
Significant RestrictionsCharleston City Code § 21-133
(a)Smoking for purposes of this section 21-133, shall mean inhaling, exhaling, or otherwise using any cigar, cigarette, pipe, hookah, e-cigarette or other tobacco product or device intended for use with tobacco in any manner or in any form which involves the release of any smoke, mist or vapor.(b)Smoking shall be prohibited in all public parks and playgrounds that are owned, leased or operated ...
Public Marijuana Use
Charleston makes it a crime to sell, possess, use or transport one ounce or less of marijuana or ten grams or less of hashish anywhere within city limits, public or private. City Code § 21-126(a) carries no location exception, so smoking or holding marijuana in a park, on a sidewalk or at an event is enforced the same as private possession, on top of separate state marijuana law.
Charleston Bans Marijuana Possession and Use
Heavy RestrictionsCharleston City Code § 21-126(a)
(a)No person shall sell, offer for sale, give away, bargain, trade, distribute in any manner, transport, use, prescribe, possess, knowingly keep, conceal or allow on premises under his control one ounce or less of marijuana or ten (10) grams or less of hashish.
Public Alcohol Use
Charleston bans carrying an open container of beer, wine, or liquor in a vehicle or on your person, and bans drinking on any street, sidewalk, alley, or public way, under City Code § 3-31. Group functions in parks or on public property need a police-issued permit under § 3-32.
Open Container & Public Drinking in Charleston
Significant RestrictionsCity Code § 3-31
No person shall transport or possess on his person or in a motor vehicle any beer, wine, or alcoholic beverage in an open container, nor consume any beer, wine, or alcoholic beverage in or upon the streets, sidewalks, alleys, or public ways of the city, except as provided in this article.
Looking for Charleston County county-wide rules?
County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Charleston city rules.
Public Conduct in Charleston County →