Effingham County, GA Curfew Laws: Park Curfew (2026)

Sec. 46-52, adopted by ordinance on June 16, 2009, ties park access to whatever hours the board of commissioners designates and posts for each county park or recreation area, rather than fixing a single county-wide closing time in the code itself; the applicable hours are the ones posted at that specific site. The section carves out an exception for events sponsored or authorized by the county recreation department, so a scheduled evening program can keep a park legitimately open past its normal posted closing. Outside of posted hours and sanctioned events, the ordinance states flatly that no person shall enter or be present in a county park or recreation area during hours that the park is closed, making mere presence after closing the violation rather than requiring proof of any other misconduct.

The same Article III of Chapter 46 pairs the hours rule with companion restrictions covering the same parks: littering is barred under Sec. 46-53, smoking is banned wherever no-smoking signs are posted under Sec. 46-51, and swimming is limited to posted times and areas with required swimwear under Sec. 46-54. Because Sec. 46-52 does not spell out its own penalty, enforcement falls to Sec. 1-19, the county's general penalty provision, adopted under authority of O.C.G.A. § 36-1-20.