Franklin County, NC Curfew Laws: Park Curfew (2026)

Franklin County Code § 20-2(a) sets standard park hours: gates open at 8:00 a.m. daily and close at sunset daily, unless the parks and recreation department has sanctioned, sponsored, or permitted an organized activity to continue after closing. Stacked on top of that gate schedule is a hard curfew in § 20-1(30): it is unlawful for anyone to enter, use, or remain within any park between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., whether or not the gates happen to still be open, unless a county-sponsored or authorized event has been delayed or the person holds a written permit from the parks and recreation department.

The two rules cover every park, recreation area, playground, ballfield, court, picnic shelter, trail, greenway, and parking facility owned or controlled by the county, so the same closing time and overnight curfew apply countywide, not just at flagship parks. The county also retains standalone authority under § 20-3 to declare any section of a park closed to the public at any time, temporarily or at set recurring intervals, and to restrict certain uses even during otherwise open hours. Anyone camping overnight under a § 20-1(14) permit, or running a late event under department authorization, is the narrow exception to both the sunset closing and the curfew; everyone else must be out.

Enforcement under § 20-5(b) reaches the parks and recreation director or designee, any authorized county employee, and any law enforcement agency, each of whom can eject or suspend a violator on the spot. A vehicle left in a park overnight without a permit is separately subject to towing under § 20-1(7).