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

Rather than fixing a single countywide park curfew in the ordinance text, Sec. 18-36, titled 'Hours of operation,' gives the director of parks and recreation the discretion to set and post daily hours for each park and to declare any section or part of any park closed to the public at any time, or limit it to certain users or times, whenever public interest, safety or security indicates. That means the operative closing time for a specific county park, such as San-Lee Park or one of the county's lighted athletic fields, is whatever is posted on-site rather than a fixed hour printed in the code.

San-Lee Educational and Recreational Park adds a specific enforcement hook at Sec. 18-63(1)(c): visitors must not violate any curfew provision that is properly posted within the park. The lighted athletic fields article layers on its own hard stop separate from posted hours: Sec. 18-100 bars using a lit athletic field, such as Horton Park, Buchanan Park, Dalrymple Park or O.T. Sloan Park, after 12:00 midnight without the director's written authorization, and Sec. 18-99 requires written authorization just to turn the lights on. All three provisions are enforced by the parks and recreation department and, for the general parks article and San-Lee Park, carry the same $100.00 civil penalty structure: Sec.

18-32 for general parks and Sec. 18-62 for San-Lee Park, each allowing expulsion in addition to the fine. The lighted-fields penalty is set independently at Sec. 18-97, also $100.00.