Lake Charles, LA Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Sit-Lie Rules (2026)

Section 13-19(a), carried over from the 1956 Code Section 12-73 and reenacted by Ordinance No. 1192 in 1959, prohibits willfully obstructing the free, convenient and normal use of any public sidewalk, street, highway, bridge, alley, road or other passageway, or the entrance, corridor or passage of any public building, structure, watercraft or ferry, by impeding, hindering, stifling, retarding or restraining traffic or passage. The section carves out two exceptions: bona fide labor organizations engaged in lawful picketing or assembly, and barricades or obstructions placed for construction, excavation, maintenance or repair work, or by government agents in the proper performance of their duties.

Subsection (b), added by Ordinance No. 10334 in 1994, separately bans simple obstruction of a highway or street, defined as intentionally or with criminal negligence placing anything or performing any act on a city street that renders movement more difficult; lawfully parked vehicles are excluded. Subsection (c), added by Ordinance No. 17154 in 2015, goes further and bars installing sports or basketball equipment on any city street or right-of-way and bars recreational or sport activity on any public street, highway, bridge, alley or road unless tied to an authorized city event.

Under subsection (c)(3), a citation issues only after a law enforcement officer directs the person to stop and the person refuses; first and second offenses are prosecuted as civil violations before the city's administrative adjudication hearing process under Article IX of Chapter 2, while a third or subsequent offense may be charged as a misdemeanor at the city attorney's discretion under Section 1-8.