Smyrna, TN Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Sit-Lie Rules (2026)

Smyrna has no stand-alone sit-lie ordinance. The rule that does the work is § 11-702 of the Municipal Code, titled 'Interference with traffic,' in Title 11, Chapter 7. It says it is unlawful for any person to stand, sit, or engage in any activity whatever on any public street, sidewalk, bridge, or public ground in such a manner as to prevent, obstruct, or interfere with the free passage of pedestrian or vehicular traffic. Three features define its reach.

First, the covered places are public: streets, sidewalks, bridges, and public ground. Second, the covered conduct is deliberately open-ended. 'Any activity whatever' includes standing or sitting, but it is the result that makes the act unlawful: preventing, obstructing, or interfering with free passage. A person seated on a wide sidewalk with room for pedestrians to pass is not described by the text, while one blocking a doorway or a narrow walk is. Third, the section applies to everyone, and the text says nothing about sleeping, camping, lying down, or housing status.

The town's panhandling chapter draws related lines. Section 11-1301 defines panhandling as an in-person solicitation for an immediate donation and states that it does not include the act of passively standing or sitting, performing music, or singing with a sign indicating a donation is sought but without any vocal request other than a response to an inquiry. Section 11-1302 then bars panhandling at a bus stop, a sidewalk café, within 25 feet of an automatic teller machine or bank entrance, at a school, within ten feet of a building entrance open to the public, on private property posted 'No Solicitation,' and on any day after sunset or before sunrise. It also bars aggressive panhandling, which includes blocking the passage of the solicited person.

The Smyrna Police Department enforces these provisions, with cases heard in town court.