Craven County, NC Public Conduct: Aggressive Panhandling (2026)

Section 28-1(9) of the Craven County Code declares: 'Except as part of an approved event, it shall be unlawful for any person to solicit, peddle or beg within any park or sell any merchandise or wares,' with two narrow carve-outs: county-granted concessions at a recreation facility, and sales by nonprofit or civic groups that have first obtained the Recreation and Parks Department's permission. The rule reaches every 'public recreation area' the county owns or controls under the chapter's definitions: parks, the recreation center, playgrounds, ball fields, tennis courts and their parking lots.

A parallel rule at Sec. 28-23 repeats nearly the same language for the Cowpen and Spring Garden boat landing sites, so the ban follows visitors from the ballfield to the boat ramp. Neither section defines 'aggressive' conduct or targets intimidating solicitation specifically; the ban is a blanket prohibition on unsolicited begging, peddling and selling on recreation property, not a county-wide anti-panhandling ordinance for streets, sidewalks or business districts. Enforcement tracks the rest of Chapter 28: Sec. 28-1(18) lets Recreation and Parks staff or a law enforcement officer eject the violator, and Sec.

28-1(19) makes any violation of the chapter trespass in addition to whatever other penalty applies, defaulting to the Code's general $500 civil penalty under Sec. 1-11 when no more specific fine is set.