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

Lee County Code § 17-2 responds to what the board of commissioners called a rise in aggressive solicitation that intimidates residents and blocks access to public places, citing its police power under G.S. 153A-126 and Article 6 of Chapter 153A. Section 17-2(b) defines aggressive manner to include physical contact without consent, following a person in a way likely to cause fear of imminent bodily harm, continuing to solicit within five feet after a negative response, blocking a person's or vehicle's path, using obscene or abusive language meant to intimidate, or approaching in a manner likely to cause a reasonable person to fear bodily harm.

Section 17-2(c) then lists the prohibited acts: soliciting in an aggressive manner in a public area, soliciting in or at a public transportation vehicle or stop, soliciting within 15 feet of a bank, check-cashing business or ATM entrance during that facility's operating hours without the owner's consent, soliciting on private property after the owner has objected or posted a no-solicitation sign, and soliciting money from a driver in traffic in exchange for cleaning windows or directing to a parking space. The ordinance expressly preserves the constitutional right to solicit funds, picket or protest under § 17-2(a)(5), so the restrictions target manner and location rather than the act of asking for money itself.