Lexington, KY Public Conduct: Aggressive Panhandling (2026)
Key Facts
- Prohibited act
- Begging or soliciting money on public streets
- Governing section
- Code of Ordinances Sec. 14-5
- Fine range
- $50 to $100 per offense
- Jail term
- 10 to 30 days per offense
- Original enactment
- Ord. No. 227-75, 1975
- Last amended
- Ord. No. 156-2007, July 2007
Summary
Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government bans begging or soliciting money altogether on public streets and at street intersections under Code of Ordinances Sec. 14-5: the ordinance is not limited to aggressive conduct, it prohibits any request for money in the roadway, with fines of $50 to $100 or up to 30 days in jail per offense.
No person shall beg or solicit upon the public streets or at the intersection of said public streets within the urban county area. Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be fined not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100.00) or be imprisoned for not less than ten (10) days nor more than thirty (30) days or both for each offense.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Republication | Zoning Ordinance: Republication).
Full Breakdown
Sec. ' The operative text of the current code contains no carved-out exception despite the section heading; the prohibition applies countywide because Lexington-Fayette merged into a single urban county government in 1974 and there is no separate city ordinance limited to a downtown core. A companion provision, Sec. 14-6, separately regulates door-to-door or public 'tag day' fundraising campaigns, requiring the mayor's advance written permission and a designated date, which shows the code distinguishes organized charitable solicitation from individual street begging covered by Sec. 14-5. Violations of Sec.
' The ordinance dates to Ord. No. 227-75 (1975) and was last amended by Ord. No. 156-2007 in July 2007. General disorderly-conduct and public-nuisance sections elsewhere in chapter 14 can also apply where solicitation includes threats, blocking a person's path, or following someone after a refusal, but Sec. 14-5 itself does not require any aggressive element, mere begging or soliciting on a public street is enough to violate it.
Violations & Fines
Each violation is a criminal offense carrying a fine of $50 to $100, ten to thirty days in jail, or both, and each act of begging or soliciting on a public street or at an intersection counts as a separate offense. Division of police officers issue the citation, since the section sits in chapter 14's criminal-offenses articles rather than the civil-penalty licensing chapters enforced by citation officers.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Lexington
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