Knox County, TN Public Conduct: Aggressive Panhandling (2026)

Sec. 54-1, in Chapter 54's Article I on roads and bridges generally, prohibits two related acts. First, no person may solicit or advertise for alms, funds, or contributions on any public roadway in the county, a flat ban that covers panhandling, charitable collection drives, and similar roadside solicitation regardless of location along the road. Second, the section separately bars soliciting or advertising for alms, funds, or contributions to be collected from any person in an automobile while that automobile is being operated on a public roadway, which targets intersection and stoplight solicitation directed at drivers.

The ordinance traces to Ord. No. O-91-9-101, § 1, adopted November 25, 1991, and was amended by Ord. No. O-92-7-101 on September 28, 1992. 00 civil penalty in Sec. 1-4: anyone found in violation of Sec. 00. Because the rule is framed as a location-based restriction on where solicitation happens, rather than a targeted statute defining following, touching, or blocking pedestrians, it reaches any person, charity, or panhandler soliciting funds from the traveled roadway or from occupied vehicles on it, without requiring proof of aggressive conduct.

Enforcement falls to the Knox County Sheriff's Office, which handles general county ordinance violations outside city limits, and cases are heard in general sessions court alongside other county code citations.