Mesa, AZ Public Conduct: Aggressive Panhandling (2026)

Mesa City Code § 10-3-19(I), part of the Pedestrian's Rights and Duties section of the Traffic Chapter, makes it unlawful for any person to enter upon or remain on any median or traveled portion of a street or highway to solicit an occupant of a vehicle for employment, business, or contributions, or for distribution of advertisements, merchandise, or other property, or to offer any services. This provision, traced to Ordinance No. 3271, targets the specific safety hazard of pedestrians working traffic medians and travel lanes rather than banning solicitation generally: it sits alongside § 10-3-19(G)(3), which separately makes it unlawful to stand in a roadway to solicit a ride from a passing driver.

The same Section otherwise governs how pedestrians must use crosswalks, cross at right angles, yield to vehicles outside crosswalks, and avoid walking along a roadway where a sidewalk is provided, framing the median/roadway solicitation ban as part of Mesa's broader effort to keep pedestrians out of active travel lanes rather than a content-based restriction on begging or leafleting on sidewalks, medians outside the travel way, or private property.