Gwinnett County, GA Public Conduct: Aggressive Panhandling (2026)

Section 66-33 opens with a blanket ban on soliciting 'in an aggressive manner' in any public place, then adds a dozen specific, numeric restrictions. Solicitors may not approach within 20 feet of a bank, check-cashing business, or ATM (measured from the facility entrance if the ATM sits inside one), within ten feet of any building entrance, or in a group of two or more people. They cannot solicit motorists on a public street, solicit money in exchange for holding a parking space, solicit while drunk or on drugs, solicit inside a public transportation vehicle or at a bus stop, or solicit in a public parking lot or structure.

Soliciting on private or residential property requires the owner's permission, and § 66-33(k) bars solicitation altogether inside the Highway 78, Gwinnett Place, and Gwinnett Village Community Improvement Districts. Section 66-37 defines 'aggressive manner' to include following a person after they decline, blocking their path, touching them without consent, using threatening gestures, or continuing to ask after a negative response. Two companion sections round out the article: § 66-34 bans all solicitation after sunset and before sunrise, countywide, with no aggressive-conduct requirement, and § 66-35 bars knowingly false claims made while soliciting, such as falsely claiming to be homeless, stranded, disabled, or a veteran.

The board of commissioners amended § 66-33 as recently as March 18, 2025 (Ord. No. SO2025-001), which is the CID exclusion-zone language now in force.