Orem, UT Public Conduct: Aggressive Panhandling (2026)

Enacted by Ordinance No. O-2012-0004 on January 10, 2012 and amended in 2017, Orem's aggressive-solicitation ordinance defines aggressive manner to include approaching or following a person in a way likely to cause fear of bodily harm or property loss, intentionally touching someone or their occupied vehicle without consent, blocking or interfering with a pedestrian's or vehicle's safe passage, using violent or threatening gestures, persisting after being told no, or using profane or abusive language likely to provoke a violent reaction. Section 9-2-14 then lists specific prohibited solicitation: soliciting in an aggressive manner in any public area; soliciting on any public transportation vehicle or at a passenger terminal; soliciting within 30 feet of the entrance or exit of any depository institution, check-cashing business, or automated teller machine during that facility's hours of operation, without the owner's consent; and soliciting on private property after the owner, tenant, or occupant has asked the person not to or has posted a no-solicitation sign.

Roadway solicitation is limited too: a solicitor cannot stand in the roadway to solicit or step into the roadway to collect a donation, though passive solicitation from a sidewalk near a roadway remains lawful. The ordinance states its purpose is to protect citizens from fear and intimidation, not to limit constitutionally protected activity, and any violation of the chapter is a class B misdemeanor.