Provo, UT Public Conduct: Aggressive Panhandling (2026)

Chapter 9.70 of the Provo City Code, first enacted in 1997 and amended in 2013, defines 'aggressive manner' solicitation broadly in Section 9.70.010. It covers intentionally or recklessly touching the person being solicited without consent, following them in a way likely to cause fear of bodily harm or intended to intimidate them into giving money, continuing to solicit within five feet after the person has already refused, blocking someone's path or forcing them to take evasive action, using obscene or abusive language or gestures meant to intimidate, approaching in a manner likely to cause fear, or soliciting from the roadway in a way that disrupts traffic.

Section 9.70.020 then lists where aggressive solicitation is banned outright: any public area, on a public transit vehicle or terminal, within 30 feet of a bank or check-cashing business entrance or an ATM during that business's operating hours without the owner's consent, on private property after being told not to solicit there or after being trespassed, from an occupant of a vehicle in traffic (including windshield cleaning or directing someone to a parking spot, with an exception for emergency roadside repairs), and from anyone sitting in a parked car, restroom, or other confined space. Subsection (2) adds a catch-all covering aggressive solicitation at any other place or time that would put a reasonable person in fear of injury or property damage.

Section 9.70.030 sets the penalty: any violation of Chapter 9.70 is a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed $750 or imprisonment not to exceed 90 days, or both. Section 9.70.040 builds in severability, so a court striking one part of the chapter as unconstitutional leaves the rest standing, and clarifies the chapter is not meant to be enforced in any way that would be absurd, impossible, or unconstitutional under the Utah or U.S. Constitution.