Rock Hill, SC Public Conduct: Aggressive Panhandling (2026)

' The ordinance defines 'aggressive manner' in subsection (b)(1) to cover six specific behaviors: intimidating a person into giving money through conduct likely to cause fear of bodily harm or property damage or loss; intentionally touching another person or an occupied vehicle without consent while soliciting; blocking or interfering with a pedestrian's or vehicle's safe passage, including forcing evasive action; using violent or threatening gestures; persisting in following or approaching someone who has already declined; and using profane, offensive, or abusive language likely to make the person solicited feel threatened.

Beyond the aggressive-manner ban, Section 26-16(d) bars all soliciting, aggressive or not, between sunset and sunrise, timed by the National Weather Service's local sunrise and sunset tables. Subsection (k) adds a 50-foot no-solicitation buffer around 15 specific locations, including ATMs, schools and church grounds while in session, hospitals, banks, hotels, transit stops, and outdoor dining areas, and subsection (e) bars approaching any moving vehicle or stepping into the roadway to reach a stopped car. The city council's stated findings, in subsection (a), tie the ordinance to Rock Hill's downtown revitalization and its narrow, historic streets and sidewalks, which the council found leaves little room to accommodate solicitation without crowding pedestrian and vehicle traffic.