Waukegan, IL Public Conduct: Aggressive Panhandling (2026)
Key Facts
- Bank/ATM buffer
- 15 feet from entrance or ATM
- Post-ATM buffer
- 15 seconds after leaving bank/ATM
- Group solicitation
- 2+ persons panhandling together is aggressive
- Adopted
- Ordinance No. 12-O-40, June 18, 2012
- Penalty
- Fine, community service, or both
- Governing sections
- City Code §§ 15-129 to 15-131
Summary
Waukegan makes aggressive panhandling a separate offense under City Code Secs. 15-129 and 15-130. The ordinance defines it as an in-person request for immediate money or a gratuity paired with conduct like touching, blocking a path, repeating a request after a refusal, panhandling in a group of two or more, using threatening language, or soliciting within 15 feet of a bank or ATM.
Aggressive panhandling is defined as follows: Any solicitation made in person in the city, in which a person requests immediate donation of money or other gratuity from another person, while also engaging in one or more of the following actions during, immediately before, or immediately after such solicitation:(a)Repeating a panhandling request when the person solicited is stationary and has refused an immediately prior request made at that location. ... (b)Touching the solicited person without that person's consent.(c)Blocking the path of the person solicited or the entrance to any building or vehicle.(d)Directing profane, threatening, or abusive language or gestures at the person solicited.(e)Panhandling in a group of two or more persons.(f)Panhandling a person within 15 feet of a bank entrance or automatic teller machine.(g)Panhandling a person within 15 seconds after the person leaves a bank or automatic teller machine.(h)Panhandling a person who is in an outdoor cafe; or similar business establishment serving food or beverages out of doors. Sec. 15-130. - Aggressive panhandling prohibited. It shall be unlawful to engage in aggressive panhandling.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 113).
Full Breakdown
Section 15-129 lists eight specific triggers that turn an ordinary panhandling request into aggressive panhandling: repeating a request to someone who is stationary, such as a person waiting in line, at a bus stop, for a traffic signal, seated on a public bench, or in a parked car, after that person has already refused; touching the person solicited without consent; blocking that person's path or the entrance to a building or vehicle; directing profane, threatening, or abusive language or gestures at them; panhandling as part of a group of two or more people; soliciting within 15 feet of a bank entrance or ATM, or within 15 seconds after someone leaves one; and panhandling a person seated in an outdoor cafe or similar establishment serving food or drink outdoors.
Section 15-130 then makes engaging in any of that conduct unlawful outright, and Sec. 15-131 declares each act a public nuisance and a separate violation of the Code. Both sections were adopted by Ordinance No. 12-O-40 on June 18, 2012, replacing older loitering and street-obstruction provisions that had occupied the same section numbers since the 1974 Code.
Violations & Fines
Each act of aggressive panhandling is treated as a public nuisance and a separate violation of the Code under Sec. 15-131, punishable by a fine under the Code's general penalty schedule, community service, or both. Ordinary, non-aggressive panhandling, without the touching, blocking, threats, group solicitation, or bank/ATM proximity described in Sec. 15-129, is not reached by this ordinance.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes panhandling 'aggressive' under Waukegan's ordinance?
Is it illegal to ask a stranger for money near an outdoor cafe in Waukegan?
What's the penalty for aggressive panhandling in Waukegan?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Waukegan
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