Bellevue, WA Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

52 RCW, Washington's controlled substances and drug paraphernalia statutes. The section defines “public place” broadly to include streets, sidewalks, bridges, alleys, plazas, parks, driveways, parking lots, transit stations, shelters, tunnels, vehicles visible to public view, and the doorways and entrances of buildings and dwellings. Subsection C lists circumstances that, standing alone, do not prove the crime: being seen with drug paraphernalia, being a previously convicted “known drug trafficker,” repeatedly beckoning to passersby or motorists, circling an area in a vehicle while beckoning to pedestrians, being subject to a stay-away court order tied to drug activity, or having been evicted for drug activity and ordered to stay out of the area.

Those factors can be considered together with other evidence, but none is independently sufficient. Subsection D requires probable cause that the person actually remained and intentionally solicited someone into illegal drug activity before an arrest can be made. 010(M)(1)): up to 364 days in jail, a fine of up to $5,000, or both. The section was most recently amended by Ord. 6854 in 2025, on top of its original 2014 enactment under Ord. 6155.