Birmingham, AL Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Birmingham Code of Ordinances Sec. 11-6-14 defines four ways a person commits loitering: wandering about a public place for the purpose of begging; loitering or remaining in a public place for gambling; loitering or remaining in a public place to engage in or solicit prostitution or deviate sexual intercourse; or, unless specifically authorized, loitering in a transportation facility to solicit or engage in sales of merchandise or services. The definitions section for the whole chapter, Sec. 11-6-1, gives 'public place' a broad meaning: 'a place to which the public or a substantial group of persons has access, and includes but is not limited to highways, transportation facilities, schools, places of amusement, parks, playgrounds and hallways, lobbies and other portions of apartment houses not constituting rooms or apartments designed for actual residence,' while excluding private dwellings and gatherings where the person present was specifically invited.

'Transportation facility' in turn covers aircraft, watercraft, railroad cars, buses and their terminals and stations. The chapter sits alongside related offenses such as failure of a disorderly group to disperse (Sec. 11-6-5) and authority to keep people away from jails (Sec. 11-6-7), and Alabama's own loitering statute, Code of Ala. 1975 Sec. 13A-11-9, covers the same ground at the state level, giving Birmingham police the option to charge either.