Casper, WY Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing chapter
- Casper Municipal Code Ch. 9.16
- Loitering alone
- Not an offense without listed harm
- Listed harms
- Breach of peace, obstruction, rude interference, school disruption
- Officer's options
- Arrest or order the person to leave
- Max fine
- $750 plus up to $10 court costs
Summary
Casper bars loitering in a public place when it creates a breach-of-peace risk, blocks pedestrians or vehicles, rudely interferes with someone lawfully present, or disturbs a school session. A police officer can order a violator to leave, and refusing that order is itself a separate offense under Chapter 9.16.
It is unlawful for any person to loiter, either along and/or in consort with others, in a public place in such a manner as to: A.Create or cause to be created a danger of a breach of the peace;B.Obstruct the free passage of pedestrians or vehicles;C.Obstruct, molest or interfere with, in a rude or angry manner, any person lawfully in any public place, as defined in subsection B of Section 9.16.010; this subsection shall include the making of unsolicited remarks of an offensive, disgusting or insulting nature, or which are calculated to annoy or disturb the person to, or in whose hearing, they are made;D.Create or cause to be created any noise or disturbance which disturbs, or tends to disturb, the peace or good order of a school session or class.
Full Breakdown
Chapter 9.16 defines "loitering" broadly in § 9.16.010(A) as "remaining idle in essentially one location," a concept the section says includes spending time idly, lingering, staying, sauntering, delaying, standing around, and the colloquial "hanging around." A "public place" under § 9.16.010(B) reaches beyond government property to include the front or immediate area of any store, shop, restaurant or tavern, plus public grounds, parks and school grounds or their parking lots. Merely loitering is not itself the offense; § 9.16.020 makes it unlawful only when the loitering, alone or with others, occurs "in such a manner as to" cause one of four specific harms: creating a danger of a breach of the peace, obstructing the free passage of pedestrians or vehicles, rudely or angrily obstructing, molesting or interfering with someone lawfully in the public place (including offensive or insulting unsolicited remarks meant to annoy or disturb), or creating a noise or disturbance that disrupts a school session or class.
Section 9.16.030 gives a police officer, exercising reasonable judgment for the preservation of public peace and safety, the choice either to arrest the violator or to order the person to leave the location, and a person who refuses to leave after being so ordered commits a separate offense under that section. Section 9.16.040 makes any Chapter 9.16 violation punishable under Chapter 1.28's general penalty, with each continuing day of violation treated as a separate offense under § 1.28.020.
Violations & Fines
Prohibited loitering under § 9.16.020, and refusing a police order to leave under § 9.16.030, are misdemeanors punishable under the Chapter 1.28 general penalty: a fine of up to $750 plus up to $10 in court costs, since loitering is not among the offenses listed in § 1.28.010(C) that carry jail exposure. Under § 1.28.020, each day the violation continues counts as a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is simply standing around in one spot illegal in Casper?
What counts as a "public place" under Casper's loitering ordinance?
Can a Casper police officer just order someone to leave instead of arresting them?
What happens if someone refuses a police order to leave under the loitering ordinance?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Casper
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