Columbia County, FL Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Columbia County's Board of County Commissioners enacted the county-property conduct ordinance, Ord. No. 2022-10, now Chapter 74, Article II, Division 2 of the Code of Ordinances, to keep county buildings, parks and other public property safe and orderly. Section 74-43 records the Board's finding that county property should remain conducive to its designated public use and free of conduct that interferes with government business. Section 74-45 enumerates ten types of prohibited conduct, including at subsection (6) loitering or prowling on county property in a manner that creates a justifiable and reasonable alarm or immediate concern for the safety of persons or property nearby.

Section 74-44 lets a county employee overseeing the property, contract security personnel, or, absent either, any law enforcement officer, request that an officer issue a trespass warning. Under Section 74-47, the warning must be written, must state the facts and the specific rule violated, must identify the property by address or parcel number, and must tell the person that any appeal must reach the county attorney's office within ten days. The warning can bar someone from the property for up to one year, and returning during that period exposes the person to arrest for criminal trespass under Chapter 810, Florida Statutes, in addition to a misdemeanor charge under this division.

Appeals are quasi-judicial hearings before the county's hearing officer, generally the special magistrate, who must set a hearing within seven days of filing and decide within seven days of the hearing, with the county carrying the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence under Section 74-48. Any violation of Division 2, including loitering under subsection (6), is punished under Section 74-49.