Columbia, SC Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Section 14-97 defines loitering as remaining idle in essentially one location, spending time idly, loafing, or walking around aimlessly in a public place in a way that creates a disturbance or annoyance to a person of ordinary sensibilities, creates a danger of a breach of the peace, obstructs the free passage of vehicles or pedestrians, obstructs a person lawfully present, or involves begging, gambling, prostitution, unlicensed business solicitation, or unlawful possession of drugs or alcoholic beverages. The ordinance is a conduct-plus-refusal offense: subsection (b) makes clear that a person loitering as defined may be ordered by any police officer to leave, and it is the refusal to leave after that order that constitutes the violation, not the loitering itself.

The section expressly states it shall not be construed or enforced to restrict freedom of speech, religion or association, a built-in safeguard against overbroad enforcement against protesters or panhandlers exercising protected activity. This section traces to Code 1979, § 2-2039, and was last amended by Ord. No. 2004-085 in September 2004. It sits in Chapter 14's public-offenses article alongside related street-conduct provisions such as disturbing schools (§ 14-94) and drunkenness (§ 14-98), showing the city treats loitering as part of a broader public-order framework rather than an isolated status crime.