Daytona Beach, FL Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Trigger
- Obstructing traffic + refusing officer's order
- Statute
- City Code § 62-37(a)(6)
- Penalty
- Up to $500 fine or 60 days jail
- Separate group rule
- 3+ persons under § 62-37(a)(5)
- Adopted
- Ord. No. 02-472 (2002)
Summary
City Code § 62-37(a)(6) makes it disorderly conduct to loiter, crowd or congregate on a Daytona Beach street or sidewalk so as to unreasonably obstruct traffic, once a police officer orders the person to disperse and move on and the person refuses.
(6)Loiters, crowds or congregates on the public streets or sidewalks so as to unreasonably obstruct or interfere with pedestrian or vehicular traffic or use thereof, or so as to create an unsafe condition for vehicular or pedestrian traffic or use of such street or sidewalk, and who fails or refuses to disperse and move on when ordered to do so by a police officer... ... (b)Offense. It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in disorderly conduct in the city.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 78 | Land Development Code: Supplement 36).
Full Breakdown
Section 62-37, adopted by Ord. No. 02-472 in 2002, defines disorderly conduct as acting with a purpose (or knowledge that it is likely) to cause a breach of the peace, public danger, disorder or nuisance, through any of seven listed acts. " The obstruction alone is not the offense; a Daytona Beach police officer must first order the person to disperse, and the offense only completes if the person then fails or refuses. Subsection (b) makes it unlawful for any person to engage in disorderly conduct in the city, but sets no penalty of its own, so a violation falls under the Code's general penalty, § 1-14.
The same article also separately criminalizes a related but distinct group scenario in item (5), where three or more people committing disorderly acts in the immediate vicinity ignore a dispersal order.
Violations & Fines
Violating § 62-37(a)(6) is punished under the Code's general penalty, § 1-14: a fine not exceeding $500.00, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 60 days, or both. Each day the violation continues is a separate offense. The nuisance abatement board or municipal court may also pursue other city remedies alongside this penalty.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it illegal to simply stand on a Daytona Beach sidewalk?
What happens if someone refuses a Daytona Beach officer's order to disperse from a sidewalk?
Does the loitering rule require a group of people?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Daytona Beach
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