Fort Collins, CO Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- City Code Sec. 17-123, Loitering about schools
- Distance covered
- School grounds or within 100 feet
- Required trigger
- Prior request to leave from staff or officer
- Penalty class
- Unclassified misdemeanor, Sec. 1-15(a)
- Maximum penalty
- $2,650 fine and/or 180 days jail
Summary
Fort Collins targets loitering specifically around schools: Sec. 17-123 bars lingering on or within 100 feet of school grounds with intent to disrupt classes or endanger children, but only once a school administrator or officer has ordered the person to leave.
No person shall, with intent to interfere with or disrupt the school program or with intent to interfere with or endanger school children, loiter, idle, wander, stroll or play in a school building or on school grounds or within one hundred (100) feet of school grounds, either on foot or in or on any vehicle, when persons under the age of eighteen (18) years are present in the building or on the grounds, when such person has no reason or relationship involving custody of, or responsibility for a pupil or any other specific, legitimate reason for being there, and has been asked to leave by a school administrator or representative or by a peace officer.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Municipal Code: Supplement 155 | Transitional Land Use Code (for project before May 17, 2024): Supplement 61 | Traffic Code: Supplement 27).
Full Breakdown
Sec. " The offense requires all of these elements together: the disruptive or endangering intent, presence in or near school grounds while minors are present, no legitimate reason to be there, and a prior request to leave that went unheeded. It traces to Code 1972, Sec. 84-1(D), making it one of the older provisions in Chapter 17's public peace article. Fort Collins does not have a general vagrancy-style loitering ban for public spaces generally; the City's separate median-standing ordinance at Sec. 17-122 and its sidewalk-obstruction ordinance at Sec.
17-128 cover other loitering-adjacent conduct but under different elements and different fact patterns, such as standing on a traffic median longer than needed to cross or sitting within 20 feet of a business entrance during business hours.
Violations & Fines
A violation of Sec. 17-123 has no separately designated penalty class in the Code, so it is punished as an unclassified misdemeanor under the general penalty at Sec. 1-15(a): a fine and surcharge up to $2,650, imprisonment up to 180 days, or both, with no jail time for anyone under 18 as of the offense date. Each day a person continues to loiter after being asked to leave can be treated as a separate offense under Sec. 1-15(a).
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Fort Collins have a general loitering ban?
Can I be cited for loitering near a school with no bad intent?
What is the penalty for violating the school loitering ordinance?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Fort Collins
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Loitering Rules in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Larimer County handle loitering rules.