Fort Myers, FL Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Fine
- $25.00 to $250.00 per citation
- Scope
- All Fort Myers city parks
- Banned act
- Sleeping on park seats or benches
- Banned act
- Boisterous, threatening or indecent language
Summary
Fort Myers prohibits sleeping on park benches, loud or threatening language, and disorderly conduct in every city park, backed by a $25 to $250 fine under the parks chapter's loitering and boisterousness rule.
Loitering and boisterousness. Sleep on the seats, benches, or other areas, or engage in loud, boisterous, threatening, abusive, insulting or indecent language, or engage in any disorderly conduct. (Code 1963, § 24-28(5); Code 1991, § 12-217; Ord. No. 3646, § 1, 11-5-2012)
Editor's note— At the instruction of the city attorney subsection 58-154(6) has been amended to read as shown above per the Honorable Judge John E. Steele, United States District Court, Middle District of Florida, Fort Myers District Case No. 2:11-cv-00608-FtM-29DNF.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 60).
Full Breakdown
Section 58-154(6) of the parks chapter makes it unlawful for any unauthorized person in a Fort Myers park to sleep on the seats or benches, or to engage in loud, boisterous, threatening, abusive, insulting or indecent language, or any disorderly conduct. It sits among the same subsection's bans on drinking, panhandling, unauthorized fires and entering closed areas. Under Sec. 58-157, a violation carries a fine of not less than $25.00 and not more than $250.00, and city police officers may issue citations on the spot. A 2012 federal consent order (Case No. 2:11-cv-00608, M.D. Fla.) required the current wording.
Violations & Fines
A first violation can draw a citation and a fine between $25 and $250 under Sec. 58-157; officers may cite on the spot without a prior-warning requirement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get cited for sleeping on a bench in a Fort Myers park?
Does this loitering rule apply outside city parks?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Fort Myers
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Loitering Rules in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Lee County handle loitering rules.