Rowan County, NC Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Section 15-1 of the Rowan County Code, adopted in 1981 and amended in 2014, bars any person from loitering, sleeping or otherwise impeding the flow of traffic on any steps or in any passageways in any public buildings, or on sidewalks, drives or streets owned by the county. The section sits in Chapter 15, Offenses, which the code cross-references to the mass gathering chapter and to the nuisance and disorderly-conduct rules for county parks in Section 16-43. Because Section 15-1 does not set its own fine, a violation falls under the county's general penalty clause, Section 1-7, which applies wherever the code declares an act unlawful without stating a specific punishment.

S. 153A-121 and 153A-122, the same statutory authority the code cites for other offenses chapters, so deputies responding to a complaint about someone blocking a county sidewalk, building entrance or passageway can act directly under this section rather than relying on a separate trespass or obstruction statute.