Henry County, GA Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Section 3-17-2, titled Disorderly conduct, Defined, lists 24 specific acts that constitute disorderly conduct in the unincorporated area of Henry County, and item (22) makes it unlawful for any person to linger or loiter along public sidewalks, streets, or public ways of the county. The loitering clause sits alongside other listed offenses such as fighting, obscene language in public, blocking traffic and refusing to clear a public way when ordered by a peace officer, refusing to leave private property when asked by the owner, and public intoxication, all enacted together under Ordinance No.

91-06 on September 24, 1991. Section 3-17-3 makes continued disorderly conduct a fresh offense each day it persists, letting the magistrate court impose sentencing appropriate to a continuing violation. This general loitering rule applies countywide to any person, unlike the separate juvenile-specific rule in Section 3-4-217, which only bars minors from loitering or playing in county streets, and the curfew provisions in Section 3-4-218, which restrict minors during specific nighttime hours. Because Section 3-17-2 was enacted as a general disorderly conduct standard rather than tied to a curfew or a minor's status, it can be enforced against any person, at any hour, without needing to show accompanying threatening or obstructive conduct beyond the act of loitering itself.