High Point, NC Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Section 12-1-11(a) defines "public place" broadly for this ordinance: any street, sidewalk, bridge, alley, plaza, park, playground, driveway, parking lot, or transportation facility, plus the doorways, stairways, halls, roofs, elevators, courtyards, or common areas of any building fronting those places, any vehicle parked there, and any property the City of High Point owns. S. Chapter 90, Article 5), and lists seven circumstances an officer can weigh as evidence of that intent: repeatedly beckoning to or stopping passersby or attempting to draw them into conversation; repeatedly trying to stop vehicles; repeatedly interfering with other people's free passage; behaving in a way that raises a reasonable suspicion of drug activity; repeatedly passing money or objects to or from passersby, whether on foot, in a vehicle, or by courier; fleeing when a law enforcement officer approaches; or being at a location known to be frequented by people who unlawfully use, possess, or sell drugs.

Under subsection (c), violating the section is punishable as a misdemeanor, routing it to the state-law penalty for a Class 3 misdemeanor rather than the Code's default civil-penalty schedule. Subsection (d) makes the section severable, so if a court strikes down any part of it, the rest of the ordinance stays in force.