Lafayette, LA Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Lafayette has no blanket loitering offense -- only loitering tied to a specific illicit purpose is criminalized. Sec. 62-49 bans loitering "in or near any street or public place in a manner and under circumstances manifesting the purpose of inducing, enticing, soliciting or procuring another to commit an act of prostitution," listing behavior officers may weigh as evidence: repeatedly beckoning to passersby, repeatedly stopping or trying to stop passersby or motor vehicles, and repeatedly engaging passersby in conversation. The section defines prostitution as indiscriminate sexual intercourse for compensation, tracking the separate prostitution offense at Sec.

62-60. Because Sec. 62-49 sets no fine of its own, a conviction falls under the Code's general penalty in Sec. 00, imprisonment up to six months, or both, with each continuing day charged as a separate offense. A second, textually distinct loitering offense sits nearby at Sec. 62-81, which bans loitering that manifests intent to promote illegal drug activity in a "public place" defined broadly to include streets, sidewalks, parking lots, vehicles and buildings that serve food or entertainment. That section lists ten circumstantial factors -- acting as a lookout, visible possession of drug paraphernalia, being a known trafficker convicted within the last five years, fleeing an officer, or being subject to a stay-away order -- and, unlike Sec. 00 and/or imprisonment up to six months.