Lancaster County, SC Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Section 12-66 sits in Chapter 12, Division 3, the article that sets up the county's unmanned trash container and rubbish dumping sites across unincorporated Lancaster County. " The rule traces to Ordinance No. 47, § 5, adopted September 10, 1979, the same ordinance that created the container-site system itself, and the county code's own cross-reference note preceding Chapter 23 confirms the section covers only loitering or discharging firearms at county trash container sites. There is no separate, general-purpose loitering ordinance elsewhere in the Lancaster County Code covering streets, parking lots, storefronts or public rights-of-way in the unincorporated county; the county's only loitering rule is this site-specific ban tied to its solid-waste drop-off points.

Violation falls under the Division 3 penalty at Section 12-69: a misdemeanor punishable by the fine and/or imprisonment set in Section 1-10 of the county code, plus the cost of any damage caused to a container, with a court option to substitute litter-gathering labor for the fine at a rate of one hour per five dollars. The Sheriff's Office and county staff who oversee the container sites are positioned to enforce the section.