Collier County, FL Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Ord. No. 88-46 created Sec. 94-26, the county's Loitering, prowling ordinance for unincorporated Collier County. Subsection (a)(1) makes it unlawful to loiter, prowl or loaf on any school's premises without permission from school authorities. Subsection (a)(2) separately bans loitering or prowling in a public or semipublic area at a time or in a manner not usual for law-abiding people, under circumstances warranting justifiable alarm for the safety of persons or property; the code lists flight from an officer, refusing to identify oneself, or concealing oneself or an object as circumstances that can support that alarm.

Before arresting anyone under subsection (a)(2), a law enforcement officer must, unless flight or other circumstances make it impracticable, give the person a chance to dispel the officer's concern by asking them to identify themselves and explain their presence and conduct. A conviction cannot stand if the officer skipped that step, or if the explanation given, if believed by the officer at the time, would have dispelled the alarm. 'Loiter' is defined in Sec. 94-26(b)(1) as lingering by or moving slowly about a public or semipublic area, and 'prowl' is defined in (b)(2) as roaming such an area with the apparent intent to commit an unlawful act. 091 for school-property trespass.