Lubbock, TX Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Buffer distance
- 250 yards from school property
- Covered schools
- K-12, private, parochial, and universities
- Intent required
- Luring a child to truancy or crime
- Enforced by
- Lubbock Police Department
- Citation basis
- General penalty, section 1.01.004
Summary
Lubbock Code of Ordinances section 14.01.004 bans loafing or loitering within 250 yards of any public, private or parochial school, including universities and colleges such as Texas Tech, during school hours or while students are arriving or leaving. The ban only applies when the loiterer's purpose is attracting, enticing or luring a school child into truancy or into committing, joining or watching an unlawful or immoral act.
It shall be unlawful for any person, during school hours or during the time pupils are gathering at school or leaving school, to loaf or loiter on the streets, alleys, sidewalks or any other public place, or in any building or structure open to the public, within two hundred fifty (250) yards of any public, private or parochial school including but not limited to universities, colleges, high schools, junior high schools or elementary schools, or any combination thereof, or within two hundred fifty (250) yards of any real estate used, occupied or in any manner dedicated to exclusive use or occupancy as a school, or as a part or appurtenance thereof, including but not limited to buildings, dormitories, campuses, athletic fields, tennis courts and playgrounds, for the purpose of attracting, enticing or luring any school child or children to engage in truancy or to commit, participate in or view any immoral or unlawful act.
Full Breakdown
The 250-yard buffer runs from the property line of any school building, campus, dormitory, athletic field, tennis court or playground, so it reaches well beyond a single school building into the surrounding blocks. 004 covers every level from elementary schools through Texas Tech University, and the prohibited conduct is loafing or loitering on streets, alleys, sidewalks, any other public place, or inside any building or structure open to the public within that radius. The ordinance is not a blanket loitering ban: an officer must be able to point to conduct aimed at attracting, enticing or luring a school child or children into truancy, or into committing, participating in or viewing an immoral or unlawful act.
Absent that intent element, standing near a school is not itself a violation. 1 and Ordinance 3341, was carried into the 1983 Code as section 18-2, and was last renumbered by Ordinance 2012-O0084. 005), which cover related but distinct conduct on private premises. 004 as a criminal citation. Because the code sets out no permit or variance process for this section, there is no way to seek advance authorization to loiter near a school for the prohibited purpose; the only defense is that the intent element is not met.
Violations & Fines
A violation is a misdemeanor punished under the general penalty in section 1.01.004: a fine set at the same level state law allows municipal courts to impose for a similar state offense, since Lubbock's code sets no specific dollar amount for section 14.01.004. Each day the loitering continues is a separate offense. A person who ignores a written promise to appear in municipal court on the citation faces an additional fine of up to $200 under section 1.01.004(c).
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Lubbock's school loitering ban apply near Texas Tech?
Can police cite someone just for standing near a Lubbock school?
What happens if someone ignores a citation for loitering near a Lubbock school?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Lubbock
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