Memphis, TN Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Memphis Code § 10-8-9 defines "lingering or loitering" as lounging about idly or staying unnecessarily, on foot or in a vehicle, and applies its prohibition narrowly rather than to the public at large. A "known drug dealer" or "known drug purchaser" is someone convicted, within the year before the citation and to the officer's knowledge, of selling illegal drugs or possessing them with intent to sell or of purchasing them. A "known gang associate/member" is someone similarly convicted of a crime committed while associated with a gang or connected to a pattern of criminal gang activity, defined in the section as two or more gang members committing offenses like assault, robbery, homicide, drug trafficking, drive-by shootings, arson, burglary, rape, kidnapping, or unlawful firearm possession.

Subsection C makes it a violation for a known dealer or purchaser to loiter in any public place manifesting intent to sell or buy drugs, or for a known gang member to loiter manifesting engagement in gang activity. Officers may weigh specific circumstances: repeatedly beckoning to or stopping pedestrians to offer, buy, or sell drugs, or repeatedly flagging down vehicles for the same purpose. Under subsection D, a conviction requires the person to be a known dealer, purchaser, or gang member or associate; to be engaged in the described conduct; and to have refused to stop when ordered by a law enforcement officer, or to have resumed after being ordered to stop.

The city is separately authorized under subsection F to post signage at parks, school grounds, and other public property to protect minors, assist police, and promote public safety.