New Orleans, LA Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- New Orleans Code § 54-401
- Maximum fine
- $500.00
- Maximum jail term
- Six months
- Construction exemption
- Permitted safety barricades excluded
- Enforcing agency
- New Orleans Police Department
Summary
New Orleans makes it a misdemeanor to willfully obstruct the free, convenient use of any public sidewalk, street, alley, bridge or building entrance. City Code § 54-401 targets anyone who impedes, hinders or blocks passage on a public right-of-way, punishable by a fine up to $500.00 or six months in jail. The law exempts posted construction barricades and government safety work.
(a)No person shall wilfully obstruct the free, convenient and normal use of any public sidewalk, street, highway, bridge, alley, road, or other passageway, or the entrance, corridor or passage of any public building, structure, watercraft or ferry, by impeding, hindering, stifling, retarding or restraining traffic or passage thereon or therein.(b)Whoever violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than $500.00 or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both fined and imprisoned.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 116 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
" The provision reaches anyone who blocks pedestrian or vehicle movement on a public way, doorway or dock, and it applies citywide rather than to a single neighborhood. 00 or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both, enforced through New Orleans Municipal Court. The section, carried forward from the 1956 Code § 42-75, exempts barricades or other obstructions erected as a safety measure for construction, excavation, maintenance, repair or replacement work on or near a public way, and it likewise exempts barricades placed by government authorities or their agents performing their duties.
NOPD officers cite the section against sidewalk blockages, vendor tables or parked equipment that stops normal passage, and it works alongside more specific offenses in the same chapter, including aggressive panhandling (§ 54-412) and aggressive solicitation (§ 54-419), which separately criminalize blocking a solicited person's path. Because the statute carries no permit or registration process, obstruction becomes unlawful the moment it willfully impedes passage; there is no minimum duration or distance threshold written into the text.
Violations & Fines
Violating § 54-401 is a misdemeanor: a fine of up to $500.00, up to six months' imprisonment, or both. NOPD officers issue citations or make arrests for willful obstruction of a sidewalk, street, alley, bridge or building entrance. Barricades tied to permitted construction, excavation or repair work, and obstructions placed by government agents performing their duties, are expressly excluded from prosecution under this section.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it illegal to block a sidewalk in New Orleans?
Does the obstruction law apply to construction barricades?
What's the penalty for obstructing a public passage in New Orleans?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in New Orleans
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