Novi, MI Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Section 22-92, part of Article V's public-peace offenses and traced to the original 1978 Ordinance No. 78-23.02, prohibits loitering on any street, sidewalk, overpass or public place. The section defines loitering narrowly: standing or idling in or about a public way so as to hinder or impede, or tend to hinder or impede, the passage of pedestrians or vehicles, and only after a police officer has told the person to move. A citation therefore requires an officer's prior order to move before the conduct becomes unlawful.

Section 22-93 covers a different setting, loitering inside buildings: it bars willfully entering or remaining in, or using for business or social purposes, any 'public room' of a hotel, motel, office, business establishment, church or public building against the express wishes of the owner, lessee, managing agent or person in control, including obstructing the entrance to such a room. 'Public room' is defined broadly to include basements, attics, entrances, lobbies, hallways, stairways, elevators, foyers, public restrooms and any other area used in common by the public, tenants, occupants, guests or customers.

Neither section designates its own civil-infraction penalty, so Section 1-11(b) presumes each is a misdemeanor, carrying under Section 1-11(c)(1)a up to ninety days in jail and/or a $500 fine, with Section 1-11(c)(1)b treating each day of continued loitering as a separate offense.