Overland Park, KS Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- OPMC § 11.28.070
- Conduct required
- Obstruction plus refusal to move
- Trigger
- Police order to stop/disperse
- Max fine
- $500 (Class C default)
- Max jail
- 1 month
- Enacted
- Ord. POC-1856, 1994
Summary
Overland Park does not ban loitering outright, but Section 11.28.070 makes it illegal to obstruct or block a public street, sidewalk, or building so it interferes with the free passage of people, vehicles, or business. Police can order anyone blocking access to move on, and refusing that order is its own offense.
It shall be illegal for any person to obstruct any public street, public highway, public sidewalk or public building or any other place of public access by hindering or impeding or tend to hinder or impede the free and uninterrupted passage of vehicles, traffic or pedestrians... all of which prevents the free and uninterrupted ingress, egress, and regress therein, thereon, and thereto. When any person causes or commits any of the conditions enumerated in this section, a law enforcement officer shall order that person to stop causing or committing such conditions and to move on or disperse. Any person who fails or refuses to obey such order is guilty of a violation of this section.
Full Breakdown
28 (Offenses Against the Public Peace), makes it illegal for any person to obstruct any public street, public highway, public sidewalk, or public building, or any other place of public access, by hindering, impeding, or tending to hinder or impede the free and uninterrupted passage of vehicles, traffic, or pedestrians. The section also reaches anyone who commits any act that interferes with the free use of property or with a business lawfully conducted on or facing such a street, sidewalk, or building, preventing free ingress, egress, and regress.
Rather than a standalone loitering crime, the ordinance is built around obstruction and a two-step enforcement process: when a law enforcement officer sees someone causing the obstruction, the officer must first order that person to stop and to move on or disperse. Only a person who fails or refuses to obey that specific order is guilty of violating the section. That structure means a person standing on a sidewalk or in a doorway is not automatically in violation until they are creating an actual obstruction and then ignore a lawful order to clear it.
The provision traces to Ord. POC-1856 (1994), building on earlier language from Ord. POC-625 (1972) and PO-84, and sits in the same chapter as the city's nuisance-party and residential-picketing offenses.
Violations & Fines
Failing to obey a police order to move on after obstructing a public street, sidewalk, or building is an unclassified violation under Section 11.28.070, which defaults to the Class C penalty in Section 11.04.260: up to one month in jail, a fine of up to $500, or both, imposed by the Overland Park Municipal Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is loitering by itself illegal in Overland Park?
What must police do before charging someone under the obstruction ordinance?
What is the penalty for obstructing a sidewalk or street in Overland Park?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Overland Park
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Loitering Rules in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Johnson County handle loitering rules.