Santa Fe, NM Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Unlike many cities, Santa Fe does not have a general loitering or vagrancy ordinance that applies to adults standing around in public. The only 'loitering' offense in the Santa Fe City Code targets minors and saloons specifically. 7 makes it a petty misdemeanor for anyone under 21 years old to attend, frequent, or loiter in or about a saloon unless a parent or guardian accompanies them, and the code cross-references the parallel state offense at Section 30-20-10 NMSA 1978. A minor caught loitering who is under 18 is not simply cited and released: the ordinance requires referral to the juvenile probation office rather than routine municipal-court processing.

8 places the mirror-image duty on the business side of the same transaction: it is unlawful for a saloon's owner or operator to permit anyone under 21 to attend, frequent, or loiter on the premises without a parent or guardian present, and a violation is likewise a petty misdemeanor. Read together, the two sections create matching liability, the underage patron and the saloon operator can each be charged separately for the same episode of loitering, which gives Santa Fe police and the city attorney two independent enforcement paths against underage presence in bars. 1), giving Santa Fe a cluster of public-order offenses rather than one broad loitering statute.