Fairfax County, VA Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Section 5-1-2 defines loitering as standing, remaining, or parking in a public place or a place open to the public, and subsection (a)(2) lists what counts as a public place: streets, sidewalks, parks, playgrounds, public buildings and grounds, school property, and public parking lots. The definition alone breaks no law. Subsection (b) is where the offense lives, and it requires loitering in a specific prohibited manner. The listed conduct includes interfering with, impeding, or hindering the free passage of pedestrian or vehicular traffic; threatening physical harm to people or property; and behaving so that, by words, acts, or other conduct, it is clear there is a present danger of a breach of the peace or disorderly conduct.

That last clause sets a real bar: the ordinance asks whether the danger is clear and present, not whether someone nearby merely feels uneasy. The section also draws an express boundary around protected activity. Orderly picketing and other lawful assembly are not prohibited, so a demonstration on a Fairfax County sidewalk sits outside the ordinance as long as it stays orderly and lawful. A person who does loiter in one of the prohibited manners is guilty of a misdemeanor, punished under Section 1-1-12 of the County Code.