Terrebonne Parish, LA Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Section 19-251, adopted by Ordinance No. 5261 in June 1994, targets sidewalk and street obstruction rather than mere presence in public. Subsection (a) makes it unlawful for a person, after a law enforcement officer has directed them to move away, to remain or loiter on a public sidewalk or street in a manner that obstructs the free flow of traffic or free passage along it. Subsection (b) extends the same rule to groups: after an officer's order to move, it is unlawful to 'congregate with others' on a public street or sidewalk, defined as standing there in a way that blocks traffic or passage.

Both clauses require an officer's order to move first; simply standing or gathering on a Terrebonne sidewalk is not itself a violation until someone refuses to comply with that directive and continues to obstruct passage. The section replaced an earlier 'congregating on sidewalks' ordinance codified at the old § 19-218, which Ordinance No. 5261 repealed the same year it enacted the current language. Because § 19-251 lists no fine of its own, a violation falls under the Code's general penalty at § 1-6: up to 30 days in the parish jail, a fine of up to $500, or both, with up to 100 hours of community service available instead of or alongside those penalties.

Houma Police officers enforce the section within the former city's service district and Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's deputies enforce it everywhere else in the parish, including Bayou Cane, Schriever, and Gray.