Walton County, FL Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Section 14-21 of Chapter 14, Parks and Recreation, titled "Proper use of facilities," provides that no person shall loiter in or around any park department rest room, dressing room, or bath house nor engage in any lewd and lascivious behavior as defined under Florida law. The section was adopted by Ordinance No. 2023-20 on October 9, 2023, and sits among a cluster of park-conduct rules: Section 14-18 separately bars unauthorized advertising, publicity, signage, printed-material distribution and verbal solicitation anywhere on park property, and Section 14-17 bars unlicensed vending, peddling or offering merchandise for sale within park limits.

Section 14-5(c) requires that anyone using a designated swimming or wading area wear clothing or a bathing suit sufficient to prevent nudity in violation of County Ordinance 1993-02, and separately bars dressing or undressing anywhere on park property except in the bathhouses, restrooms or other structures the department maintains for that purpose, or in a vehicle. Read together, these sections make the restroom, dressing-room and bath-house loitering ban part of a broader effort to keep park sanitary facilities used only for their intended purpose. Enforcement of Section 14-21 falls to sheriff's deputies, city police officers, special deputies, code enforcement officers and designated park officials under Section 14-22, who may also establish additional park-use rules and who can direct a violator to leave the park; a person who fails to leave after being told to commits a trespass.