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

Section 16-1.1 of the York County Code bans loitering in, upon or around any public place, expressly reaching locations that are technically on private property but function as public spaces, such as a parking lot or walkway open to the public. Subsection (b) carves out an exception for a property's own owner, co-owner or tenant, or anyone with a lawful private right not shared by the general public, so a homeowner sitting on their own porch is not loitering, unless the conduct at issue would independently violate the section.

A cross-reference in the chapter also flags a related, more specific ban on loitering about a fire house or station under section 11-22. Because the ordinance does not require proof of a specific unlawful purpose beyond the act of loitering itself, enforcement rests on an officer's on-scene assessment of whether someone is lingering in a public place without the private-property exception applying. A violation is charged as a Class 3 misdemeanor, the same low-level classification York County uses for offenses like abusive language under section 16-17, rather than the more serious Class 1 or Class 2 misdemeanor tiers used elsewhere in chapter 16 for offenses like assault or obstructing justice.