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Public Conduct in Louisiana (2026)

82 rules on the books across Louisiana, 18 cities and counties. Select a rule to read the full details.

Severity: Few Restrictions · Light Restrictions · Some Restrictions · Significant Restrictions · Heavy Restrictions

Aggressive Panhandling

LAMC §41.59 prohibits panhandling that involves intimidation, blocking, or following a person, including penalties and how it differs from passive solicitation.

Rapides Parish

Heavy Restrictions

Unincorporated Rapides Parish outlaws vagrancy as a misdemeanor under Sec. 19-11, and its definition sweeps in anyone…

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Terrebonne Parish

Heavy Restrictions

Terrebonne Parish has no ordinance singling out 'aggressive' panhandling, but its vagrancy law at § 19-238 makes it a…

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Bossier City

Significant Restrictions

Bossier City bans aggressive personal solicitation in any public place, covering unwanted touching, blocking a person's…

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Bossier Parish

Significant Restrictions

Bossier Parish does not single out aggressive conduct by name; instead, Sec. 86-2 requires anyone panhandling in…

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Lake Charles

Significant Restrictions

Lake Charles bans aggressive panhandling outright: touching, blocking, following, or repeating a request within ten…

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New Orleans

Significant Restrictions

Within the Downtown Development District, New Orleans bans panhandling after 7:00 p.m. or before 6:00 a.m., within 30…

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Ouachita Parish

Significant Restrictions

Ouachita Parish makes it unlawful to stand or stay on the road surface of any public road in the unincorporated parish…

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Shreveport

Significant Restrictions

Shreveport doesn't ban panhandling outright, but Code of Ordinances Sec. 50-166 bars soliciting within 15 feet of ATMs…

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Caddo Parish

Some Restrictions

Caddo Parish bans solicitation that accosts a person or forces company on them, plus begging from drivers in traffic…

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Public Urination

LAMC §41.47.2 prohibits urinating or defecating in public, including the citation amount, exemptions for medical conditions, and where to find restroom alternatives.

Bossier City

Heavy Restrictions

Bossier City makes it unlawful to urinate or defecate on any street, gutter, sidewalk, alley, driveway, or other place…

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Jefferson Parish

Heavy Restrictions

Jefferson Parish's lewd conduct ordinance makes it a crime to urinate or defecate in a public place or anywhere open to…

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Lafayette

Heavy Restrictions

Lafayette makes it a criminal misdemeanor to willfully and intentionally urinate or defecate in a public place, in a…

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Lafayette Parish

Heavy Restrictions

Willful public urination or defecation in Lafayette is a misdemeanor under City Code § 62-90, covering any public…

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Bossier Parish

Some Restrictions

The Police Jury bans urinating or defecating on the Bossier Parish courthouse grounds in Benton, and the same ban…

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Gretna

Some Restrictions

Urinating in a public place or place open to public view is charged as disturbing the peace under Gretna Code §…

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Kenner

Some Restrictions

In the City of Kenner it is a criminal offense to urinate in or upon any public building, private building, conveyance…

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Lake Charles

Some Restrictions

Section 13-27.1 makes it unlawful to urinate on the streets, in gutters, on sidewalks, or in alleys, driveways or other…

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Shreveport

Some Restrictions

Shreveport makes it a criminal offense to urinate or defecate on any street, sidewalk, gutter, alley or driveway within…

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St Tammany Parish

Some Restrictions

St. Tammany Parish makes it a misdemeanor to willfully urinate or defecate in a public place, in a spot not meant for…

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Terrebonne Parish

Some Restrictions

Terrebonne Parish Code § 19-223 makes it a misdemeanor to urinate on public property, in a public road or right-of-way…

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Skateboarding Rules

LAMC §56.15 and §63.44 limits on skateboarding on sidewalks, in parks, and in commercial corridors, including helmet requirements and skate-park designations.

Jefferson Parish

Heavy Restrictions

Jefferson Parish bans skateboarding entirely in Veterans Memorial Square, the neutral ground at the Causeway Boulevard…

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Bossier City

Significant Restrictions

Bossier City bans skateboards, scooters, roller blades and roller skates on the sidewalks of any shopping center under…

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East Baton Rouge Parish

Significant Restrictions

Sec. 11:233 bans skateboarding, bicycling, and roller skating on the structures and site furnishings of nine named…

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Gretna

Significant Restrictions

Gretna's Code of Ordinances bans skateboards, bicycles, scooters and similar wheeled conveyances from every city…

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Shreveport

Significant Restrictions

Roller skates, roller blades and skateboards are banned outright on any public street, sidewalk, park or other public…

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Lake Charles

Some Restrictions

Lake Charles bans skateboarding outright at the Civic Center grounds, the Ryan Street Mall sidewalks between Kirby and…

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St Tammany Parish

Some Restrictions

St. Tammany Parish bans skateboards, bicycles and other wheeled conveyances on the parish fishing pier, the converted…

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Terrebonne Parish

Some Restrictions

Terrebonne Parish Code Sec. 19-10 bans skateboarding and roller blading inside or right around public buildings, on the…

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Vermilion Parish

Light Restrictions

In unincorporated Vermilion Parish, Sec. 40-3 bars riding bicycles, wearing roller skates or rollerblades, or using a…

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Loitering Rules

Constitutional limits on loitering ordinances post-Papachristou and Morales, and what conduct LA can still penalize (e.g., loitering with intent to commit specific crimes).

Kenner

Significant Restrictions

The City of Kenner criminalizes two specific forms of loitering: drug-traffic loitering under Sec. 7-131, which targets…

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Lafayette

Significant Restrictions

Lafayette has no blanket loitering ban -- only loitering for a specific illicit purpose is a crime. Sec. 62-49 makes it…

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Shreveport

Significant Restrictions

Willfully blocking a sidewalk, street, alley, or the entrance to a public building in Shreveport is a crime under Code…

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St Tammany Parish

Significant Restrictions

St. Tammany Parish's loitering ordinance is narrow: it does not criminalize loitering in general but specifically bars…

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Bossier City

Some Restrictions

Bossier City bars loitering and boisterous conduct in every city park under Sec. 70-66(9): sleeping or protractedly…

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East Baton Rouge Parish

Some Restrictions

Baton Rouge City-Parish law bars anyone but an adjoining owner or occupant from walking, loitering or driving in an…

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Jefferson Parish

Some Restrictions

Jefferson Parish's loitering law targets standing around in a way that blocks streets, sidewalks, or entrances, or…

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Lafayette Parish

Some Restrictions

Lafayette bans loitering in public to solicit prostitution or promote illegal drug activity, both misdemeanors under…

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New Orleans

Some Restrictions

New Orleans makes it a misdemeanor to willfully obstruct the free, convenient use of any public sidewalk, street…

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Terrebonne Parish

Some Restrictions

Terrebonne Parish Code § 19-251 makes it unlawful to remain or loiter on a public street or sidewalk after a law…

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Gretna

Light Restrictions

In the City of Gretna, operators of coin-operated amusement arcades cannot let people loiter in their parking areas…

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Outdoor Smoking Restrictions

LAMC §41.50 + LA County smoking bans in parks, beaches, restaurants, outdoor dining, and within 25 ft of business entrances; enforcement and signage rules.

Ouachita Parish

Heavy Restrictions

Ouachita Parish bans smoking in the unincorporated parish to the full extent of Louisiana's Smokefree Air Act, but goes…

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East Baton Rouge Parish

Significant Restrictions

Baton Rouge City-Parish's Clean Air Act bans smoking outdoors in three specific public spots even without walls around…

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Gretna

Significant Restrictions

The City of Gretna bans smoking in public buildings, schools, and enclosed places of employment under Sec. 30-26, but…

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Kenner

Significant Restrictions

The City of Kenner outlaws smoking inside any city-owned or city-operated building, within 25 feet of that building's…

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Lafayette

Significant Restrictions

Lafayette bans smoking within 25 feet of any public-place entrance, outdoor playground, bleacher, dugout, ball field…

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Lafayette Parish

Significant Restrictions

Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government bans smoking within 25 feet of building entrances, playgrounds, sports…

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New Orleans

Significant Restrictions

New Orleans bars smoking and vaping in specific unenclosed public areas: within five feet of the Bloch Cancer Survivors…

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Shreveport

Significant Restrictions

Shreveport's Smokefree Air Act reaches outdoors too: Sec. 50-212 bans smoking in any playground or park, within 25 feet…

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Bossier Parish

Some Restrictions

In unincorporated Bossier Parish, the Police Jury's only public-place smoking restriction targets the parish courthouse…

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Lake Charles

Some Restrictions

Lake Charles bars smoking within ten feet of the entrances, windows, and vents of any enclosed area where smoking is…

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St Tammany Parish

Some Restrictions

St. Tammany Parish bans smoking outdoors at North Shore Beach Park on Debbie Drive in Slidell. Section 30-1 lists it…

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Tangipahoa Parish

Some Restrictions

Tangipahoa Parish's Clean Air Law bans smoking on every property the parish government owns, leases or controls, from…

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Terrebonne Parish

Some Restrictions

Terrebonne Parish bans smoking within 10 feet of any public building or public-place entrance, in any service line, and…

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Caddo Parish

Light Restrictions

Caddo Parish bans smoking or possessing a lit tobacco product inside any parish-owned or leased building, and, in the…

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Public Alcohol Use

LAMC §41.27 + CA Bus & Prof §25620 prohibit drinking alcohol on public streets, sidewalks, parks, and beaches; penalties and special-event exemptions.

Bossier City

Significant Restrictions

Bossier City bans drinking alcohol on any public street, sidewalk, park, or building, including school grounds…

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Caddo Parish

Significant Restrictions

It is unlawful in Caddo Parish to drink alcoholic beverages inside any public building controlled by the parish…

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Gretna

Significant Restrictions

Gretna Code § 16-124 bans drinking any alcoholic beverage on the city's streets, sidewalks, or neutral grounds, except…

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Lafayette

Significant Restrictions

Carrying an open glass container of beer, wine, liquor, or soda on any Lafayette street, sidewalk, park, or parking lot…

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Lafayette Parish

Significant Restrictions

City of Lafayette bans carrying an open glass alcoholic beverage container on public streets, sidewalks, parks and lots…

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Shreveport

Significant Restrictions

Shreveport Code § 10-190 bans drinking or carrying an open alcoholic beverage on any public street or sidewalk, in a…

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Tangipahoa Parish

Significant Restrictions

It is unlawful to carry an open alcoholic beverage container on any public street, roadway, sidewalk, park, school…

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Bossier Parish

Some Restrictions

Bossier Parish's Police Jury bans drinking, consuming, or possessing an open container of alcohol inside any private…

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Jefferson Parish

Some Restrictions

Jefferson Parish bans open alcoholic beverage containers and drinking inside any retail store that lacks a license…

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Kenner

Some Restrictions

In the City of Kenner, carrying any alcoholic beverage onto a city recreational facility is prohibited outright, and…

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Lake Charles

Some Restrictions

Lake Charles bans open alcohol containers on public streets, sidewalks, parks and playgrounds citywide. City Code Sec…

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New Orleans

Some Restrictions

New Orleans bans carrying or drinking from an open glass container on public streets, sidewalks and parks within the…

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Ouachita Parish

Some Restrictions

In unincorporated Ouachita Parish, licensed alcohol dealers may not sell alcoholic beverages for consumption, or allow…

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St Tammany Parish

Some Restrictions

St. Tammany Parish makes it a crime to carry an open, unsealed alcoholic drink off the premises of any parish-licensed…

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Terrebonne Parish

Some Restrictions

Terrebonne Parish Code § 19-244 bars carrying or using open glass or glass-like containers to drink alcoholic or…

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