Boise was sued over its ‘loitering’ rules. Here’s what the city plans to do now
Officers with the Boise Police Department will no longer be able to detain someone for loitering after the city settled a federal lawsuit for $200,000.
The Boise City Council plans to repeal the city ordinance that allows a disorderly conduct misdemeanor charge for loitering on private property, according to a settlement agreement obtained by the Idaho Statesman. The city suspended enforcement of that ordinance since U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill deemed it “unconstitutional” in August, according to a news release from the city.
Luke Schuchardt sued the city, alleging its police officers violated his Fourth and 14th Amendment rights when they detained him for loitering in March 2022. He was parked at a self-service bay of a 24-hour car wash when two officers pulled into the West Boise business, detained him and used a drug dog to search his vehicle after noticing his parked vehicle. The officers suspected a drug deal was going to take place.
Schuchardt wasn’t charged with the loitering misdemeanor when he was arrested at Snake River Car Wash, but he was charged with a felony and two misdemeanor drug crimes after officers searched his vehicle and discovered methamphetamine and marijuana.
Those charges were dismissed after the presiding judge in the criminal case suppressed all evidence that officers collected. Fourth Judicial District Judge Michael Reardon called the officers’ use of force and their lack of facts to suspect criminal activity “flagrant.”
Schuchardt’s attorneys argued that the responding officers used the city’s loitering ordinance to gain access to their client’s vehicle and conduct an “unlawful” search.
“Mr. Schuchardt appreciates the city’s willingness to acknowledge that its loitering ordinance is unconstitutional and further appreciates the city taking steps to ensure the unlawful ordinance is repealed,” Pete Wood, one of his attorneys, told the Statesman.
The ordinance prohibited “loitering, prowling or wandering” on someone’s private property without permission, according to the city code. Anyone who violated the law could have been charged with a misdemeanor for disorderly conduct, which is punishable by up to six months in county jail and a $1,000 fine.
Officers are able to use loitering laws as general warrants to circumvent individuals’ constitutional right to be protected from unreasonable searches and seizures, Wood said. It gives officers unlimited discretion, he added.
“In theory, everyone’s loitering,” he told the Statesman.
Several other allegations against the city and the officers weren’t resolved as a part of Winmill’s August ruling. That includes an allegation that officers more broadly have a “practice or custom” of using the ordinance to conduct drug investigations without reasonable evidence.
As long as the city upholds its part of the agreement, those claims will be dismissed with prejudice, meaning they won’t be able to be refiled.
This story was originally published November 10, 2025 at 2:42 PM.
