Public Conduct in San Bernardino, CA (2026)
8 verified public conduct rules for San Bernardino, California, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Aggressive Panhandling
Chapter 9.60 bars aggressive solicitation anywhere in the city and bans all solicitation outright near banks and ATMs, in parking lots after dark, and on public transit vehicles. The City Attorney charges violations as a misdemeanor or infraction under Ordinance MC-1186.
San Bernardino Aggressive Panhandling Law
Significant RestrictionsSan Bernardino Municipal Code § 9.60.020
(A) No person shall solicit, ask or beg in an aggressive manner in any public place. (B) AGGRESSIVE MANNER shall mean any of the following: (1) Approaching or speaking to a person, or following a person before, during or after soliciting, asking or begging, if that conduct is intended or is likely to cause a reasonable person to: (a) Fear bodily harm to oneself or to another, damage to or loss ...
Public Urination
San Bernardino bans urinating or defecating in any public park, street, alley, highway or other public place, or anywhere in view of one. City Code Chapter 9.28, Offenses Against Public Decency, makes it a misdemeanor or infraction enforced by the Police Department.
San Bernardino Public Urination Rules
Some RestrictionsSan Bernardino Municipal Code § 9.28.010
It is unlawful for any person to urinate or defecate in any public park, street, alley, highway, public meeting, assembly or other public place, or in the immediate neighborhood thereof and in view from the same places; provided that this section shall not be applicable to the act of urinating or defecating in a proper receptacle in a restroom or bathroom in any enclosed structure.
Skateboarding Rules
Riding a skateboard, roller skates or similar coaster device on a business-district sidewalk, or on any public roadway anywhere in the city, is unlawful under SBMC § 10.24.090. A parallel section bans coasters and skates from any roadway citywide, and a third bars them from municipal parking structures.
San Bernardino Skateboard Sidewalk Ban
Significant RestrictionsSan Bernardino Municipal Code § 10.24.090
It is unlawful for any person to ride upon or use in any manner any coaster, toy vehicle, roller skate, skates, skateboard or other kindred contrivance or device upon any sidewalk within a business district of the city or upon any public roadway in the city.
Loud Party Ordinance
San Bernardino Municipal Code Chapter 8.82 lets the Police Department bill the person in charge of an unscheduled gathering, defined to include loud and boisterous conduct and loud music constituting a nuisance, for the full cost of the extraordinary law enforcement response after a written warning.
San Bernardino Loud Party Host Liability
Significant RestrictionsSan Bernardino Municipal Code § 8.82.020, § 8.82.050
UNSCHEDULED EVENT... include, but are not limited to, loud and boisterous conduct, noises and activities; disturbing the peace; a congregation of two or more persons in intoxicated conditions or under the influence of drugs or alcohol; fighting; use of obscene or inflammatory language; loud music constituting a nuisance or disturbing the peace... (A) ...if an unscheduled event occurs and a law ...
Loitering Rules
San Bernardino requires public streets, sidewalks and crosswalks to stay free of obstructions, including people, and bans willfully sitting, standing in or blocking them so as to hinder passage. Municipal Code § 12.44.030 in the Obstructions chapter carries an infraction penalty under § 1.12.010.
San Bernardino Sidewalk Obstruction Law
Some RestrictionsSan Bernardino Municipal Code § 12.44.030
It is unlawful for any person to willfully and maliciously stand or sit in, obstruct or occupy any public street, sidewalk or crosswalk, or sit, stand in, obstruct or occupy any public stairway, escalator, elevator, passageway or sidewalk in or immediately surrounding a public mall or building owned, operated or maintained by the city, or stand, sit in, occupy or obstruct the entrance or exit t...
Outdoor Smoking Restrictions
Smoking anywhere in a San Bernardino public park is against the law under Section 8.73.050, with no carve-out for trails or picnic areas inside park boundaries. Chapter 8.73 also adds a 25-foot no-smoking buffer around every playground and tot lot sandbox area and bars smoking in outdoor sports facilities except in areas an operator designates for it.
San Bernardino Public Park Smoking Ban
Significant RestrictionsSan Bernardino Municipal Code § 8.73.050
(A) It is made a violation of law for any person to smoke or engage in the act of smoking in any public park. (B) It is made a violation of law for any person to dispose of any cigarette, cigar or tobacco, or any part of a cigarette, cigar or tobacco, or a pipe or other device for smoking, in any public park, except in a waste disposal container designated for such purpose.
Public Marijuana Use
Chapter 8.97 bans smoking or vaping cannabis in every public place, dining area, service area, recreational area and place of employment in San Bernardino, indoors or out, plus within 50 feet of the doors and windows of those places. Violators face infraction fines up to $500 or misdemeanor prosecution.
San Bernardino Public Cannabis Smoking Ban
Heavy RestrictionsSan Bernardino Municipal Code § 8.97.050
Smoking and inhaling of cannabis products are prohibited in the unenclosed areas of the following places, as defined in § 8.97.030: (A) Dining areas; (B) Public places; (C) Recreational areas; (D) Service areas; and (E) Places of employment.
Public Alcohol Use
San Bernardino bans drinking or consuming alcoholic beverages in any public park, street, alley, highway or other public place under Municipal Code § 9.32.020. Anyone holding an open container with alcohol on their breath is legally presumed to be drinking it, and furnishing alcohol to someone for public consumption is also unlawful.
San Bernardino Open Container Alcohol Rules
Some RestrictionsSan Bernardino Municipal Code § 9.32.020
It is unlawful for any person or persons to drink or consume, or attempt to drink or consume, any alcoholic beverages while such person or persons are in or upon any public park, street, alley, highway or other public place, except in or upon those public places where the drinking or consuming of alcoholic beverages is expressly permitted by law.
Looking for San Bernardino County county-wide rules?
County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement San Bernardino city rules.
Public Conduct in San Bernardino County →