Public Conduct in Yakima, WA (2026)
8 verified public conduct rules for Yakima, Washington, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Public Urination
Yakima makes it a misdemeanor to urinate or defecate in any public place, or any place open or available to the public, unless the act happens inside a facility designed or provided for that purpose. The ban sits in Chapter 6.55, Offenses Against Public Decency and Morality, Yakima Municipal Code, Yakima County, Washington.
Yakima Public Urination and Defecation Ban
Heavy RestrictionsYakima Municipal Code § 6.55.040
It is unlawful for any person to urinate or defecate in any public place or place open or available to the public, other than in a facility designed or provided for that purpose. A violation of this section is a misdemeanor.
Skateboarding Rules
Yakima bans roller skating, bicycling and skateboarding on any public or private sidewalk, mall or pedestrian way inside the city's Central Business District, and bans skateboarding on any roadway citywide except to cross a street. Both rules sit in Chapter 6.75 of the Yakima Municipal Code, Yakima County, Washington.
Yakima Skateboard Ban in Central Business District
Significant RestrictionsYakima Municipal Code § 6.75.040
It is unlawful to roller skate, ride a bicycle or ride in or by means of any skateboard, coaster, toy vehicle or similar device on any private or public sidewalk, mall or other public or private way open for pedestrian travel within the central business district as defined by YMC § 9.10.010; provided, that any such prohibition does not apply to a law enforcement officer in the course of his or ...
Loud Party Ordinance
Yakima makes it a misdemeanor to run a party loud enough to be plainly audible 50 feet past your property line, covering music, sound systems and social gatherings under the city's public disturbance noise law.
Yakima's Loud Party & Gathering Noise Ban
Some RestrictionsYakima Municipal Code § 6.04.180(D)(4)
Musical Instruments, Sound Systems, Etc. The creation or allowing of frequent, repetitive or continuous sounds which emanate from any building, structure, residence, apartment or condominium which unreasonably disturbs or interferes with the peace, comfort and repose of others, or which is plainly audible greater than fifty feet from the edge of the source's property line, such as sounds from m...
Loitering Rules
Yakima bars loitering in public with the manifest purpose of soliciting prostitution, but officers must first let the person explain before an arrest can stand.
Yakima's Prostitution-Loitering Ban
Significant RestrictionsYakima Municipal Code § 6.55.110
It is unlawful for anyone to loiter in or near any thoroughfare or place open to the public in a manner and under circumstances manifesting the purpose of inducing, enticing, soliciting or procuring another to commit an act of prostitution. Among the circumstances which may be considered in determining whether such purpose is manifested are: that such person is a known prostitute or panderer, r...
Outdoor Smoking Restrictions
Yakima's Clean Indoor Air Act bans smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces and pushes smokers back 25 feet from entrances, exits and windows: it does not ban smoking in open-air parks generally.
Yakima's 25-Foot Smoking Buffer
Some RestrictionsYakima Municipal Code § 6.80.060
Smoking is prohibited within a presumptively reasonable minimum distance of twenty-five feet from entrances, exits, windows that open, and ventilation intakes that serve an enclosed area where smoking is prohibited so as to ensure that tobacco smoke does not enter the area through entrances, exits, open windows, or other means. Owners, operator, managers, employers, or other persons who own or ...
Jaywalking
Pedestrians in Yakima can't step off the curb into traffic between intersections in the central business district, any business district, on an arterial, or between signal- or stop-sign-protected intersections, unless they're in a marked crosswalk or another specially provided spot, under YMC § 9.50.320.
Yakima's Mid-Block Crossing Rule
Light RestrictionsYakima Municipal Code § 9.50.320
§ 9.50.320. Pedestrians' duties. Pedestrians shall not step into that portion of the street open to moving traffic at any point between intersections in the central business district, in any business district, on any arterial highway, or between adjacent intersections of streets protected by traffic signal devices or stop signs, except as marked crosswalks or other places specially provided.
Public Marijuana Use
Yakima has no standalone public-marijuana ordinance. Instead, YMC § 6.08.015 adopts a list of Revised Code of Washington sections by reference, including RCW 69.50.445, which bars opening a package of, or consuming, marijuana, usable marijuana or a marijuana-infused product in view of the general public. The adopted statute carries the same force as if the city had written it into the municipal code itself.
Yakima Adopts State Public Marijuana Ban
Some RestrictionsYakima Municipal Code § 6.08.015
§ 6.08.015. Statutes adopted. The following Revised Code of Washington (RCW) sections, as currently enacted or as hereafter amended or recodified from time to time, are hereby adopted by reference and shall be given the same force and effect as if set forth herein in full: ... RCW 69.50.4013 Possession of Controlled Substances—Penalty—Possession of Usable Cannabis, Cannabis Concentrate, or Cann...
Public Alcohol Use
Yakima adopts RCW 66.44.100 by reference, making it unlawful to open a container of liquor or drink alcohol in any public place in the city, enforced under Yakima Municipal Code § 6.12.015.
Yakima Public Alcohol Consumption Ban
Some RestrictionsYakima Municipal Code § 6.12.015
§ 6.12.015. Statutes adopted – Alcohol violations. The following Revised Code of Washington (RCW) sections, as currently enacted or as hereafter amended or recodified from time to time, are hereby adopted by reference and shall be given the same force and effect as if set forth herein in full: RCW 9.91.060 Leaving children unattended in parked vehicle. RCW 66.04.010 Definitions. RCW 66.28...
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County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Yakima city rules.
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