Public Conduct in St. Louis County, MO (2026)
7 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in St. Louis County, Missouri.
Verified from official government sources
Public Urination
St. Louis County makes it a crime to urinate or defecate in public view anywhere in the unincorporated county. Section 713.070 of the Vice and Morality Code lists it alongside public sex acts and indecent exposure, all punishable by up to a $1,000 fine or a year in the County Jail. Breastfeeding and licensed dramatic performances are expressly exempt from the ban.
Public Urination Ban in St. Louis County
Heavy RestrictionsSt. Louis County Code §713.070
1. It shall be unlawful for any person, while in public view, to engage in human sexual intercourse; sodomy; bestiality; oral copulation; masturbation; urination or defecation; exhibition of the genitals, pubic areas, or buttocks of the human male or female; or exhibition of the breasts of a female. 2. This section shall not apply to artistic or dramatic performances which are not unlawful unde...
Skateboarding Rules
St. Louis County treats skateboards like foot traffic, not vehicles: Section 1210.107 bars anyone on roller skates, roller blades or a skateboard from going onto any county road except to cross it. Violators face only a $10 fine under Section 1210.110, the flat penalty for the entire bicyclist and skater chapter.
St. Louis County Skateboard Road Ban
Heavy RestrictionsSt. Louis County Code §§ 1210.107, 1210.110
No person upon roller skates, roller blades or a skateboard shall go upon any road except while crossing the road. When so crossing, such person shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to all other pedestrians. Every person convicted of a violation of any provision of this chapter shall be punished by a fine of not more than ten dollars ($10.00).
Loud Party Ordinance
A property owner or resident in unincorporated St. Louis County who lets a loud party get out of hand can be cited personally under §716.070, even if they aren't the one making noise. The section reaches conduct banned by §716.073, which outlaws music, shouting or any noise audible more than 50 feet away that disturbs a reasonable neighbor. Both carry up to a $1,000 fine and a year in jail.
Loud Party Host Liability in St. Louis County
Some RestrictionsSt. Louis County Code §§716.070, 716.073
A person shall not permit any conduct of the kind referred to in Section 716.060 or Section 716.073 in or upon any house or premises owned or possessed by him or under his management or control, so that others in vicinity are likely to be disturbed thereby. ... 716.073 - Public Disturbance of the Peace—Loud Noise.—1. It shall be unlawful to play any radio, music player such as a "boom box," tap...
Loitering Rules
St. Louis County's loitering law, §713.075, applies only once a person refuses a police order to move on from a park, street, sidewalk or business district while intending to breach the peace or commit a vice offense listed in Chapter 713. Simply standing around is legal; the crime is refusing to leave after a lawful order. It carries up to a $1,000 fine or a year in jail.
St. Louis County Loitering Prohibition
Some RestrictionsSt. Louis County Code §713.075
A person shall not loiter in any park, street, alley, highway, thoroughfare, or around or about or at any street corner, or in the vicinity of any other public place or place of public accommodation, including but not limited to hotels, motels, public buildings, restaurants, and other places of business, and refuse to cease and desist such loitering, to move on, or both, when ordered to do so b...
Jaywalking
In unincorporated St. Louis County, pedestrians cannot cross a street anywhere between two intersections that have working traffic signals unless they use a marked crosswalk. County Code Section 1209.060 bans this kind of mid-block jaywalking outright, and a violation is prosecuted as a Traffic Code misdemeanor under Section 1215.010, carrying up to a $1,000 fine or a year in jail.
St. Louis County Mid-Block Crossing Ban
Some RestrictionsSt. Louis County Code § 1209.060
Pedestrians shall not cross at any place between adjacent intersections at which traffic control signals are in operation, except when crossing in a marked crosswalk.
Public Marijuana Use
Smoking marijuana counts as "smoking" under the County's Indoor Clean Air Code, so it's banned everywhere cigarette smoking is banned: enclosed public places, county buildings, and near public entrances.
St. Louis County Public Marijuana Smoking Ban
Significant RestrictionsSt. Louis County Rev. Ordinances §§ 605.030, 605.040
Smoking: Inhaling, exhaling, burning or carrying any lighted, heated, or activated cigar, cigarette, or pipe, or any other lighted, heated, or activated product which is made of or contains tobacco, nicotine, marijuana, or another plant or similar product...intended for inhalation. ... It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in smoking within an enclosed public place... Sidewalks, drivewa...
Public Alcohol Use
St. Louis County Code Section 716.405 makes it unlawful to consume any alcoholic beverage while riding in a moving motor vehicle on a highway, roadway or alleyway in the unincorporated county, or on any road the County Council has designated part of the arterial road system, even inside an incorporated city. The rule targets drinking while underway, not simple possession of a sealed container.
St. Louis County Moving-Vehicle Drinking Ban
Some RestrictionsSt. Louis County Code §716.405
It shall be unlawful for any person to consume any alcoholic beverage while in a moving motor vehicle upon highways, roadways, or alleyways in unincorporated St. Louis County or upon arterial roads, as defined by Chapter 1202 SLCRO.
Public Conduct by City in St. Louis County
1 cities in St. Louis County have their own public conduct rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
All St. Louis County ordinances
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