Minnetonka, MN Public Conduct: Loud Party Ordinance (2026)

Section 1006 of the Minnetonka City Code is the city's social host ordinance, aimed at gatherings where people under 21 drink. In Section 1006.05 the Minnetonka City Council found that underage consumption is harmful, that furnishing alcohol to an underage person is difficult to prove, and that a deterrent effect comes from holding a person criminally responsible for hosting. The stated purpose reaches private residences and applies regardless of whether the host supplied the alcohol or was present. The council also said it does not intend to target parents who have issued a standing order that alcohol is not to be consumed by underage persons on their premises.

Section 1006.010 supplies the definitions. An underage person is an individual under 21 years of age. A gathering is a group of three or more persons assembled for a social occasion or other activity. To host means to aid, conduct, sponsor, organize, supervise, control, or allow a gathering. Premises covers a home, yard, farm, field, apartment, condominium, hotel room, hall, meeting room, or park, whether owned, leased, rented, or used with or without permission. Under Section 1006.015(1) the host must know alcohol will be present, know an underage person will attend or is likely to attend, fail to take reasonable steps, and an underage person must actually drink or possess alcohol with intent to drink.

Section 1006.015(2) lists reasonable steps: a one-time or standing no-alcohol directive, controlling access to alcohol, checking identification to determine age, or supervising underage persons in person or through a responsible adult. Section 1006.020 carves out parent-permitted conduct in the parent's household, legally protected religious observances, and lawful possession during employment, and it exempts the liquor licensee but not a person who hosts a gathering at a licensed establishment.