Bartow County, GA Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Section 70-62 bars any person from possessing an open container of an alcoholic beverage while operating a vehicle in Bartow County, or while riding as a passenger in or on a vehicle being operated in the county. Section 70-61 defines an open container as any container immediately capable of being consumed from, or whose seal has been broken, and defines alcoholic beverages broadly to include all alcohol, distilled spirits, beer, malt beverages, wine or fortified wine. The statute presumes an open container belongs to the driver unless it is in the passenger's physical control and not located in a locked glove compartment, locked trunk, or other locked nonpassenger area of the vehicle; an open container in a passenger's physical control is instead treated as that passenger's.

Section 70-63 carves out three narrow exceptions: a passenger riding with a driver operating under a contract to transport passengers who holds a valid state chauffeur's license, a bus passenger where the driver holds a valid chauffeur's license, and a passenger in a self-contained motorhome longer than 21 feet. The division was adopted by ordinance on August 16, 1989 and has not been amended since in this Code.