Beaumont, CA Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

The Beaumont City Council regulates alcohol in public places through Chapter 9.04 of the Municipal Code, titled Alcoholic Beverage Containers in Public. Section 9.04.010 is the stricter of the two core rules: no person can have in his or her possession, while in any public park or playground, any bottle, can, or other container containing any alcoholic beverage. The wording does not use the word open, so it is written to cover a container whether or not it has been opened. Section 9.04.020 reaches more places but only open containers: it applies in or upon any public park, playground, street or in any parking lot, publicly or privately owned.

A privately owned lot at a shopping center or apartment complex therefore counts the same as a City street. Section 9.04.030 supplies the chapter's one exception, which applies when an organization or group has reserved the pavilion for an organized function. The chapter contains no other carve-out. Enforcement is at the discretion of the Enforcement Officer, who chooses between an administrative citation under Chapter 1.17 and an infraction under Chapter 1.16. Section 1.16.030 caps infraction and administrative fines at $100 for a first violation, $200 for a second violation of the same ordinance within one year, and $500 for each additional violation within one year, and the fourth violation within a year can be charged as a misdemeanor.

Under Section 1.16.040 each violation is a separate offense, so a person cited in a park and again in a parking lot on the same day faces two counts.