Birmingham, AL Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Section 12-10-9 splits the public-drinking ban into two clauses covering the two license types the city recognizes. Subsection (a) makes it unlawful to drink, or hold in open or unconcealed possession for drinking, any liquor or wine in a public place other than a licensed liquor place; subsection (b) applies the identical rule to malt beverages and brewed beverages other than at a licensed beer place or licensed liquor place. Both clauses carve out one specific exception: outdoor cafes the city council has separately authorized by resolution to sell alcoholic beverages.

That means a sidewalk cafe with council authorization can serve drinks to seated patrons, but a person carrying an open beer down the same sidewalk outside the cafe's authorized footprint is still in violation. The ordinance traces back to Code 1964, § 28-9, and was last amended by Ord. No. 91-103 in 1991, so the licensed-place exception predates newer entertainment-district and outdoor-dining permits; those newer permits still have to be council-authorized by resolution to qualify for the § 12-10-9 exception. The section sits in Chapter 10, Article A, alongside § 12-10-10, which separately criminalizes visiting an unlicensed 'illegal drinking place,' and § 12-10-8, which restricts alcohol sales to certain persons; together they form the city's baseline alcohol-control scheme enforced by the Birmingham Police Department.

Because § 12-10-9 sets no penalty of its own, a citation for public drinking is prosecuted under the Code's general penalty provision, unlike the $50 cap the Code sets specifically for visiting an illegal drinking place under § 12-10-10(d).