Boulder, CO Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Section 5-7-2 defines "opened container" broadly, any container other than one still sealed as the manufacturer or bottler closed it for retail sale, so resealing a bottle with a cap does not exempt it. "In public" under Subsection (c) covers three settings: any public highway, street, alley, walk, parking lot, building, city park, parkway, recreation area, open space, or other public property, whether the person is in a vehicle or not; any private property where the public has an express or implied license to enter or remain; and any other private property entered without the owner's permission.

Subsection (d) exempts specific city-owned recreation facilities, Boulder Reservoir, Flatirons Golf Course, East Mapleton Ball Fields, Pleasant View Fields Sports Complex, and Stazio Recreation Complex, during their hours of operation, unless a posted special-event liquor permit restricts the area. Consumption under a city manager permit issued through Section 5-7-5 is also excluded. The section offers real defenses: Subsection (f) lets a judge take judicial notice of a valid license and dismiss the charge outright, and Subsection (g) protects a person who had the property owner's express permission or who was transporting a capped, corked, or otherwise resealed container in a car trunk or otherwise inaccessible to the driver and passengers.

Subsection (h) reaches the driver directly: sitting in the driver's seat of a private vehicle while a Subsection (a) violation is occurring is itself a separate offense, regardless of who is actually drinking. m. m. November 1 within the area bounded by Spruce, 15th, Walnut, and 10th Streets, a window the city manager can extend to surrounding evenings by published notice if large Halloween crowds are expected. Both offenses carry the Title 5 general penalty in Section 5-2-4: up to $2,650 per violation, up to ninety days in jail, or both.