Caddo Parish, LA Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Section 32-21, carried over from the parish's 1976 and 1985 codes, flatly bars drinking 'any alcoholic beverages in any of the public buildings used by and under the control of the parish government or on any property belonging to or leased by the parish government for recreational purposes.' The parish backs this general rule with two site-specific versions. Section 32-46(c), covering the parish courthouse block downtown (bounded by Texas, Marshall, Milam and McNeil Streets), separately makes it unlawful to 'possess or drink any alcoholic beverage or remain on the courthouse grounds while in an intoxicated condition.' Section 32-46.1(c) applies the identical possession-or-drinking-while-intoxicated prohibition to other named parish buildings and grounds, including the Frances P.

Bickham Building, Government Plaza and the Juvenile Justice Complex. None of these sections list their own fine, so violations fall under the Code's general penalty in § 1-8: a misdemeanor punishable by up to $500.00, up to 30 days in the parish jail, or both, with each day a violation continues counted as a separate offense. Because § 32-21 and its courthouse and building counterparts apply only to property the parish itself owns, leases or controls, they do not reach private property, state property, or property inside Shreveport, Vivian, Oil City, Blanchard, Greenwood or Mooringsport, each of which enforces its own separate open-container rules within municipal limits.