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

3(a) prohibits drinking alcoholic beverages in three separate circumstances. First, no one may drink on a public street, sidewalk, parkway, alley, City park, City recreation area, City open space, or playground, or in a railroad depot or bus station, or in any public place, unless the City Manager has authorized it. Second, drinking is barred in any place open to the patronage of the public whose premises are not licensed for on-site consumption of liquor or alcohol, closing off unlicensed businesses that let patrons bring or consume their own alcohol.

Third, the ban reaches private property that is open to public view, unless the property owner, the owner's agent, or the person in lawful possession has given express permission; a fenced backyard sits outside the rule, but a front porch or driveway visible from the street is not automatically exempt. Subsection (b) defines "alcoholic beverage" broadly to include alcohol, spirits, liquor, wine, and beer, and any liquid or solid containing 1/2% or more alcohol by volume that is fit for beverage purposes alone or mixed with other substances, so cocktails, hard seltzers, and alcohol-infused foods all count.

Subsection (c) makes any violation of the section a misdemeanor, the most serious classification the Municipal Code uses short of a felony, enforced by the Police Department through direct citation or arrest on the street. The ordinance traces back to Ordinance No. 935 and was amended in 1988, 1990, and 1995 to reach its current scope covering both public rights-of-way and privately owned property visible from public view.