Eagan, MN Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Eagan's open-container ordinance, City Code § 5.16, bars anyone from consuming or possessing alcohol in an unsealed container on four categories of property: any city park, any street, any other public property, and private parking lots to which the public has access. The blanket exception is when the city council has specifically granted or licensed permission for alcohol on the particular premises, such as at a permitted festival or event. Beer and malt liquor are treated somewhat more leniently in parks and recreational areas: those beverages are allowed there as long as they're in nonglass containers, but the ordinance separately makes it unlawful to bring beer or malt liquor into a park or recreation area in keg, barrel, or case-lot quantity, defined as 24 cans or more.

Section 5.16 also carves out vehicle storage: the open-container ban doesn't reach an unsealed container kept in a vehicle's trunk, or, for vehicles without a trunk, kept somewhere other than the area normally occupied by the driver or passengers. The ordinance is explicit that a glove compartment or other utility compartment counts as part of the driver/passenger area, so stashing an open container there does not qualify for the exception. This section sits in Eagan's liquor-licensing chapter and cross-references chapter 7 (streets and sidewalks), reflecting that its main purpose is keeping open alcohol off public streets, parks and rights-of-way.

The Eagan Police Department enforces the ordinance, and a violation, like other chapter 5 offenses, is punishable under the chapter's general misdemeanor penalty in § 5.99.