Fitchburg, WI Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Fitchburg City Code § 60-4, titled "Sale or consumption of alcohol beverages in public places," governs open-container drinking within the City of Fitchburg, Dane County, Wisconsin. Subsection (c) makes it unlawful to consume any alcohol beverage on a public street right-of-way anywhere in the city, and subsection (b) separately bars selling or serving alcohol on that same right-of-way. Subsection (d) covers city parks: no one may drink or possess an alcohol beverage in any city park between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Parks designated as "neighborhood parks" go further, banning consumption at any hour, and the city posts signs at neighborhood park entrances stating the prohibition.

The common council retains discretion to waive the park prohibition for special events in designated parks, and the rule does not reach city neighborhood-association events that the parks and forestry manager has pre-approved. Section 60-4(e) also carves out an exception for licensed Class "B" malt beverage sales and consumption, so a temporary picnic-beer permit can authorize on-site drinking during the hours the permit allows, such as at a community festival in a city park.

Because § 60-4 does not list its own forfeiture for the right-of-way and park clauses (only its peddling and street-sales clauses at (a) and (b) carry a listed $0.00-$30.00 range), those violations default to the Code's general penalty at § 1-21: a forfeiture of $25.00 to $500.00 for a first offense, $50.00 to $1,000.00 for repeat offenses within a year, plus court costs. This is the City of Fitchburg in Dane County, south of Madison, not Fitchburg, Massachusetts.