Florissant, MO Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

The ordinance defines 'public place' broadly to include any public street, highway, alley, sidewalk, thoroughfare or other public way of the City, plus any parking lot. 140(G) creates three separate prohibitions: drinking or ingesting intoxicating liquor or non-intoxicating beer in a public place, possessing an unsealed glass, bottle, can or other open container of alcohol while on foot in a public place, and possessing an open container inside a motor vehicle that is being driven, parked or standing on a public place. The vehicle provision goes further than most open-container rules: anyone operating the vehicle is presumed to be in possession of any open container found inside it, whether or not that driver is the one physically holding the container, so a passenger's open beer can expose the driver to the same citation.

The prohibition sits inside Chapter 600, Alcoholic Beverages, alongside the City's minor-in-possession and sales-to-minors rules, rather than in the general offenses chapter, reflecting that Florissant regulates public drinking as part of its liquor licensing scheme. There is no carve-out in the text for special events or private gatherings held on public property; any open container on a City street, sidewalk or parking lot falls under the ban regardless of the occasion. Enforcement runs through the Florissant Police Department, and prosecutions are heard in the Municipal Division of the St. 090.