Gordon County, GA Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Chapter 3 of the Gordon County Code of Ordinances is short. Article I (Secs. 3-1 through 3-25) is reserved, so the operative alcohol text in that chapter is Article II, the open container article, adopted by the Board of Commissioners in an ordinance dated 11-21-89. Section 3-26 defines an open container as any alcoholic beverage container which is immediately capable of being consumed from, or the seal of which has been broken. Section 3-27(a) makes it unlawful to possess one while operating a motor vehicle on the public roads of the unincorporated county, or while a passenger in or on a vehicle being operated on those roads.

Possession is defined two ways. Under subsection (b), the operator is treated as possessing any open container that is not in a passenger's possession or is not in a locked glove compartment, locked trunk or other locked nonpassenger area of the vehicle. Under subsection (c), a passenger possesses a container that is in the passenger's physical control. The text leaves a locked glove compartment, a locked trunk or another locked nonpassenger area as the only places where an opened container is not counted against the driver.

Section 3-28 lists three exemptions, and all three protect passengers only: a passenger in a vehicle whose driver is operating under a contract to provide transportation for passengers and holds a valid chauffeur's license; a passenger on a bus whose driver holds a valid chauffeur's license; and a passenger in a self-contained motor home in excess of twenty-one (21) feet in length. The article reaches only the public roads of unincorporated Gordon County. Calhoun, Fairmount, Plainville, Ranger and Resaca govern their own limits. The Code's cross references send readers to Chapter 8 for motor vehicles and traffic and to Sec. 7-101 and following for malt beverage and wine licenses.