Grant County, WA Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

GCC Chapter 8.40 applies only inside two mapped areas: the Moses Lake Sand Dunes Area, defined by section and township descriptions in GCC 8.40.020 as the off-road-vehicle recreation area near Moses Lake, and the Beverly Sand Dunes Area. Section 8.40.030 makes it unlawful for any person to use, possess or consume alcohol, or take part in its use, possession or consumption, at any time in either area; possession is defined broadly in 8.40.020 to include alcohol contained within a vehicle, tent or other structure controlled by the person.

The Board of County Commissioners adopted the ban, Res. and Ord. 05-218-CC and 05-231-CC, to address what its findings describe as the dangerous combination of alcohol, unregulated sand camping and large numbers of people running off-road motorized equipment in the dunes. Violations are handled as civil infractions rather than criminal charges: GCC 8.40.040 routes citation and hearing procedures through Chapter 7.08 RCW, with hearings held in Grant County District Court. Penalties escalate with each offense under 8.40.050. The ordinance took effect May 1, 2005, under GCC 8.40.070.

Outside these two mapped dune areas, unincorporated Grant County has no general open-container or public-consumption ban of its own; alcohol use elsewhere on county land is governed by state law.