Jackson, TN Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Municipal Code § 8-225 makes it unlawful, between 12:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., for anyone to consume beer or an alcoholic beverage not lawfully sold by the business on whose premises they are drinking while that business is open. The same hours bar possessing an open container of beer or alcohol not lawfully sold by the business on its premises. A business owner who knowingly or intentionally lets a patron possess such a container or drink such a beverage on the premises during those hours violates the section too, and notice to any agent or employee counts as notice to the owner.

Between 1:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., openly displaying a container marked as if for resale that the business did not lawfully sell is treated as evidence of a violation. The section carves out real exceptions: it does not stop a business that holds a valid beer permit or liquor license from selling during hours state and city law otherwise allow, it does not stop an owner who lives on the premises from drinking or holding an open container there at any time, and it does not reach a hotel guest drinking in their own room.

Because § 8-225 sits in Title 8, Chapter 2, violations fall under § 8-224's general chapter penalty: a misdemeanor fine of up to fifty dollars per offense, with each day and each occurrence charged separately.