Kershaw County, SC Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Sec. 24-3 makes it unlawful for anyone to sell, distribute, possess or consume any beverage containing alcohol on property owned or leased by Kershaw County, a blanket rule that reaches county parks, government buildings, grounds and vehicles alike, with violators facing a fine of up to $500.00 or up to 30 days in jail. The county layered a site-specific version of that ban at its most-used recreation access point: Sec. 24-1 separately prohibits consuming alcoholic beverages at the public boat landing on the Wateree River at the U.S.

Highway 1 bridge, or within its public access or parking area, alongside bans on swimming within 200 yards of the landing and on camping there. Both ordinances trace to older enactments, an ordinance of July 13, 1999 for the general county-property ban and an ordinance of August 18, 1981 for the boat-landing rules, and both are enforced through the magistrate's court system that handles misdemeanor code violations countywide. Because the boat landing sits on the Wateree River near a state-regulated hydroelectric facility, state law also governs swimming there, but the alcohol prohibition itself is purely a county rule tied to county-controlled land, not a state statute.

Together the two sections mean a boater, angler or park visitor cannot legally bring a cooler of beer onto any county-owned parcel, whether that is the courthouse lawn, a county park, or the Wateree River landing itself.