Kirkland, WA Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

050, titled Liquor and Marijuana in Public, makes it unlawful for any person to open a container or possess an opened container of intoxicating liquor in a way open to the public or in a public place. The section carves out a single, narrow exception for liquor: a public place the city has specifically identified and posted as a location where intoxicating liquor may be consumed, such as a designated area during a permitted festival. Outside such a posted area, drinking from or carrying an open beer, wine or liquor container on a Kirkland sidewalk, street, parking lot, or other place open to the public is a violation.

050 applies citywide to any public place. The section classifies a violation as a civil infraction rather than a crime, meaning police issue a notice of infraction rather than making an arrest, and the case proceeds in Kirkland Municipal Court under the city's civil infraction rules rather than as a criminal misdemeanor. 84A Public Disturbance, which the city adopted to consolidate quality-of-life offenses outside the park code. The ordinance traces to Ordinance 4581 in 2017, amending the original 2011 adoption under Ordinance 4334.