Kissimmee, FL Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Kissimmee's open-container law, City Code section 4-6, makes it unlawful for any person to drink, consume or possess all or any part of an open container of intoxicating liquor in or upon a public or semi-public place within the city, unless one of the section's own exceptions applies. Section 4-1 defines a public/semi-public place broadly: streets, alleys, sidewalks, parking lots and structures open to the public, school grounds, and the walkways and hallways of apartment buildings, condominiums, hotels and shopping centers, plus parked vehicles in any of those places.

The definition stops at a resident's own front, side or back yard up to the right-of-way line, and it excludes the pool areas of apartment, condo, motel and hotel complexes. A second, separate ban in subsection (b) forbids drinking or carrying an open container within 1,000 feet of any retail package store, or anywhere on that store's own property, whichever distance is greater, regardless of whether the spot otherwise counts as a public place. Three narrow carve-outs exist. The police chief may issue written authorization for a specific picnic, social event or public gathering, stating the date, time and place liquor may be consumed.

A bona fide restaurant with a valid liquor license may serve alcohol in an outdoor dining area operated as a sidewalk cafe, so long as only the restaurant's own working employees carry open containers in or out of that area. And a business's owners, employees and guests may drink within the business's own boundary lines during a private special event. Section 4-8 routes every chapter 4 violation, including section 4-6, to the citywide general penalty in section 1-22.