Lancaster, CA Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Section 9.20.030 of Chapter 9.20 (Alcoholic Beverages) makes it a misdemeanor for any person to consume beer, wine or other intoxicating beverage on any street, sidewalk, alley, highway or parking lot open to the public. The section includes a savings clause: it is not to be read as proscribing conduct that state law positively permits or prohibits, which keeps the local rule from conflicting with California's own open-container and alcohol statutes.

Section 9.20.010 defines "alcoholic beverage" broadly, covering alcohol, spirits, liquor, wine, beer and any liquid or solid containing them, so long as the product is at least one-half of one percent alcohol by volume and fit for beverage use alone or when diluted or mixed with something else. That definition also governs the chapter's separate prohibition in Section 9.20.020, which makes it a misdemeanor to consume alcohol while on the grounds of any public school, or on a stadium or athletic field a public school is using for an athletic contest.

Section 9.20.040 sets enforcement for the whole chapter: a violation is an infraction under Chapter 1.12, or is separately chargeable under Penal Code Sections 647 or 653 or under Business and Professions Code Section 25620, the state law addressing drinking in public. The city can instead issue an administrative citation priced under the Section 1.12.020 fee schedule, with community service available in place of payment.