Monterey Park, CA Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Chapter 9.98, titled DRINKING ON STREETS, SIDEWALKS, PARKWAYS OR PUBLIC PARKING LOTS, was adopted by Ordinance 1785, Section 1, in 1989 and consists of a single operative section. Section 9.98.010 prohibits drinking any malt, spirituous or vinous liquor containing more than one-half of one percent alcohol by volume in four specific public location types: streets, sidewalks, parkways and public parking lots. The prohibition is citywide and unconditional within those locations, with no permit exception written into the section. Because Chapter 9.98 does not set its own fine, Section 4.10.010 of the GENERAL PENALTIES chapter makes the violation a misdemeanor by default, since Chapter 9.98 does not appear among the infraction-designated chapters listed in Section 4.10.030.

A conviction is therefore punishable under Section 4.10.020 by a fine of up to $1,000, imprisonment of up to six months, or both, and Section 4.10.010(b) treats each day a violation continues as a separate offense. The Monterey Park Police Department enforces the chapter, and officers hold citation and arrest authority for code violations under Section 4.10.050 and Penal Code Section 836.5. Because the ordinance is written narrowly to the four named location types, drinking on private property, in a city park, or inside a vehicle is not reached by this specific section, though other chapters of the code or the Vehicle Code may separately apply to those situations.