Moore County, NC Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Sec. 5-21 provides in full that "it shall be unlawful for any person to possess, consume, display or sell any alcoholic beverage upon the premises of or within a public recreation area," a flat ban covering every county park, recreation center, playground, ball field, tennis court, swimming pool or parking lot meeting the Sec. " That definitions section describes "alcoholic beverage" as "any beer, malt, wine, spirit, liquor or other beverage whose sale is regulated and licensed by the state alcoholic beverage control board," so the prohibition reaches beer and wine as much as liquor.

Unlike the chapter's exhibition-show and solicitation sections, Sec. 5-21 carries no built-in exception for a permitted event, meaning even a county-approved gathering under Sec. 5-17 does not by itself authorize alcohol on site. Violations are folded into the chapter's general enforcement scheme: the director or an authorized department employee can eject a person under Sec. 5-26, and Sec. S. 153A-123 plus a trespass charge for anyone who refuses to leave.