Nassau County, FL Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Section 4-9 of the Nassau County Code covers the unincorporated county only; Fernandina Beach, Callahan and Hilliard enforce their own municipal codes. The section prohibits both consuming an alcoholic beverage in a public place not licensed for on-premises consumption and separately possessing an open or unsealed cup, can or other container of beer, wine or an intoxicating beverage in the same locations. Possession of an open container in a prohibited area is, by the text of subsection (d), prima facie evidence of a violation, meaning the county does not have to prove the person was actively drinking to cite them.

The only carve-out is for a county- or judiciary-approved function, event or celebration, and it lasts only for the duration of that approved event. A related but separate rule, Sec. 4-8, bars an open container inside the passenger compartment of a moving vehicle on any street, road, highway or parking lot in the unincorporated county, while Sec. 4-7 separately bans consuming alcohol while operating a motor vehicle. Sec. 4-10 sets the penalty for violating Sec. 4-9, along with Secs. 00, imprisonment for up to sixty days, or both, and each day the violation continues is charged as a separate offense.

The alcoholic beverage definitions in Sec. 4-6 sweep broadly, covering any beverage containing one-half of one percent alcohol by volume or more. Nassau County Animal Control is not involved here; enforcement runs through the Sheriff's Office and the county court under the general county-ordinance penalty scheme.