Old Bridge, NJ Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Section 30-1 of the Old Bridge Township Code, adopted under Ordinance No. D-109 and amended October 20, 1980 by Ordinance No. D-327, sets the Township's public-drinking rule in a single broad sentence. It bars consuming alcohol on private property without the owner's permission, and separately bars consuming alcohol within or outside any motor vehicle on any public street or public place other than a place licensed to sell alcoholic beverages and dispense them for consumption on the premises. The same sentence bans possessing an open container of alcohol, alone or jointly with others, at, within or outside any motor vehicle or on any public street or public place, again unless that place holds an on-premises consumption license.

Because the ban covers possession as well as consumption, a person does not need to be caught drinking to be cited; carrying an unsealed can or bottle in a car parked on a public street is enough. The rule sits in Chapter 30, Article I, alongside the Township's separate beach and park alcohol ban in Chapter 52 and its underage possession statute in § 30-13, which carries its own $250 first-offense fine under § 30-15. Article I sets no fine of its own for adult open-container violations, so an adult violation of § 30-1 defaults to the Township's general penalty at § 1-3: a fine up to $1,250, up to 90 days in jail, up to 90 days of community service, or a combination, at the municipal judge's discretion under § 1-5.