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

020 reaches both possession and consumption: it is unlawful to have on your person an alcoholic beverage container that has been opened, that has a broken seal, or whose contents have been partially removed while on any City street, sidewalk, alley, roadway, parking lot, publicly maintained place or any other place open to the public, and it is separately unlawful to actually consume alcohol in those same locations. 010 is to regulate drinking alcoholic beverages in public places generally. 030, which allows alcohol consumption in public facilities and public places when the City has issued a special event permit or otherwise authorized it elsewhere in the code, such as for a City-permitted festival or similar sanctioned gathering.

Outside of a permit, the ban applies broadly: it covers not just streets and sidewalks but any privately accessible parking lot or publicly maintained space, and it does not require proof of intoxication or disorderly conduct, only that the container is open or the beverage is being consumed in a covered location. The ordinance's amendment history, running from Ord. 45-77 and Ord. 27-79 through Ord. 32-96, Ord. 17-97 and a February 2025 update (Ord. 03-25), shows the City has repeatedly revisited and reaffirmed the prohibition rather than loosening it.