Minnehaha County, SD Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Section 25 of Ordinance MC8-85 sets a two-tier alcohol rule for Minnehaha County parks. In parks generally, only malt beverages, essentially beer-type products, may be consumed; the section does not authorize wine, distilled spirits or other alcoholic beverages anywhere in the county park system. Wall Lake Park carries a stricter carve-out: no alcoholic beverage of any kind, malt or otherwise, may be possessed or consumed there, and the ordinance specifically extends that ban to the beach area at Wall Lake. The provision was amended twice, by MC8-1-89 and MC8-2-96, tightening the original park alcohol rule to the current malt-only/Wall-Lake-dry structure.

The rule sits alongside the ordinance's broader conduct authority: Section 27 lets the Park Board prohibit other conduct it deems dangerous or unduly interfering with another person's use of the park, with notice conspicuously posted describing the restricted activity, and Section 18 separately requires Board authorization before anyone sells anything, including alcohol, in a park. Because Section 25 is a possession-and-consumption rule rather than a permitting scheme, there is no license or application process to drink a malt beverage in a general county park; the restriction is self-executing and enforced on sight by park staff or the sheriff's office, the same as any other park ordinance violation.

Anyone hosting a permitted event under Section 16 or Section 20 that will involve alcohol still has to stay within the malt-beverage-only limit unless the event is outside Wall Lake Park's total ban zone.