Richardson, TX Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Section 15-61(a) lists acts unlawful in any city park, and item (15) bars possessing or consuming an alcoholic beverage anywhere in a park. The rule carries a narrow affirmative defense: it does not apply if the person was attending an event for which the city issued a permit or written consent to sell or serve alcohol, and the drink came from the vendor the city authorized for that event. Outside a permitted event, park patrons cannot bring or drink alcohol anywhere on park property, including parking areas, trails and picnic pavilions.

The rule gets stricter at the Bush Central Barkway dog park, where subsection (b)(1)(h) bans possessing or consuming alcoholic beverages inside the fenced barkway with no permitted-event carve-out at all, alongside a separate ban on glass containers and tobacco use there. Enforcement runs through the parks and recreation director, designated park attendants, and the police department, who under Sec. 15-58 may eject any violator from the park and seize or confiscate alcohol found in violation. Where the parks and recreation commission has adopted and posted rules for a specific park area, Sec. 15-59 makes violating those posted rules a misdemeanor in its own right, separate from the general prohibition in Sec. 15-61.