Richland, WA Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Chapter 9.24, Alcoholic Beverages, is adopted "in exercise of the police power of the city of Richland as an aid to the enforcement of the liquor control statutes of the state of Washington" under § 9.24.010, and it borrows the state's own definitions, including "public place," from RCW 66.04.010 by reference in § 9.24.020. Section 9.24.120 then makes it unlawful, except as permitted by RCW Title 66 and the chapter itself, to open a package containing liquor, consume liquor, or break the state liquor board's seal on a container while in any public place.

Unlike most of Chapter 9.24, which carries a misdemeanor penalty under the chapter's catch-all § 9.24.170, a public-consumption violation is specifically classed as an infraction under RCW 66.44.100, a lighter penalty than the chapter's default. The public-place drinking ban connects directly to the city's park rules: § 9.22.070(A)(7) separately bars alcohol in city parks "without the appropriate permits," so an event organizer who wants alcohol at a park gathering needs both the park permit from Parks and Public Facilities and compliance with the general public-place restriction in § 9.24.120.

Richland police officers, who hold primary enforcement authority for the liquor chapter, can issue the infraction on the spot when they observe an open container or consumption in a public place such as a street, sidewalk, or park.