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

05, 'Possession of Alcoholic Beverages on Posted Premises and Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages in Public Places,' most recently amended by Ordinance 6552 in 2000. 010 covers any City park, any municipally owned or operated public property, building, or facility, and any public street, sidewalk, alley, playground, or parkway not licensed for on-site consumption. 020 layers on a narrower open-container rule tied to Penal Code § 647e(a) and Business and Professions Code § 25620: it is unlawful to possess an open, seal-broken, or partially emptied alcoholic beverage container on the 'posted premises' of a retail package off-sale liquor licensee, the store, its adjacent parking lot, and any adjacent public sidewalk, once the licensee has posted the required notice, and separately unlawful to possess an open container in any City park or other City-owned public place regardless of posting.

040 presumes a person is consuming alcohol if they possess an open container and have alcohol on their breath. 050 exempts residential property the public may access, permitted municipal events, and events under an Alcoholic Beverage Control or City Council permit specifying where drinking is allowed. 020, which under state law can only ever be prosecuted as an infraction.