Santa Fe, NM Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

2 SFCC 1987, "Alcoholic liquors in unlicensed public places," makes it unlawful for any person to drink, consume or possess an open container of alcoholic liquors, and equally unlawful for an owner, proprietor, operator or agent to sell, serve, furnish or permit drinking in any public place or any public or private club, whether operated for profit or not, except in establishments holding a license to dispense alcoholic liquors. #2012-8, and it runs alongside state law: Section 60-10-12 NMSA 1978 imposes a similar statewide prohibition, so a citation can rest on either the city code or the state Liquor Control Act.

The alcohol chapter separately requires anyone selling or dispensing liquor to hold both a state license under the Liquor Control Act and a city liquor license, with dispenser, retailer and canopy licenses taxed at $250 a year, payable by July 1. 2. Because the prohibition is written as a flat citywide ban with only one exception, a person drinking on a street, in a park, on the Plaza, or inside an unlicensed private club is in violation regardless of the amount consumed or their age.