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

Section 6-7 of the Shenandoah Code of Ordinances makes it unlawful and prohibited to drink any alcoholic beverage on a public street, sidewalk or alley within city limits, whether the person is walking or is a passenger in or operator of a vehicle. The section adds an evidentiary shortcut for enforcement: tossing an opened alcohol-type container out of a moving vehicle is prima facie evidence the occupant was drinking in the vehicle at the time. Two neighboring sections extend the same prohibition to other public spaces: Section 6-8 bars drinking or possessing alcohol inside any cemetery within city limits, and Section 6-10 bars it on public property within 300 feet of a public swimming pool.

A related provision, former Section 6-9 covering consumption in city parks between certain hours, was repealed in 2015 by Ordinance No. O-15-034, so parks are not currently covered by that specific park-hours rule. Chapter 6 also treats any place where alcohol is unlawfully sold, stored, possessed or consumed as a declared common nuisance, letting the city seek an injunction to abate it in addition to criminal prosecution. Enforcement runs through Shenandoah's police department and its municipal court, with cross reference to the city's general streets, sidewalks and public places chapter (Chapter 62) for the public right-of-way element of the offense.