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

Section 8.03.002 in Chapter 8 is the City of Sherman, Texas open container rule. Subsection (a) prohibits the drinking of any alcoholic beverage and the possession of any open container containing an alcoholic beverage in four categories of places. The first is any public park, the sidewalks, streets and alleys, any public parking lot, the Ham Center and the youth center. The second is any public school district campus or facility. The third is any private parking lot of a shopping center or of any retail or commercial business. The fourth is any theater building or drive-in theater within the corporate limits. Subsection (b) defines alcoholic beverage as spirits, wine, beer, ale or other liquid containing more than one-half of one percent alcohol by volume that is capable of use for beverage purposes, alone or diluted.

Subsection (d) changes how the arrest works. A peace officer charging an offense under this section issues a written citation and notice to appear instead of taking the person before a magistrate, and releases the person who signs a promise to appear.

Two defenses appear in subsections (e) and (f). Consumption on a public street, alley or sidewalk closed by motion and order of the city council for a special event is a defense. So is consumption in an outdoor dining area within the downtown district described in § 4.14.036.

Related rules sit in Chapter 4. Section 4.14.061 makes street drinking lawful only for a council-closed special event with signs marking the boundaries, a minimum of two security officers, and an original certificate of insurance naming the city as additional insured with a commercial general liability limit of no less than one million dollars. Section 4.14.064 bars possession or consumption in city parks, recreational areas and other public open space, punishable by a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars and treated as trespassing as defined by state law.