Smyrna, GA Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

The core public-drinking rule is in section 6-46 of the Smyrna Code, the carry-in section, most recently amended by Ord. No. 2025-012 on 12-15-25. Subsection (c) says alcoholic beverages sold for consumption on the premises must be consumed only on the licensed premises unless state law or city ordinance allows otherwise. Subsection (d) then creates the one exception: a restaurant district, defined as a specifically authorized and pedestrian oriented area of the city established by resolution of Mayor and Council. Inside it, a licensed pouring establishment can hand out a drink in a paper or plastic cup, one drink per person at a time, with no container larger than 16 fluid ounces.

Under subsection (d)(4) it is unlawful in the district to drink from, or possess an open, can, bottle or glass on the streets, sidewalks, rights-of-way or parking lots, public or private. Drinks must be bought from a licensed premises in the district and cannot be carried outside it or into a different building in it; consuming in a parking lot is unlawful unless the city specifically authorizes it. Subsection (d)(7) confines on-street consumption to the period after 11:00 a.m. and no later than 12:00 a.m., unless the resolution creating the district says otherwise, and subsection (d)(6) states that a restaurant district never permits alcohol in city parks or inside public buildings without specific city authorization.

Parks are covered separately. Section 70-2(a) bars selling, possessing or consuming alcoholic beverages in any city park except at a closed function as defined in section 6-2 or a city sanctioned event at Taylor-Brawner Park or the Smyrna Market Village Green area. Section 6-72(c) makes it unlawful to consume or possess an open or unsealed container while driving or operating a vehicle on a public road, and section 6-72(a) bans alcohol in any school building or on school ground.