Sarasota County, FL Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Sarasota County adopted the open-container ban under Ordinance No. 2009-062 after finding that drinking from open containers on Public Rights-of-Way near restaurants, convenience stores and retail outlets was generating loud late-night street noise, intoxicated behavior, property damage and complaints from residents and tourists in commercial and residential areas alike (Sec. 6-111). Sec. 6-113 makes it unlawful for any person to possess an Open Container or consume an Alcoholic Beverage on any Public Right-of-Way in the unincorporated county, and possession is established simply by handling the container or having it in clothing or on the body.

Sec. 6-112 defines a Public Right-of-Way broadly to include streets, alleys, sidewalks, parking lots, highways and paved or unpaved road shoulders open to vehicular or pedestrian traffic, but the definition specifically excludes public beaches, parks and recreation areas. Sec. 6-114 carves out four exemptions: county-permitted circuses, carnivals, fairs and special events; lessees, concessionaires or contractors operating under a county lease or agreement that allows alcohol; any Board-authorized activity or event; and people collecting discarded containers for trash or recycling, so long as they do not drink from them.

Sec. 6-115 allows a witness's own sensory testimony (tasting, smelling or past experience) to establish that a beverage was alcoholic without lab analysis. Sec. 6-116 confines the whole prohibition to unincorporated Sarasota County rights-of-way, exempting private property, incorporated municipalities, beaches, parks and recreational areas from this particular ordinance. The Sheriff's Office and other authorized law enforcement officers enforce the division under Sec. 6-117.