St. Joseph County, IN Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

22(A) makes it unlawful, while inside a county park, to consume or possess any alcoholic beverage other than beer or wine, to consume or possess an open container of beer or wine anywhere except a picnic, dining or concession area the county park and recreation board has designated for that purpose, to sell, barter, trade or exchange alcohol, to possess a controlled substance under IC 16-42-21-1, or to be under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance. Subsection (B) extends the same possession and influence ban to anyone operating or riding in a canoe, boat, watercraft, motor vehicle or snowmobile owned and operated by the county park department.

Subsection (C) gives park board employees and agents the power to deny entry to, or physically remove from, any county park anyone the employee believes is under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance. Subsection (D) makes clear these county rules sit alongside, and yield to, state alcohol and drug law if the two ever conflict. 36 deputizes designated county park and recreation department employees to issue violation notices under IC 36-1-6 and IC 9-30-11. 51, bars any organization from selling alcohol at all in a county park except beer and wine sold for on-site consumption at the Fischgrund Amphitheater during performances or at board-approved per-event sales elsewhere in the park system.