Tuscaloosa, AL Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Sec. 3-12 makes it unlawful for any person to drink or to have in open or unconcealed possession or custody for drinking any alcoholic beverage at or in any public place, other than a place licensed to sell alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption. The definition of 'public place' is deliberately broad: it reaches any motor vehicle while on the public streets or other public place, and it incorporates the state definition at Code of Alabama Sec. 13A-11-1(2). That state cross-reference sweeps in sidewalks, parking lots, parks and any other place the public has access to, meaning an open beer in a parked car on a city street counts the same as one carried down the sidewalk.

The only built-in exception covers an area where a city permit and all applicable state and local laws and licenses specifically allow alcoholic beverages to be sold, served, or consumed. In practice that exception is used for the arts and entertainment district created under Sec. 3-51, which lets patrons carry an approved 16-ounce cup of alcohol purchased from a participating licensee anywhere within the district's boundaries during operating hours, but Sec. 3-12 still applies to any vehicle in the district and to any private or posted property inside it.

Outside a permitted district or a licensed on-premises venue, there is no grace for tailgating, festival grounds without a permit, or drinking on a porch that faces a public right-of-way if the container is visible and open. The ordinance was adopted by Ord. No. 3314 in 1991 and traces back to the original 1962 Code section 3-16, and it operates independently of the state public intoxication statute at Sec. 13A-11-10, so a person can be cited under the city ordinance without being visibly drunk.