St. Louis County, MO Public Conduct: Public Urination (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing chapter
- Vice and Morality Code, Ch. 713
- Applies to
- Unincorporated St. Louis County only
- Maximum penalty
- $1,000 fine and/or 1 year jail
- Key exceptions
- Breastfeeding, licensed performances
- Related charge
- Loitering under §713.075
Summary
St. Louis County makes it a crime to urinate or defecate in public view anywhere in the unincorporated county. Section 713.070 of the Vice and Morality Code lists it alongside public sex acts and indecent exposure, all punishable by up to a $1,000 fine or a year in the County Jail. Breastfeeding and licensed dramatic performances are expressly exempt from the ban.
1. It shall be unlawful for any person, while in public view, to engage in human sexual intercourse; sodomy; bestiality; oral copulation; masturbation; urination or defecation; exhibition of the genitals, pubic areas, or buttocks of the human male or female; or exhibition of the breasts of a female. 2. This section shall not apply to artistic or dramatic performances which are not unlawful under Chapter 706 SLCRO, nor to exposure necessarily incident to breast-feeding an infant, nor to exposure of the breasts of a prepubescent female.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 85 | Traffic: Supplement 80).
Full Breakdown
The Vice and Morality Code (Chapter 713) applies only in the part of St. 020); a city with its own police power enforces its own indecency ordinance instead. ' The section carves out three exceptions: artistic or dramatic performances that are otherwise lawful under Chapter 706's obscenity code, exposure incident to breast-feeding an infant, and exposure of a prepubescent female's breasts. Enforcement runs through the St. 075, if they refuse a police order to move on. 080: a fine not exceeding $1,000 or up to a year in the County Jail, or both, with each incident charged as a separate offense.
Because the statute does not require intent to offend, a single instance witnessed by any passerby in a public street, park or parking lot is enough to support a citation; officers do not need a complaining witness who felt targeted, only public visibility of the act itself.
Violations & Fines
A first public-urination or public-defecation citation under §713.070 is punished the same as the chapter's other sex-offense provisions: a fine of up to $1,000, up to one year in the County Jail, or both, under §713.080, with each occurrence treated as a separate offense. Refusing a police order to leave the area while suspected of intending the same conduct adds a separate loitering charge under §713.075.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is public urination illegal in St. Louis County?
Does this law apply inside cities like Florissant or Ballwin?
Are there any exceptions to the public urination ban?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in St. Louis County
Compare St. Louis County to another location·View the Missouri public conduct overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.