Aliso Viejo, CA Public Conduct: Public Urination (2026)

Chapter 8.32 of the Aliso Viejo Municipal Code, Urination and Defecation in Public Places, was added by Ord. 2018-205 and has two sections. Section 8.32.010 is the prohibition. It reaches two kinds of locations. The first is private property, but only an area exposed to public view. The second is any public street, sidewalk, alley, park or other public place, which brings the city's parks and rights-of-way squarely under the rule.

The single exception printed in § 8.32.010 is a toilet receptacle within the structure of a restroom facility. The wording ties the exception to the structure of a restroom, so using a toilet inside a restroom building is the lawful alternative. The section covers urination and defecation in one sentence, with no separate standard for either.

Section 8.32.020 sets the penalty: any person violating the chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to fines and penalties as provided in AVMC 1.06.010. That general penalty section makes a code violation a misdemeanor unless otherwise specified, but lets the city attorney or other prosecutor charge it as an infraction where doing so is in the interests of justice, even if a notice to appear was prepared as a misdemeanor under AVMC 1.06.030.

Police services in the city are provided by the Orange County sheriff's department under contract, as the definition of the police department in title 9 of the code states. A misdemeanor conviction under § 1.06.010(B) is punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than six months or both, and the court orders the violation corrected. An infraction conviction carries fines under § 1.06.010(C) and is not punishable by imprisonment.