Bowie, MD Public Conduct: Public Urination (2026)

Section 17-2H, part of the City's park rules chapter, forbids acting in a disorderly manner to the disturbance of the public in any City park, in a parking lot at a park, or in a vehicle there, and it defines disorderly conduct to specifically include urinating or defecating outside of City-provided restrooms, along with engaging in sexual intercourse, exposing oneself, abusive language, or immoral or indecent acts. The rule sits inside a longer list of park rules in § 17-2 covering everything from fires and alcohol to leashed pets and sound amplification, but the City singled out Subsection H, along with E, G(1) and (2), M, W and CC, for tougher treatment in § 17-5B: rather than the standard municipal infraction citation used for most park-rule violations under § 17-5A, violating Subsection H is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding $500 or imprisonment for 30 days, or both.

Enforcement runs through the City's code enforcement officers and Bowie Police, who can act on their own observation or a citizen's affidavit under the general citation procedures in Chapter 1, § 1-6. Because the conduct is defined by reference to City-provided restrooms specifically, the rule targets Bowie's own park facilities rather than public urination generally across the City; conduct in other public places falls instead under separate disorderly conduct or public offense provisions.