Corvallis, OR Public Conduct: Public Urination (2026)

Section 5.03.080.040, titled 'Human waste,' sits inside Article 5.03.080, Prohibited Acts, alongside neighboring offenses like nudity in public (Section 5.03.080.070, a Class C Misdemeanor) and public sexual conduct (Section 5.03.080.060, a Class A Misdemeanor). Unlike those crimes, depositing or discharging human waste is graded as a Class A Infraction, a non-criminal citation rather than a misdemeanor charge, meaning no jail time attaches and the case proceeds under the infraction procedure defined in Section 5.03.160.010. The prohibition itself is short and broad: it bars depositing or discharging human waste on any property open to or visible by the public, language that reaches beyond public streets and rights-of-way to cover private parking lots, storefronts, and riverfront paths that the public can see or access.

The Corvallis Police Department issues citations under this section, and cases are heard in Corvallis Municipal Court. Because infractions carry only a fine rather than the misdemeanor penalties set out in Section 5.03.160.040 (up to $2,500 for a Class A Misdemeanor), officers can cite conduct here without pursuing a criminal charge, which the neighboring nudity and sexual-conduct sections in the same article do carry.