Costa Mesa, CA Public Conduct: Public Urination (2026)

Adopted by Ordinance No. 91-3 in February 1991, section 11-4 pairs with the public-drinking ban in section 11-3 one line above it in Title 11, Chapter I, and the two are enforced together by the Costa Mesa Police Department, particularly downtown and along late-night bar and restaurant corridors where violations concentrate. The prohibition reaches two locations: private property exposed to public view, such as a front yard or a lot visible from the sidewalk, and any public street, sidewalk, alley, park, parkway, parking lot or other public place.

The only lawful place to relieve yourself under the section is inside a toilet receptacle within a restroom, bathroom or other enclosure; a parked car, an alley corner or a barrier does not qualify. Subsection (b) carves out a real medical defense: someone who cannot control excretory functions because of illness, infection, disease or another physical infirmity is exempt from prosecution. The code is explicit, however, that the same loss of control caused by voluntarily drinking alcohol or taking drugs, depressants or hallucinogens does not qualify for that exemption, closing off the most commonly attempted defense.

Because Chapter I sets no chapter-specific penalty, a violation defaults to the citywide scheme in section 1-33: officers can issue an infraction citation, up to $100 for a first offense, $200 for a second within a year, $500 for each additional offense, or file it as a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $1,000 fine, up to six months in jail, or both.