Somerset County, NJ Public Conduct: Public Urination (2026)

Section 6(c) of the Somerset County Park Commission Regulations, adopted February 20, 2020, places urinating and defecating in the same category as swimming, camping, and changing or disrobing: activities permitted only in Commission-designated, signed locations. The rule names the qualifying facilities specifically, restroom facilities the Park Commission has built and marked with signage, plus portable toilets, described in the text as 'portable johns,' that the Commission, a Commission Agent, or a permit holder supplies for an event. There is no exception in the text for emergencies or remote trail sections without nearby facilities; a permittee organizing a gathering away from fixed restrooms is expected to bring portable units under the Section 7 Permit process, since the same paragraph credits 'a Person doing so in connection with a Permit' as one of the entities that may supply qualifying portable facilities.

Somerset County's park system spans thousands of acres across reservations such as Colonial Park, Lord Stirling Park, and the Sourland Mountain Preserve, many with long, unimproved trail segments between restroom buildings, so the rule effectively requires planning restroom stops around the fixed or portable facilities the Commission has installed and signed rather than any location a visitor finds convenient. A Park Ranger who observes a violation can direct the person to leave the park immediately under Section 5's general order-and-property provisions, and refusing to comply promptly is itself a separate offense under the interference-with-Rangers clause.