Effingham County, GA Public Conduct: Public Urination (2026)

Subsection (13) of Sec. 42-6 is one of thirteen acts the county's disorderly conduct ordinance lists as unlawful, and it squarely covers public urination and defecation: the code makes it an offense to defecate or urinate on streets, lanes, or sidewalks, or in the halls or elevators of public or commercial buildings, or in any park or playground, or on any property open to public view. The provision reaches both outdoor public ways, parks and playgrounds and indoor common areas of buildings open to the public or to commerce, and it turns on the property being open to public view rather than requiring anyone to actually witness the act.

Because Sec. 42-6 carries no fine of its own, a conviction is punished under the county's general penalty, Sec. 1-19, which draws its authority from O.C.G.A. § 36-1-20: a fine not to exceed the state-set maximum of $1,000.00, imprisonment, or both, at the discretion of the magistrate court judge, who can also impose community service in lieu of or with the fine. Sec. 1-19(e) treats each day a violation continues as a separate offense. The Effingham County Sheriff's Office enforces Chapter 42 offenses, and a person cited under subsection (13) is tried before the Magistrate Court of Effingham County.