Georgetown County, SC Public Conduct: Public Urination (2026)

Georgetown County Code Sec. 13.8-16 folds public urination into the county's disorderly conduct ordinance rather than a standalone statute. The law reaches conduct in a public place, public gathering, or within hearing distance of a school or church, when the person knows or has reasonable grounds to know it will provoke a disturbance, danger, alarm, disorder, fight, brawl, or nuisance. Ten specific acts are listed, from uttering obscene language and fighting words to urinating in a public area or in view of others (item 10), congregating so as to block a public way and refusing to disperse when ordered by the Sheriff's Office, and addressing abusive language to a Sheriff's Department member on duty.

Because the urination clause sits inside this broader disorderly-conduct framework, an officer charging it must also be able to point to conduct occurring in a public place, gathering, or near a school or church. The Georgetown County Sheriff's Office is the enforcing agency for the unincorporated area outside Georgetown, Andrews, and the Town of Pawleys Island, each of which enforces its own municipal code. The ordinance was adopted by Ordinance No. 2004-56 on June 22, 2004, and every violation, regardless of which of the ten listed acts is charged, carries the same penalty: a fine of not more than $500, or up to 30 days in jail, or both.

There is no separate civil citation track and no escalating fine schedule for repeat offenses under this section; each occurrence is charged and penalized individually in magistrate's court.