Hanover County, VA Public Conduct: Public Urination (2026)

Section 17-10 of the Hanover County Code, part of Chapter 17's general offenses article, makes it unlawful for any person to urinate or defecate on any street, alley, sidewalk, park or public place or area where the public gathers or has access, or within public view, other than in facilities designed for such purposes. The ban is written broadly: it does not turn on intent, intoxication or the presence of a restroom nearby, and it reaches any location where the act would be visible to others, not just county-owned property.

A violation is a class 1 misdemeanor, the county's most serious misdemeanor classification under Section 1-11 of the code, which directs that offenses declared unlawful without a stated penalty default to a class 1 misdemeanor punished as state law prescribes. The section sits alongside neighboring offenses adopted by the same 2005 ordinance, including intoxication in public (Section 17-4), loitering and obstructing public places (Section 17-5), and indecent exposure (Section 17-29), all enforced countywide outside Ashland's town limits by the Hanover County Sheriff's Office. Because Section 17-10 was adopted by Ordinance No.

04-30 on January 26, 2005 and has not been separately amended since, deputies apply the same standard today: a person seen relieving themselves anywhere the public gathers or has access, including parks, parking lots, roadside shoulders and sidewalks in Mechanicsville, the Ashland area, or other unincorporated communities, can be charged even without a complaining witness present. The provision creates no carve-out for portable toilets at events, campgrounds or construction sites; those facilities satisfy the 'designed for such purposes' exception, so using them keeps a person compliant.