Hemet, CA Public Conduct: Public Urination (2026)

Section 53-7 is a single, broadly written prohibition: "No person shall urinate or defecate in a public place or in an area on private property exposed to viewing by the public from said public places," with the only carve-out being use of a waste receptacle inside an enclosed and permitted restroom or bathroom. Because it reaches both public property and private property visible from a public vantage point, the section covers conduct in a front yard, an open carport, or a parking lot that can be seen from a sidewalk or street, not just conduct literally on a public sidewalk or in a park.

The section carries no separate penalty clause of its own; it is enforced under Chapter 53's uniform Article IV penalty structure at § 53-18, which applies to every section in the personal conduct chapter, from camping and public intoxication through this section and skateboarding. That structure treats each offense as a separate infraction rather than a felony-level crime, and lets a violator request community service instead of paying a fine.

Section 53-7 was adopted by Ordinance No. 1687 § 2 on July 8, 2003, as part of the same ordinance that recodified the personal conduct chapter and enacted the companion prohibitions on public intoxication (§ 53-5), obstructing entrances (§ 53-6), and camping on private property (§ 53-8) that immediately surround it in the code.