Lynwood, CA Public Conduct: Public Urination (2026)

Lynwood Municipal Code § 3-7.8, Deposit Of Offensive Matter In Public Places, prohibits depositing human waste material, defined in the section as human urine discharged from the body or human fecal material defecated from the rectum, by means of urination or defecation anywhere other than a proper toilet or portable toilet. The reach is broad: it covers any public place, any place open to the public or exposed to public view, the open ground, and any premises, lot, building or basement, so the ban applies equally on a Lynwood sidewalk, in a parking lot, or on a resident's own unfenced side yard visible from the street.

The section, added by Ordinance No. 1361, sits in Chapter 3's public-safety article alongside the City's indecent-exposure rules at § 3-7.1 through § 3-7.6, and is cross-referenced from the sidewalk-vending chapter at subsection 4-19.2. Because § 3-7.8 sets no penalty of its own, a violation defaults to Lynwood Municipal Code § 1-5: it is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to one thousand dollars, up to six months in the Los Angeles County jail, or both, unless the citing deputy or the city prosecutor charges it instead as an infraction carrying escalating fines of $100, $200, and $500 for repeat violations within a year.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which polices Lynwood from the Century Station under contract, and the city's code enforcement officers can issue a citation or make an on-view arrest for a violation committed in their presence.