Montebello, CA Public Conduct: Public Urination (2026)

Municipal Code Section 9.04.050, Depositing Human Waste Prohibited, was added to Chapter 9.04, Offenses Against Public Decency, by Ordinance 2320 in 2008. Subsection A bars urinating, defecating or depositing human waste or excrement in any manner on or at any public place, and lists street, park, restaurant, cafe, theater, store, playground, school ground and recreational area as examples, plus any other place the public is invited to or has access to, or any place open to public view. Subsection B extends the ban onto private property: no person may enter or remain on private property to urinate, defecate or deposit waste, except with the lawful occupant's permission to use a restroom or other enclosed sanitary facility, or as otherwise provided by law.

The section sets no penalty of its own, so enforcement runs through the citywide default in Chapter 1.12, General Penalty. Section 1.12.010(B) makes a misdemeanor conviction punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, imprisonment for not more than six months, or both, unless the city attorney or city prosecutor elects in the interest of justice to charge the conduct as an infraction instead. Montebello police officers enforce the section on public streets, in parks and on private property where a resident or business owner reports an unauthorized entry for that purpose.