Roanoke, VA Public Conduct: Public Urination (2026)

City Code Sec. 21-30(a) prohibits any person from urinating or defecating in or on any sidewalk, street, or public place, or in any place where other people are present, unless the act occurs in a bathroom, restroom, or other facility specifically designed for that purpose. The provision applies broadly to any public setting in the city rather than being limited to downtown or event zones, and it applies equally where the act happens in front of others even on property that isn't a traditional public right-of-way.

Subsection (b) sets the penalty: any person violating the section is guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor. Under the city's general misdemeanor classification at Sec. 00 with no jail time, making this one of the lighter misdemeanor grades in Chapter 21 alongside offenses like public drunkenness on a first conviction. The section sits in Article II of Chapter 21 (Offenses, Miscellaneous), enacted as part of the December 6, 2021 recodification of the chapter under Ordinance No. 42228, which replaced the prior chapter 21 provisions wholesale.