Royal Oak, MI Public Conduct: Public Urination (2026)

Subsection G of § 278-35, the City of Royal Oak's Disorderly Conduct ordinance, provides simply that a person commits disorderly conduct if he or she 'urinates in a public place, except at public toilets.' The subsection sits among 17 lettered acts (A through Q) that all constitute disorderly conduct in Royal Oak, including fighting, unreasonable noise, obscene language, obstructing traffic, public intoxication and window peeping, so an officer who observes public urination can charge it as part of the same statute used for these other quality-of-life offenses.

The ordinance carves out no exception besides an actual public toilet, so relieving oneself against a building, in an alley, in a parking lot or anywhere else visible to the public falls within the ban. Because Subsection G does not spell out its own fine, it is governed by Article VIII's catch-all, § 278-52, General penalty, which states that unless a section explicitly provides otherwise, a person who commits any of Chapter 278's offenses is subject to a fine of not more than $500, imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or both, in the discretion of the court.

The Royal Oak Police Department enforces the section, most often after a citizen complaint or an officer's direct observation, including during downtown Main Street bar hours or Woodward Dream Cruise crowds. A separate provision, Subsection F, similarly bars possessing or consuming alcoholic liquor in City parks, and the two clauses are frequently cited together where public urination follows public drinking.