Saint Paul, MN Public Conduct: Public Urination (2026)

10 of the 1956 Code, is a two-part rule: subsection (a) makes it unlawful to urinate in a public place, full stop, with no exception for discretion or intent; subsection (b) then defines "public place" expansively to include "any street or highway, alley, parking lot, driveway, sidewalk, mall, boulevard, park or other place open to the public view," while carving out only "an enclosure designed for use as a toilet or lavatory", meaning a portable toilet or gas-station restroom is fine, but relieving yourself behind a dumpster or in a parking-ramp stairwell is still "open to the public view" and covered.

05, up to $1,000 in fines, 90 days in jail, or both. In practice, Saint Paul police write these as citations tied to specific complaints, a business owner, a park patrol officer, a downtown ambassador, rather than routine patrol sweeps, and the charge is frequently paired with open-container or disorderly-conduct citations during downtown bar-closing hours and around Xcel Energy Center and CHS Field event nights. Because subsection (b) defines "public place" by reference to visibility rather than land ownership, the ban reaches private parking lots and building alcoves visible from the street just as much as it reaches city sidewalks and parks.