Sandy Springs, GA Public Conduct: Public Urination (2026)

Section 38-58 sits within Article III, Division 1 of Chapter 38, the same division that defines disorderly conduct and other offenses against public peace, order, and safety. The section itself is a single, direct prohibition: it is unlawful to defecate or urinate on the streets or sidewalks, in the halls or elevators of public or commercial buildings, or on any property that is open to public view within the city. The rule applies citywide and is not limited to particular hours or zones, and it does not require any additional element such as intent to offend, unlike the disorderly conduct statute in Section 38-54, which separately criminalizes provoking a breach of the peace through violent or tumultuous acts.

The section was adopted by Ordinance No. 2007-02-06 on February 6, 2007, alongside a companion provision at Section 38-59 that separately bans spitting on sidewalks or the floors of places of worship, buses, public halls, and theaters, showing the two offenses were enacted together as a package of public-sanitation and public-conduct rules. Sandy Springs Police Department officers enforce the section through citation in the same manner as other public-order offenses in the chapter, and a citation can be issued without a prior warning, in contrast to the urban camping ordinance in Section 38-60, which requires an oral or written warning before an arrest can be made.