Stearns County, MN Public Conduct: Public Urination (2026)

Section 5.5 of Stearns County Ordinance No. 696, the Parks Ordinance, sits at the end of the ordinance's 'PUBLIC SAFETY' article alongside the firearms, weapons, and fireworks bans in Sections 5.1 through 5.4. It reads in full: it shall be unlawful for any person to urinate or defecate in any County Park other than in a designated restroom or portable restroom facility. The section draws no distinction between developed parks with permanent restroom buildings and undeveloped preserve land such as Quarry Park & Nature Preserve, where portable restroom facilities are placed to satisfy the same requirement; using either type of facility is compliant, using the woods, a trail shoulder, or a parking area is not.

The provision applies to every visitor on County Park property as defined in Section 2.3, with no exception for emergencies or the absence of a nearby restroom. Like the rest of Ordinance No. 696, it is enforced by the Park Director, county park employees the Board designates, and the Stearns County Sheriff under Section 20.2, and a violation is prosecuted as a misdemeanor under the general penalty clause in Section 20.1(b) rather than the lesser petty-misdemeanor track reserved for tobacco and e-cigarette violations.