West Des Moines, IA Public Conduct: Public Urination (2026)

West Des Moines City Code section 5-2-19 makes it unlawful for any person to urinate or defecate in or upon any street, alley, sidewalk, or other place open to the public view or public use. The prohibition carries a built-in exception for private restrooms and public facilities designated for that purpose, so a person using a portable toilet at a permitted event or a public restroom in a park is not in violation. The provision sits within Title 5, Chapter 2 of the code, the general criminal code chapter that adopts many offenses by reference to the Iowa Code, but section 5-2-19 itself is a locally drafted, standalone city ordinance rather than an adoption of a state statute.

A companion provision in the same chapter, section 5-2-22, separately bars spitting, urinating, or defecating on any part of a common carrier vehicle such as a city bus. Under the chapter's general penalty clause, section 5-2-1, a violation of any provision of Chapter 2, including section 5-2-19, is a simple misdemeanor punished under Iowa Code section 903.1, the state's maximum sentence provision for misdemeanants, which the city adopts by reference rather than setting its own fine schedule. Enforcement falls to West Des Moines police officers, who may issue a citation for conduct they witness or that is reported to them in a public place within the city limits.