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Public Conduct in Massachusetts (2026)

103 rules on the books across Massachusetts, 21 cities and counties. Select a rule to read the full details.

Severity: Few Restrictions · Light Restrictions · Some Restrictions · Significant Restrictions · Heavy Restrictions

Public Urination

LAMC §41.47.2 prohibits urinating or defecating in public, including the citation amount, exemptions for medical conditions, and where to find restroom alternatives.

Skateboarding Rules

LAMC §56.15 and §63.44 limits on skateboarding on sidewalks, in parks, and in commercial corridors, including helmet requirements and skate-park designations.

Revere

Heavy Restrictions

Revere bans motorized scooters and motorized skateboards from every public way, street, sidewalk and any city-owned…

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Cambridge

Significant Restrictions

Cambridge Code Section 9.04.080 prohibits skateboarding anywhere on city property except in city-owned skateboard parks…

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Chelsea

Significant Restrictions

Chelsea bans parking motorized skateboards and scooters on sidewalks, parks or city property, and bars operating any…

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Chicopee

Significant Restrictions

In the City of Chicopee, Massachusetts, Code § 190-3 bars motorized skateboards, scooters and similar personal…

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Somerville

Significant Restrictions

Somerville bans skateboarding, along with baseball and football, on all city-owned property inside a mapped zone…

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Springfield

Significant Restrictions

Springfield, Massachusetts bans skateboarding on municipal building property and inside the City's designated central…

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Boston

Some Restrictions

Boston Code § 16-12.37 bans riding skateboards, roller blades, roller skates or stunt-type bicycles on defined 'public…

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Haverhill

Some Restrictions

In the City of Haverhill, skateboards, roller skates and in-line skates are banned on sidewalks and streets along a…

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Lawrence

Some Restrictions

Lawrence Code Section 9.08.080 bans riding a bicycle, roller skating, or skateboarding on sidewalks within a defined…

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Taunton

Some Restrictions

Taunton bans riding or operating skateboards or scooters of any kind, mechanical or otherwise, inside the Municipal…

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Loitering Rules

Constitutional limits on loitering ordinances post-Papachristou and Morales, and what conduct LA can still penalize (e.g., loitering with intent to commit specific crimes).

Fall River

Heavy Restrictions

Fall River bans loitering, parties, and alcohol on the City-owned watershed land surrounding Copicut Reservoir, with…

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Everett

Significant Restrictions

In the City of Everett, Massachusetts, Section 13-16 bans loitering in a public place in a way that obstructs streets…

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Lawrence

Significant Restrictions

Lawrence Code Section 9.08.050 bars willfully obstructing the free passage of foot travelers on a street, and bars…

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New Bedford

Significant Restrictions

New Bedford bars groups from gathering on streets or sidewalks in a way that blocks passage, and separately bans…

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Springfield

Significant Restrictions

Springfield, MA bars loitering in or around building entrances, parking garages, transit terminals, and near schools…

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Brockton

Some Restrictions

Brockton bars loitering that obstructs streets, sidewalks, building entrances, garages, transit terminals, schools or…

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Cambridge

Some Restrictions

Cambridge Code Section 9.08.060 bars loitering or sauntering in a street in a way that obstructs or endangers travelers…

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Chelsea

Some Restrictions

Chelsea's Licensing Commission requires every alcoholic-beverage licensee to act diligently to disperse loiterers or…

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Chicopee

Some Restrictions

In the City of Chicopee, Massachusetts, § 278-3(B) makes it unlawful to loiter, stand or sit at the entrance of a…

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Haverhill

Some Restrictions

In the City of Haverhill, City Code § 175-1 bars willfully obstructing foot traffic on any street or way the public may…

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Leominster

Some Restrictions

Leominster's Code of Ordinances Sec. 14-5 bars disorderly behavior, profane or indecent language in public, refusing to…

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Newton

Some Restrictions

Newton prohibits lingering on a doorstep, portico or building entrance to the annoyance of others, along with rude or…

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Quincy

Some Restrictions

Quincy, Massachusetts (Norfolk County) fines loitering, accosting others, disturbing the peace, or using profane…

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Somerville

Some Restrictions

Somerville bars sauntering or loitering on a sidewalk for more than five minutes after a police officer directs a…

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Southborough

Some Restrictions

Southborough's loitering bylaw, § 117-1, bars loitering or continuing to stand on any sidewalk or public place so as to…

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Boston

Light Restrictions

Boston Code § 16-12.2 bars sauntering or loitering in a street in a way that obstructs or endangers travelers or risks…

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Revere

Light Restrictions

Revere bars loitering or sauntering on the steps, portico or approach of any public building, school, house of worship…

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Outdoor Smoking Restrictions

LAMC §41.50 + LA County smoking bans in parks, beaches, restaurants, outdoor dining, and within 25 ft of business entrances; enforcement and signage rules.

Boston

Significant Restrictions

Boston bans smoking in every public park and any other public place under Parks and Recreation Commission control…

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Cambridge

Significant Restrictions

Cambridge bans smoking in any 'public park restricted area,' meaning fenced tot lots and public outdoor parks under…

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Chelsea

Significant Restrictions

Chelsea's Board of Health bars smoking and e-cigarette use within 50 feet of any municipal building entrance open to…

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Haverhill

Significant Restrictions

The City of Haverhill bans smoking tobacco products at Tattersall Farm under Chapter 193's Conservation Areas rules and…

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Medford

Significant Restrictions

In the City of Medford, Massachusetts, Section 58-43(a)(3) of the Revised Ordinances bans smoking in all city parks…

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Revere

Significant Restrictions

Revere bans smoking in any public park or other public place under the city's control, defining smoking broadly to…

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Somerville

Significant Restrictions

Somerville bans smoking tobacco products within 50 feet of scheduled events, monuments, and all school grounds…

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Taunton

Significant Restrictions

Taunton bans smoking, including vaping, on every City-owned park, playground, athletic field, pool, splash pad and…

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Everett

Some Restrictions

In the City of Everett, Massachusetts, no one inside a permitted outdoor dining area can smoke, vape, or use any…

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Framingham

Some Restrictions

Framingham bans smoking within 15 feet of any public entranceway and in smoking bars under § 507-4C, and separately…

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Newton

Some Restrictions

Newton bans smoking on named stretches of Albemarle Road, Edinboro Street and Watertown Street, plus any sidewalk or…

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Worcester

Some Restrictions

Worcester bans smoking within 50 feet of every municipal building entrance and exit, and within 50 feet of any health…

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Quincy

Light Restrictions

Quincy, Massachusetts (Norfolk County) designates the city-owned land in and around City Hall and Adams Green as a…

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Jaywalking

CA AB-2147 (Freedom to Walk Act, 2023) restricting jaywalking citations to immediate-danger situations, and how LAPD enforces the new standard.

Chelsea

Some Restrictions

Chelsea requires pedestrians to cross within a marked crosswalk whenever an officer is directing traffic, a signal is…

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Fall River

Some Restrictions

Pedestrians crossing a Fall River street outside a marked crosswalk must yield the right-of-way to all vehicles, and…

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Framingham

Some Restrictions

In the City of Framingham, a pedestrian may not cross a street outside a marked crosswalk whenever an officer is…

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Haverhill

Some Restrictions

In the City of Haverhill, pedestrians must use a marked crosswalk whenever one exists within 300 feet, and anyone…

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Lawrence

Some Restrictions

Lawrence requires pedestrians to use a marked crosswalk whenever one exists within 300 feet, or when an officer or…

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Quincy

Some Restrictions

Quincy's traffic code requires pedestrians who cross outside a marked crosswalk to yield the right-of-way to all…

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Revere

Some Restrictions

Revere requires pedestrians to use a marked crosswalk when one exists within 300 feet and an officer, traffic signal…

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Somerville

Some Restrictions

Somerville pedestrians must cross within a marked crosswalk whenever one exists within 300 feet, per Traffic Commission…

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Southborough

Some Restrictions

In Southborough, a pedestrian within 300 feet of a marked crosswalk, traffic control signal or officer directing…

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Taunton

Some Restrictions

Within 300 feet of an officer directing traffic, a working traffic signal or a marked crosswalk, Taunton pedestrians…

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Brockton

Light Restrictions

Brockton requires pedestrians to use a marked crosswalk whenever one sits within 300 feet, per City Code Section…

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Everett

Light Restrictions

In the City of Everett, Massachusetts, Section 18-201 requires pedestrians to obey officers directing traffic, and…

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Leominster

Light Restrictions

Leominster requires any pedestrian who crosses a roadway outside a marked crosswalk to yield the right-of-way to all…

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Worcester

Light Restrictions

Within three hundred feet of a traffic signal or officer directing traffic, Worcester pedestrians must cross only at…

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Public Marijuana Use

CA Health & Safety Code §11362.3 prohibits cannabis use in public, including parks, sidewalks, and inside vehicles; penalties and consumption-lounge exceptions.

Framingham

Heavy Restrictions

Framingham bans smoking, ingesting, or otherwise using marijuana, THC, or cannabinoid products across a long list of…

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Lawrence

Heavy Restrictions

Lawrence makes it unlawful to knowingly consume marijuana in a public place, or outdoors on property adjacent to one…

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Leominster

Heavy Restrictions

Leominster bans consuming or inhaling marijuana or THC in any public space under city control, including streets…

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Chelsea

Significant Restrictions

Chelsea prohibits using, consuming or possessing marijuana or tetrahydrocannabinol on any street, sidewalk, park or…

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Chicopee

Significant Restrictions

In the City of Chicopee, Massachusetts, Chapter 110 bars anyone from smoking, ingesting or otherwise using marijuana or…

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Everett

Significant Restrictions

In the City of Everett, Massachusetts, Section 13-1.1 makes it unlawful to consume or use marihuana on any public way…

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Fall River

Significant Restrictions

Fall River bans smoking, ingesting, or otherwise using marijuana in streets, parks, public buildings, transit vehicles…

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Medford

Significant Restrictions

In the City of Medford, Massachusetts, the citywide smoking ordinance's definition of 'smoking' in Section 58-42…

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Revere

Significant Restrictions

Revere bars smoking, ingesting or otherwise using marijuana or tetrahydrocannabinol on any street, sidewalk, park…

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Somerville

Significant Restrictions

Somerville bans giving, selling, delivering, or consuming marijuana or THC in parks, playgrounds, school grounds…

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Southborough

Significant Restrictions

In Southborough, Chapter 51 bans smoking, ingesting or otherwise using marijuana or THC on streets, sidewalks, parks…

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Springfield

Significant Restrictions

Springfield, Massachusetts bans smoking, vaping, or otherwise consuming marijuana on any street, sidewalk, park, or…

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Haverhill

Some Restrictions

Haverhill bans smoking, vaping or otherwise consuming marijuana, medical marijuana or THC on any public way, park…

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Public Alcohol Use

LAMC §41.27 + CA Bus & Prof §25620 prohibit drinking alcohol on public streets, sidewalks, parks, and beaches; penalties and special-event exemptions.

Fall River

Heavy Restrictions

Fall River bans drinking alcohol on public ways, parks, playgrounds, or any place the public can access, and also on…

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Haverhill

Heavy Restrictions

The City of Haverhill bans drinking or carrying an open container of alcohol on any public way, in parks and…

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Lawrence

Heavy Restrictions

Lawrence bans drinking alcohol on any public way, park, playground or place the public can access as invitees or…

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Medford

Heavy Restrictions

Medford bars drinking or holding an open alcoholic beverage container in any park, playground, public building or…

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Boston

Significant Restrictions

Boston Code § 16-12.28 makes it unlawful to drink alcohol or carry an open container, full or partial, on any public…

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Chelsea

Significant Restrictions

Chelsea bans drinking or possessing an open container of alcohol on streets, sidewalks, parks, playgrounds and other…

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Everett

Significant Restrictions

In the City of Everett, Massachusetts, Section 13-1 of the Revised Ordinances bars drinking alcohol or holding an open…

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Framingham

Significant Restrictions

Framingham bans drinking any alcoholic beverage on public ways, in parks and playgrounds, and in any place the public…

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New Bedford

Significant Restrictions

New Bedford bans drinking or carrying open alcohol on any public way, sidewalk, or in a vehicle on a public way. Sec…

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Newton

Significant Restrictions

Newton bars drinking or carrying an open container of liquor or beer in parks, playgrounds, conservation areas, public…

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Revere

Significant Restrictions

Revere bans drinking alcoholic beverages on any public way, park, playground, or private land open to public access…

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Somerville

Significant Restrictions

Somerville bars drinking or carrying an open alcohol container in any park, playground, school ground, pool, skating…

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Southborough

Significant Restrictions

In Southborough, Chapter 50 of the Town's bylaws bars drinking alcohol on any public way, on any place the public can…

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Taunton

Significant Restrictions

Taunton bars drinking alcoholic beverages on any public way, park, playground or place the public can access as an…

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Brockton

Some Restrictions

Brockton bans drinking or holding an open container of alcohol on any public way, alley or public parking space under…

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Cambridge

Some Restrictions

Cambridge Code Section 9.08.020 bars drinking any alcoholic beverage, as defined in G.L. c. 138, Section 1, on public…

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Chicopee

Some Restrictions

In the City of Chicopee, Massachusetts, it is unlawful to possess, consume from or transport an open container of…

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Leominster

Some Restrictions

Leominster bans drinking or holding an open alcohol container on any public way, park, playground, or on private land…

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Quincy

Some Restrictions

Quincy, Massachusetts (Norfolk County) bans drinking or possessing alcohol on public ways, parks, playgrounds, and…

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Springfield

Some Restrictions

Springfield, MA bans possessing, drinking from, or carrying an open container of alcohol on public streets, sidewalks…

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Worcester

Some Restrictions

Worcester bans drinking or holding an open container of alcohol on any public way, sidewalk, park, playground, or…

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