Can you get a “drunk in public” on private property?

A girl inebriated while finishing off a bottle of wine at a public park.

If you are severely intoxicated on private property in California, can you be charged with being “drunk in public” under Penal Code 647(f) PC?

If the private property is “open to the public,” the answer is: absolutely.

Private Property “Open to the Public”

California Penal Code Section 647(f) makes it a crime to be in any “public place” under the influence of intoxicating liquor:

in a condition that he or she is unable to exercise care for his or her own safety or the safety of others, or by reason of his or her being under the influence of intoxicating liquor… interferes with or obstructs or prevents the free use of any street, sidewalk, or another public way.

A “public place” for purposes of California’s “drunk in public” statute means:

an area open to the public, or
an alley, plaza, park, driveway, or parking lot, or
an automobile, whether moving or not, or
a building open to the general public, including one which serves food or drink, or provides entertainment, or
the doorways and entrances to a building or dwelling, or
the grounds enclosing a building or dwelling.

Under this definition, being severely drunk on a number of different types of private property can get you charged with being drunk in public. Restaurants, bars, theatres, concert halls, stores, and shopping malls are all private property but the fact that they are “open to the public” makes you subject to the public intoxication law.

But also note that you can be arrested for public intoxication at a private residence or building that is not open to the public. If you are in the lobby or hallway of an apartment building (“doorways and entrances to a building or dwelling”), or the front yard of a friend’s house (“grounds enclosing a building or dwelling”), for example, you can be arrested and charged with public intoxication under Section 647(f).

If you have been charged with the crime of being “drunk in public”, please give one of our experienced California criminal defense attorneys a call to discuss your situation and explore your options.