Expert: Paul Wagner - 2/9/2008

Question
you may not be the right person to ask... but i will give it a shot. Lets say i was drinking alcohol on my own private property, and i was outside drinking the beverage and a police officer was to drive by and see me drinking the alcohol in my front/back yard. can he do anything about that? like is it legal to consume alcohol outside on my own private property?

Answer
HI Matthew

This depends on local laws.  Most communities have ruled that if you are drinking on your own property, you are not viloating any law.  But if you are underage, or nude, or engaging in any other kind of disorderly conduct in view of the public, you can still be prosecuted.  And you can be arrested, too, because you are in plain view of the public and the police.  

Paul Wagner