Profanity or Drunkenness in Public Places

Public intoxication is a universal citation in the State of Mississippi and found under Miss. Code Annotated 97-29-47. This also includes the use of profanity, swear words or cursing in public. Essentially, you can’t be drunk or use profane language in a public place in the presence of two or more people. If convicted, you could be facing fines of up to $100 and up to 30 days in jail. As crimes go, public drunkenness is not one of the big ones, but it can impact your life in the near and far term. Additionally, it’s also possible to be facing other charges associated with your alleged drunkenness. If a fight ensued and somebody got hurt, you could be looking at additional charges.

Intoxicated in Public

Being visibly intoxicated in public is illegal in Mississippi. It should go without saying that you should be able to get from a bar or nightclub to a cab or other safe ride home without being arrested in a public place, but that isn’t always the case. Cases involving public drunkenness can often involve altercations with other potentially drunk people. If people get loud or rowdy, the police get called, and you know the rest. In many cases, it’s possible to be an innocent bystander pulled into these situations. If the group your with is being rowdy, you might get arrested too. It’s important to make clear all the details that led up to your arrest to your attorney.

What is Considered Public?

For legal purposes in cases involving public drunkenness and public intoxication, the public is defined as a public place where two or more persons are present. If you’re drunk, in public, but nobody’s around, that would not fall under a public intoxication citation. Since drunkenness can be disruptive to other people in public, this crime involves public places where at least two people are present at the time of alleged drunkenness. In short, to be arrested for public intoxication, it must have occurred in the presence of two or more people.

How Does Public Intoxication Happen?

Public intoxication can happen in a variety of different ways and circumstances. Leaving a bar or nightclub is fraught with the potential for public drunkenness arrests. Whether you were walking home from a bar or trying to hail a cab, a public drunkenness arrest can seriously ruin your day and possibly entire month. It’s also possible to get charged with public drunkenness in places like restaurants or hotel lobbies and bars.