The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board arrested a woman Thursday evening for consuming alcohol outside of a store on North Three Notch Street in Troy.

“It’s a state law,” said Lt. Thomas Price with the ABC Board.

Price said there are several laws he feels residents of Pike County might not know about.

The state law he referred to is Alabama Code Section 28-31-25. It states that it is unlawful, “for any person to consume alcoholic beverages on the premises of any state liquor store or any off-premises licensee, or to allow alcoholic beverages to be consumed on the premises of any state liquor store or any off-premises licensee.”

Price said the woman who was arrested had purchased alcohol at a store and was drinking it in the passenger seat of a car in the parking lot.

That also put the woman in violation of a code making it illegal to have an open container in a vehicle.

“Many people might not realize it, but there is a code in the Troy city ordinances that make it unlawful to consume alcoholic beverages out in public, too,” Price said.

Section 3.8 of the city code of ordinances makes it illegal for anyone to consume alcoholic beverages, or have open containers on any city or public property.

“Anything product that is open,” said Troy Police Sgt. Benny Scarbrough. “But it also means an alcoholic beverage that’s been poured into a cup.”

That means, there can be no consumption of alcohol or open containers in parks, at recreation centers, outside of businesses or on streets or sidewalks.

“We find that more than you would think,” Price said.

And while some may believe it’s OK to drink while someone else is driving, that’s illegal, too, unless a person is riding on a party bus or in a limo hired to drive them.

“You just can’t go around drinking in public,” Price said. “The ABC Board has received numerous complaints and we will be increasing and enforcing our activities to prevent those situations.”