OCEAN CITY, Md. (AP) — Having an open container of alcohol in public in Ocean City is now an offense that can lead to an arrest.

The Baltimore Sun reports that the Ocean City Town Council unanimously passed an ordinance Monday that changes the punishment for having an open alcohol container in public from a municipal infraction to a misdemeanor offense. The new ordinance took effect immediately.

Police Chief Bernadette DiPino says the ordinance gives police officers the ability, but not the mandate, to arrest people
drinking outside.

The new ordinance returns to the town’s laws to what they were before 2008.

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