Babylon Town Board Rescinds Public Intoxication Law

The Babylon Town Board repealed the law that would have made public intoxication a misdemeanor, although a new version with altered wording could be on the way.

Newsday reports the town board rescinded the law, which was highly unpopular with residents commenting on Patch, before it had been filed with the state.

“We are reexamining the public intoxication statute in order to clarify and modernize the code language, bring it more into line with existing statutes in neighboring town and village codes, and aid enforcement measures by the Suffolk County Police Department,” Town Attorney Joseph Wilson told Newsday in an emailed statement.

The original vote, passed unanimously on November 7, would have made it an arrestable offense to be intoxicated in public or at cabarets and dance halls.

The new law would have joined open-container and consumption laws that have already been in effect. Those laws were put in effect in 2010 following multiple calls to the Suffolk County Police Department and the town's 311 phone service that people were openly drinking in front of convenience stores.

The law set the limit for blood alcohol content level for "intoxication" at .08 percent – the same state limit for legally driving a car.