Wilcox Wednesdays Wind Down: The Downtown Plymouth Ordinance Citations

The band starts at noon in Kellogg Park today, with two Wilcox Wednesdays left before Music in the Park wraps for the season on August 19. Friday night Music in the Air runs through September 4, and the Farmers Market fills Penniman on Saturday mornings. Downtown Plymouth is in the last full month of its busiest season, and most of the enforcement that comes with it isn't dramatic: it's ordinance citations, the kind people pay by mail without thinking, and the check sometimes buys something they never agreed to purchase, a criminal conviction.

Key takeaways

Michigan cities write ordinance violations as civil infractions or as criminal misdemeanors, and the only way to know which one you're holding is to read the ordinance number and look for jail language on the citation.
The City of Plymouth prohibits alcohol consumption in Kellogg Park, on public sidewalks, and on public property outside licensed premises, and the drink being legally purchased makes no difference.
An open or uncapped container in the passenger area of a vehicle is a state misdemeanor under MCL 257.624a even if nobody was drinking from it.
Public intoxication alone isn't a crime in Michigan; disorderly conduct under MCL 750.167 requires an additional element like endangerment or a public disturbance, and that gap is where many of these charges fail.
First offense downtown citations are among the most reducible charges in Michigan, and almost nobody who pays by mail ever learns their case had a defense.

Is a city ordinance ticket really just a ticket?

There's a widespread assumption that a city ordinance citation is like a parking ticket, and it often isn't. Michigan municipalities can write ordinance violations as civil infractions or as criminal misdemeanors, and many communities do both depending on the offense, so a municipal civil infraction ends in a fine and a judgment while a municipal misdemeanor ends in a criminal conviction that appears on background checks. The citation itself tells you which one you have, but only if you read the ordinance number and the language about jail exposure, because if the ticket references any number of days in jail, it's criminal. People pay these by mail without ever finding out, and years later a background check surfaces something they didn't know was there.

Where does the ordinance let you drink?

The City of Plymouth prohibits alcohol consumption in Kellogg Park, on public sidewalks, and on public property outside of licensed premises or designated areas, and the citations follow a familiar pattern: a drink carried from a restaurant patio into the park to watch the band, a cooler at a concert, a glass of wine on a bench on Penniman, a beer finished on the sidewalk outside a bar. The drink being legally purchased makes no difference, because what matters is where you're standing when you drink it. Some Michigan cities have created social district zones that permit alcohol in approved marked cups within posted boundaries, and where those exist, the boundary is the whole rule: stepping outside it puts you back under the ordinance.

Why is the cooler in your car a state misdemeanor?

This one isn't an ordinance at all. MCL 257.624a makes it a misdemeanor to transport an open or uncapped alcoholic beverage container in the passenger area of a vehicle, and it doesn't require that anyone was drinking from it or that the driver was drinking. An open bottle in a passenger's hands, a half finished can in a cupholder, or a to go cup in the back seat all satisfy the statute. Downtown Plymouth's parking situation puts people in their cars within a block of where they were drinking, which is exactly how these citations happen.

Holding a citation from a downtown Plymouth event? Find out whether it's criminal before you pay it. One conversation answers the question.

(734) 453-7806

Can marijuana or a loud exhaust start something bigger?

Under MCL 333.27954, marijuana use in a public place is a civil infraction with a fine up to $100 for a first offense, and Kellogg Park, sidewalks, parking structures, and streets all qualify as public. The direct penalty is small, but the indirect risk isn't, because an officer who makes contact over marijuana now has a lawful reason to be in a conversation with you, and whatever else is present becomes visible from there. Noise ordinances work the same way: Plymouth and the surrounding communities regulate amplified sound, vehicle exhaust, and general disturbance, typically with stricter overnight thresholds, and a noise stop over a modified exhaust opens the door to an equipment inspection and everything that follows.

When is being drunk in public actually a crime?

When an ordinance isn't enough, officers reach for MCL 750.167, disorderly conduct, a 90 day misdemeanor. The relevant provisions cover a person who's intoxicated in a public place and either endangers someone or something or acts in a way that causes a public disturbance, along with a person who refuses to disperse on a lawful police order. The detail that matters is that public intoxication alone is not a crime in Michigan: the statute requires the additional element, so a person sitting quietly on a curb after too many drinks hasn't violated it, and that gap is where a real number of these charges fail.

How does a $200 ticket become a felony?

MCL 750.81d makes resisting or obstructing an officer a two year felony, and it covers physical interference as well as "a knowing failure to comply with a lawful command." The pattern repeats at every downtown event all summer: an officer approaches over something minor like an open container or a noise complaint, the person argues, the officer decides to write it up or make an arrest, the person pulls away, refuses to be handcuffed, or steps between the officer and a friend, and a $200 ordinance ticket is now a felony. Arguing with the officer is, in practice, the most reliable way to make a small situation permanent, and the courtroom is the only place the argument ever helps you.

What about the drive home?

A noon concert on a hot August Wednesday, two beers with lunch, and a drive back to work at 2:00 p.m. is a genuine OWI scenario, not a hypothetical. Under MCL 257.625, a first offense OWI carries up to 93 days in jail, or 180 for a High BAC of .17 or above, fines of $100 to $500, a 30 day hard suspension followed by 150 days of restricted driving, six points, and a mandatory substance abuse assessment. Plymouth Police patrol Main, Ann Arbor Road, Ann Arbor Trail, Sheldon, and Plymouth Road when downtown events let out, at midday as well as in the evening, and these midday cases are a steady part of what our OWI defense practice sees every summer.

Why shouldn't you just pay it?

Consider what actually happens when you mail in the fine. If it's a criminal ordinance, you've entered a conviction that stays on your record, you've given up any chance at a reduction to a non criminal disposition, you've created a prior offense that makes any future charge worse, and you may have created a disclosure obligation for employment, licensing, or immigration purposes you don't know about. First offense downtown citations are among the most reducible charges in Michigan, with dismissals, civil infraction reductions, and deferrals under MCL 771.1 all realistic outcomes, and almost nobody who pays by mail ever learns their case had a defense. If you decide to fight, keep the citation itself, since the ordinance number determines everything, along with receipts establishing where you were and when, the names of anyone who was with you, photos from the day, and notes on what the officer said, written the same day.

Read the ticket before you pay it

Everything arising in the City of Plymouth, from ordinance violations through misdemeanors and felony arraignments, goes to the 35th District Court in Plymouth, with felonies proceeding through probable cause conference and preliminary examination before bind over to Wayne County Circuit Court. Two more Wednesdays and a month of Friday nights remain in the downtown season, and if one of them ends with a citation in your hand, the ordinance number on it decides whether you're holding a fine or a criminal charge. Call Boria Law at (734) 453-7806. Attorney Aaron J. Boria handles downtown Plymouth ordinance and misdemeanor cases in the 35th District Court and can tell you in one conversation what the ticket actually is, which is worth knowing before you write the check.

Quick answers

Will a paid ordinance ticket show up on a background check?

If the ordinance was written as a criminal misdemeanor, yes: paying it enters a conviction that appears on background checks, and it stays there. A municipal civil infraction resolves with a fine and a judgment instead, which is why identifying which category your citation falls into before paying is the single most important step.

Can a passenger be charged over an open container?

Yes. MCL 257.624a covers transporting an open or uncapped container in the passenger area of a vehicle, and it doesn't require that the driver was drinking or that anyone was drinking at all. An open bottle in a passenger's hands or a half finished can in a cupholder satisfies the statute, so the safest place for anything opened is the trunk.

What outcomes are realistic if I contest a first citation?

First offense downtown citations are among the most reducible charges in Michigan. Dismissals, reductions from criminal misdemeanors to civil infractions, and deferrals under MCL 771.1 are all realistic outcomes on a first citation with no prior record, and any of them leaves you in a far better position than a conviction entered by mailing in the fine.

Wilcox Wednesdays Wind Down: The Downtown Plymouth Ordinance Citations Nobody Expects