If you live in Kalamazoo, Michigan, you may soon be able to pee wherever you want — and not go to jail for it!
MLive reports the city is looking to decriminalize several misdemeanor offenses, following a recommendation from the city attorney’s office.
Attorney Clyde Robinson recommended decriminalizing six offenses: littering, abandoning refrigerators, leaving wrecked or inoperable vehicles, using barbed wire or electric fences, smoking in parking ramps and, of course, public urination.
“It’s kind of crude, but we are a college town, and there’s a lot of times drinking, and people can’t seem to find a restroom,” Robinson said. “So public urination is no longer a misdemeanor, it’s a civil infraction.”
Previously, these six crimes could score you jail time on top of a fine. As a civil infraction, you get a ticket that has a fine attached.
To deter these drunk college kids from thinking they can throw trash anywhere and pee all over the place, he is proposing increased fines for some scofflaws. For example, if you get caught dumping a bunch of trash, you could be fined up to $2,500.
He also is proposing community service as another deterrent.
Said Commissioner Jeanne Hess of the proposed new ordinances, “It was a necessary step and hopefully the city benefits from that.”