Disorderly Conduct and Trespass Laws by State (2026 Guide)

Disorderly conduct is a state offense that punishes conduct such as fighting in public, unreasonable noise, words likely to provoke violence or blocking traffic, and in most states it is a low-level misdemeanor or an even lower non-criminal violation. Criminal trespass is entering or staying on property without permission, usually after notice by words, signs, fencing or, in 17 states, purple paint marks; it is a misdemeanor or a lower grade in its ordinary forms in every state, but 39 states make some form of trespass a felony.

The details change sharply at each state line: the name of the offense, the grade, the number of trespass degrees and what counts as a no trespassing notice. The comparison table below covers all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and each state page has the full statute text, penalties and notice rules.

Information last verified on 2026-10-18. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This guide compares the state criminal statutes on disorderly conduct, related public-order offenses and criminal trespass in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and summarizes the federal statutes and regulations that apply on federal property. It does not cover city and county ordinances, local noise limits and quiet hours (see noise ordinance laws by state), the civil process for removing squatters (see squatters' rights by state), the use of force against intruders (see self-defense laws by state) or civil trespass lawsuits. Each state's own page has the statute text and the full penalty ranges.

What is disorderly conduct?

Disorderly conduct is a catch-all public-order offense defined by each state's criminal code. The typical statute lists specific acts and requires a mental state. Alabama's version (Ala. Code 13A-11-7), for example, requires intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk of it, and then lists fighting, unreasonable noise, abusive or obscene language in public, disrupting a meeting, blocking traffic and refusing a lawful order to disperse.

That model, intent or recklessness plus a list of acts, appears in many codes. Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Vermont all use a version of the public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm formula. Other states use different tests: Kansas asks whether the person knows or should know the act will alarm, anger or disturb others, Nevada and Idaho require that the person act "maliciously and willfully," and Wyoming requires "knowledge or probable cause to believe he will disturb the peace."

Disorderly conduct, breach of the peace and disturbing the peace

The same kind of conduct goes by different names:

• Breach of the peace. Connecticut has both breach of the peace in the second degree (53a-181) and a separate disorderly conduct offense (53a-182). Nevada (NRS 203.010) and Wyoming (W.S. 6-6-102) call their main offense breach of the peace, South Carolina keeps breach of the peace as a common-law offense beside its public disorderly conduct statute (16-17-530), and Florida's section 877.03 covers both labels.
• Disturbing the peace. California splits the subject: Penal Code 415 (disturbing the peace) covers fighting, malicious loud noise and offensive words, while Penal Code 647, the section titled disorderly conduct, covers public lewd conduct, lodging without permission and public intoxication. Idaho (18-6409), Louisiana (14:103), Nebraska (28-1322) and Oklahoma (21 O.S. 1362) use disturbing the peace, and Missouri uses peace disturbance (574.010).
• Disorderly persons. Massachusetts punishes "disorderly persons and disturbers of the peace" (G.L. c.272 s.53(b)), Michigan punishes being a "disorderly person" (MCL 750.167), and New Jersey grades disorderly conduct as a petty disorderly persons offense, which is not a crime under N.J.S.2C:1-4.

Nine states have no general offense named disorderly conduct: Idaho, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma and Wyoming. Mississippi uses the label only for two narrow offenses, refusing an officer's order where a breach of the peace may follow (97-35-7) and interfering with a business (97-35-5), and keeps its everyday disturbing-the-peace offenses in sections 97-35-13 and 97-35-15.

Noise, swearing and fighting words

Many statutes include an unreasonable noise clause, but quiet hours and decibel limits are usually set by local ordinances; our guide to noise ordinance laws by state covers those. Some state statutes are narrower: Washington's disorderly conduct statute (RCW 9A.84.030) reaches noise only near a funeral, burial, viewing, procession or memorial service, and Georgia's section 16-11-39 has no noise clause at all.

Language clauses are where courts have drawn the firmest limits. Under Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942), states may punish "fighting words," and several state courts have read their statutes down to that category:

• Florida: in State v. Saunders (1976), the Florida Supreme Court held that section 877.03, as applied to speech, reaches only fighting words and knowingly false reports of a physical hazard.
• Georgia: in Freeman v. State (2017), the Georgia Supreme Court held that the violent-or-tumultuous clause reaches expression only when it is fighting words or a true threat.
• Ohio: in State v. Hoffman (1979), the Ohio Supreme Court held that the coarse-utterance and abusive-language wording of R.C. 2917.11(A)(2) can punish speech only if the words are fighting words.
• Massachusetts: in Commonwealth v. A Juvenile (1975), the Supreme Judicial Court held that the idle and disorderly persons provision cannot constitutionally support convictions for offensive and abusive language.

Other states wrote the limit into the statute. Arizona's abusive-language clause applies only to language used to a person present "in a manner likely to provoke immediate physical retaliation" (A.R.S. 13-2904(A)(3)), Kansas defines fighting words in K.S.A. 21-6203 itself, and Virginia's disorderly conduct statute (18.2-415) expressly does not reach "the utterance or display of any words." Courts have also invalidated specific clauses: the Minnesota Supreme Court held the meeting-disturbance clause of 609.72 facially unconstitutional in State v. Hensel (2017), and the Sixth Circuit held Michigan's begging clause unconstitutional in Speet v. Schuette (2013).

Is disorderly conduct a misdemeanor?

In most states, yes, usually in the lowest or second-lowest misdemeanor class. In seven states the base offense sits below the misdemeanor level:

Three more keep the base offense to a fine: Texas makes most forms a Class C misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500 (Penal Code 42.01), Ohio's base form is a minor misdemeanor with a fine of up to $150 (R.C. 2917.11), and Massachusetts punishes a first disorderly persons offense with a fine of up to $150 and no jail (c.272 s.53(b)). Everywhere else the base offense carries possible jail, ranging from 24 hours or a $100 fine in West Virginia (61-6-1b) and 72 hours for a first conviction in Alaska (AS 11.61.110) to up to 12 months in Georgia (16-11-39) and Virginia, where disorderly conduct is a Class 1 misdemeanor (18.2-415).

Disorderly conduct climbs in grade in a few recurring ways:

• Continuing after a warning. Hawaii, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Utah raise the grade when the person keeps going after a warning or request to stop. West Virginia makes persistence after an officer's request an element of the offense itself.
• Repeat convictions. Missouri makes a second peace disturbance conviction a class A misdemeanor (574.010), Vermont raises the maximum to 120 days on a repeat (1026), South Dakota makes a fourth offense within 10 years a Class 1 misdemeanor (22-18-35) and Utah raises the class with priors within five years.
• Funerals. Kentucky's first-degree disorderly conduct (525.055) and Oregon's funeral form are Class A misdemeanors, Indiana makes disorderly conduct that adversely affects a funeral within 500 feet a Level 6 felony, and Michigan makes disturbing a funeral within 500 feet a disorderly-person felony (MCL 750.167d).
• Weapons and other felony forms. Arizona makes the deadly-weapon form a class 6 felony (13-2904), Connecticut's breach of the peace in the first degree (placing a fake explosive or hazardous substance) is a class D felony (53a-180aa), and Mississippi's offense of refusing an officer's order becomes a felony when the violation shows willful and wanton disregard for the life or safety of another and someone is injured, maimed or killed (97-35-7(3)).

Each state sets the jail and fine range for its classes in a general sentencing statute; our guide to felony and misdemeanor classes by state has the class tables.

Related public-order offenses

Public intoxication. Several states do not make being drunk in public a crime by itself. Idaho bars prosecution under any law that has being intoxicated as an element, with listed exceptions (39-310), Minnesota provides that public drunkenness is not a crime (340A.902), Nevada provides that being found intoxicated is not a public offense (NRS 458.260), and Connecticut repealed its intoxication offenses. Others punish it only with an added element: Alabama (13A-11-10), California (Penal Code 647(f)), Florida (856.011), Indiana, Tennessee (39-17-310) and Texas (49.02) all require endangerment, a disturbance or a similar condition.

Riot and unlawful assembly. Grades run from misdemeanor to felony. Riot is a misdemeanor in Alabama, Colorado (in its basic form), Nevada and Tennessee (in its basic form), and a felony in Alaska (class C, AS 11.61.100), Arizona (class 5), Florida (third degree), Iowa (class D), Oregon (Class C) and Pennsylvania (third degree). Rhode Island has no general riot statute.

Funeral disruption. Many codes have a buffer-zone offense for funerals, with distances that range from 100 feet in Vermont (13 V.S.A. 3771) to 1,500 feet in Montana. Repeat violations become felonies in several states, including Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, New Mexico and North Carolina.

Public camping. Tennessee makes camping on public property a Class E felony, but only after an official warning and continued camping or a return within 24 hours (39-14-414). Indiana made street camping on public land a Class C misdemeanor after a warning and a 48-hour wait, effective July 1, 2026, and Kentucky's unlawful camping offense (511.110) is a violation for a first offense.

When a fight involves physical contact, the charge may fall under assault or battery instead; see assault and battery laws by state.

What is criminal trespass?

Criminal trespass is knowingly entering or remaining on property when not licensed, invited or privileged to be there. Alabama's definition (13A-7-1(3)) is typical, and it sets three rules many states share:

• Places open to the public. A person in a store or other place open to the public is there lawfully unless they defy a lawful order not to enter or remain, personally communicated by the owner or another authorized person. Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, New York and Oregon use the same rule.
• Closed areas. Permission to be in the public part of a building does not extend to the parts that are not open to the public.
• Unfenced, unused land. On unimproved, apparently unused land that is not fenced, a person is there with license unless notice is given personally or by conspicuous posting. Alaska, Colorado and Washington have similar rules.

Trespass degrees

States organize trespass in three main ways:

• Three numbered degrees: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky and New York. The lowest degree is often a violation or other non-criminal grade (Alabama, Delaware and Kentucky make third degree a violation, Colorado a petty offense) and in Alabama, Colorado, Delaware and Kentucky the highest degree covers dwellings.
• Two numbered degrees: Alaska, Hawaii, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon and Washington. Hawaii adds simple trespass, a violation, below its two degrees.
• No numbered degrees: the other 37 jurisdictions. Some use a single statute graded by place (Texas Penal Code 30.05, Pennsylvania 18 Pa.C.S. 3503), some raise the penalty with each conviction (Louisiana 14:63, Idaho 18-7008), and some split the subject across several place-specific statutes (Maryland, Michigan, Virginia).

The lowest tier is often below the misdemeanor level. Missouri's trespass in the second degree is an infraction with a fine of up to $400 (569.150), Wisconsin's trespass to land is a Class B forfeiture, a money penalty of up to $1,000 (943.13), and New Hampshire's criminal trespass is a violation by default (635:2). North Dakota allows a $250 noncriminal citation for posted or fenced land, and Idaho makes a first trespass with no damage, where the person leaves when ordered, a $300 infraction.

Being told to leave

Being told to leave by the owner or another authorized person is a common form of notice, and many states treat defiance of a personal order as the more serious form. Nebraska raises second-degree trespass to a Class II misdemeanor when a person defies an order to leave personally communicated by the owner (28-521), Pennsylvania's defiance of a personal order to leave is a third-degree misdemeanor (3503), and Hawaii counts a written warning from commercial premises, communicated within a one-year period, as the basis for second-degree trespass (708-814(1)(b)).

Squatting statutes now sit beside trespass in several codes, including Arkansas (5-39-215), Georgia (16-7-21.1), Missouri (569.200) and North Dakota. The civil process for removing an occupant is a separate subject; see squatters' rights by state. Questions about removing an intruder or defending property belong to self-defense laws by state, and the steps for reporting a trespass are on our page about how to charge someone with trespassing.

Is trespassing a felony?

Ordinary trespass is a misdemeanor or lower grade in every state. Counting from the table below, 39 states make some form of trespass or unauthorized entry a felony, 10 jurisdictions have no felony trespass offense, and Maine and New Jersey, which grade their top trespass forms as a Class C crime (up to 5 years) and a crime of the fourth degree (up to 18 months), are counted separately. The felony forms fall into a few groups; a state can fall in more than one, and the table gives every state's forms:

• Dwellings and occupied buildings, including Arizona (residential structure, class 6), Colorado (inhabited or occupied dwelling, class 6), Louisiana (unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling, 14:62.3), Nevada (invasion of the home), North Dakota (dwelling or highly secured premises, class C), Vermont (dwelling house, up to 3 years), Pennsylvania (building or occupied structure, third-degree felony) and Wyoming (an occupied structure plus battery). Illinois (19-4), Ohio and Hawaii reach entry when a person is inside or likely to be. New Mexico's breaking and entering (30-14-8) reaches any dwelling, structure or vehicle entered by fraud, deception or breaking, and requires no intent to commit a crime inside.
• Critical infrastructure, utilities and nuclear sites. Alabama (damage, interference or an armed drone), Arizona (a posted critical public service facility), Arkansas, Florida (812.141(4)), Indiana, Iowa (enclosed public utility property), Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan (enclosed and posted key facilities), Montana, North Carolina (listed water, agricultural, energy or wastewater facilities), Ohio, Oklahoma, Virginia (an unauthorized drone over critical infrastructure) and Wisconsin (energy provider property), and nuclear facilities in Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi and Missouri. Several of these require intent to damage or impede the facility, so read the condition in the table.
• Research and agricultural sites, including Oregon (entering an agricultural research facility with intent to damage or take its research materials, 164.889), Colorado (agricultural land with intent to commit a felony) and Hawaii (agricultural land with a dangerous instrument, or hunting there without permission).
• Weapons, including Florida (armed trespasser, third-degree felony), New York, where criminal trespass in the first degree (140.17) requires an explosive or deadly weapon, or a gun plus accessible ammunition, in a building, and the armed domestic violence shelter forms in South Carolina (16-25-125) and North Carolina (14-134.3).
• Repeat offenses, including Arkansas (two or more prior Class A trespass convictions), Idaho (damage over $1,000 with two or more priors in 10 years), Indiana (a prior conviction for the same property), New Hampshire (a subsequent offense causing damage over $1,500) and the domestic violence routes below.
• Unlawful occupancy and damage by occupants or trespassers. Arkansas (a third unlawful squatting offense), Florida (an unlawful occupant or trespasser causing $1,000 or more in damage, 806.13(4)), Michigan (750.553 on a second conviction), Mississippi (over $1,000 in damage while unlawfully occupying, among its 2025 squatting fraud felonies), Nevada (repeat housebreaking or unlawful occupancy), North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas (damaging a habitation by $1,000 or more in the course of a trespass, 28.03), Utah (a trespasser causing $1,500 or more in damage), West Virginia and Wyoming.
• Disaster areas. Kentucky makes first-degree trespass in a dwelling a Class D felony only during a declared disaster emergency, within the impacted area (511.060).

The domestic violence repeat route

In six states, a trespass offense, and in Rhode Island and Wisconsin disorderly conduct too, can count toward a felony through the domestic violence statutes rather than the trespass statute. Each state sets its own list of protected relationships and its own prior-conviction rule:

• Alabama: third-degree trespass against a current or former spouse, a listed relative or step-relative, a co-parent, a present household member (other than a non-romantic co-resident) or a current or former dating partner is third-degree domestic violence, a Class C felony on a third or later conviction, or after a prior first- or second-degree domestic violence, strangulation or substantially similar out-of-state conviction (13A-6-132(d), (e)).
• Colorado: a misdemeanor trespass that includes an act of domestic violence, meaning a crime used to coerce, control, punish, intimidate or take revenge on a current or former intimate partner, is a class 5 felony when the defendant has three or more prior domestic violence convictions, separately brought and tried and arising from separate episodes (18-6-800.3(1), 18-6-801(7)(a)).
• Ohio: when the victim was a family or household member as R.C. 2919.25 defines the term, a prior aggravated trespass conviction (2911.211) makes a later domestic violence offense under 2919.25(A) or (B) a fourth-degree felony, or a third-degree felony after two or more such prior offenses (2919.25(D)(3), (D)(4)).
• Rhode Island: trespass (11-44-26) or disorderly conduct (11-45-1) committed by one family or household member against another, as section 12-29-2 uses the term, is a domestic violence crime; a second violation carries 10 days to 1 year, and a third or later violation is a felony punishable by 1 to 10 years (12-29-5).
• Utah: criminal trespass by one cohabitant against another is a domestic violence offense (77-36-1). A cohabitant (78B-7-102) includes a person 16 or older who is or was a spouse or lived with the other as a spouse, is a parent, grandparent or other relative within the second degree, has a child in common, lives or has lived in the same residence, or is or was in a consensual sexual relationship with the other. A class A trespass in a dwelling becomes a third-degree felony when committed or convicted within 10 years after a prior qualifying domestic violence conviction, or within five years after a prior property damage offense conviction (77-36-1.1(4)(b)).
• Wisconsin: when disorderly conduct or a misdemeanor trespass is also an act of domestic abuse (968.075(1)(a)) against a spouse or former spouse, an adult the person lives or lived with, or an adult with whom the person has a child in common, a domestic abuse repeater faces up to 2 more years, and the increase "changes the status of a misdemeanor to a felony" (939.621). A repeater is a person who commits the act within 72 hours after a domestic abuse arrest, or who was convicted on 2 or more separate occasions in the prior 10 years of crimes carrying, or waiving, the domestic abuse surcharge.

Two other domestic violence trespass felonies are stand-alone offenses rather than repeat routes, and sit in their state rows: entering domestic violence shelter grounds with a dangerous weapon in South Carolina (16-25-125) and armed domestic criminal trespass at a domestic violence safe house in North Carolina (14-134.3). In the District of Columbia, the repeat-conviction statute (22-1804) raises the maximum sentence for a repeat unlawful entry or disorderly conduct conviction, but neither offense becomes a felony.

Entering a building with intent to commit a crime inside is burglary, a separate offense with its own felony grades in every state; each state page names its burglary statute. Whether a disorderly conduct or trespass conviction can later be cleared depends on each state's record-sealing law; see expungement laws by state.

Do you need a No Trespassing sign?

Not always. Many states recognize several forms of notice, and a sign is only one:

• Personal communication, oral or written, from the owner or another authorized person. Indiana and Illinois also count certain court orders.
• Posting in a manner reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders. Some states set sign specifications: Florida requires letters at least 2 inches high plus the owner's name, no more than 500 feet apart and at each corner; Hawaii requires 2-inch letters and at least three signs to a mile; New Hampshire requires 2-inch block letters no more than 100 yards apart; New Mexico requires English signs of at least 144 square inches; and Wisconsin requires signs at least 11 inches square in at least 2 places for every 40 acres.
• Fencing or other enclosure designed to exclude intruders, which Connecticut, Nebraska, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and South Dakota count as notice by itself.
• Cultivation. Florida and Washington treat visibly cultivated land as notice, and Texas counts a crop grown for human consumption that is under cultivation.

Some places need no notice at all. Delaware's third-degree trespass has no sign or fence requirement, and hunting on another's land without permission is an offense even on unposted land in states such as Colorado (33-6-116), Connecticut and Mississippi (49-7-79). Georgia's trespass statute (16-7-21) works the other way: entry after notice requires prior notice from the owner, the rightful occupant or an authorized representative, and the section has no sign, fence or paint-mark provision.

Purple paint law states

A purple paint law lets an owner mark trees or posts with purple paint instead of putting up signs. Seventeen states have a purple paint rule of some scope, and the rules differ in where the paint counts and how it must be applied.

General no trespassing notice (14 states): Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. Several attach conditions:

• Illinois excludes municipalities of over 2,000,000 inhabitants (720 ILCS 5/21-3(b-15)), and Pennsylvania excludes counties of the first or second class (3503(b)(3)).
• Tennessee requires at least one sign at a major entrance explaining that purple paint means no trespassing, and the paint's effect is to remove a statutory consent defense (39-14-405(c)(2)).
• West Virginia accepts purple paint, but signs must still be posted at all roads, driveways or gates of entry (61-3B-1(4)(B)).
• Kentucky applies its purple paint rule to second-degree trespass (511.070(2)), and Kansas puts its rule in the wildlife title (32-1013(b)), which the criminal trespass statute adopts.

Limited scope (3 states): North Carolina allows purple marks for land posted against hunting, fishing, trapping and pine straw removal (G.S. 14-159.7(2)); Virginia allows aluminum or purple marks for land posted against hunting, fishing and trapping (18.2-134.1); and Minnesota added purple paint in 2026 for outdoor-recreation posting under 97B.001, with signs at the primary corners. In all three, the general trespass statutes do not name paint marks.

Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana and Texas share one standard for the marks: vertical marks at least 8 inches long and 1 inch wide, with the bottom 3 to 5 feet off the ground, no more than 100 feet apart on forest land or 1,000 feet apart on other land. The other ten general-notice states and the two hunting-posting states set their own rules:

Other paint rules that do not name purple (7 states). Florida's painted notices use international orange and must be accompanied by no trespassing signs (810.011(5)(a)2). Montana requires at least 50 square inches of fluorescent orange paint at each outer gate and normal access point (45-6-201), Nevada accepts fluorescent orange paint on at least 50 square inches or the top 12 inches of a post (NRS 207.200(2)), and Idaho accepts bright orange or fluorescent paint on unfenced, uncultivated land (18-7008(2)(a)(iv)). Maryland's paint-mark posting uses bright blue oil base paint (COMAR 08.01.05.01). Arizona allows orange-painted posts only as interval notices on land posted against hunting, fishing, trapping or guiding (A.R.S. 17-304), and Utah's hunting trespass statute accepts bright yellow, bright orange or fluorescent paint (23A-5-317). The Idaho and Utah rules do not name a color for fluorescent paint.

Rhode Island treats the stencil-painted word "Posted" as sufficient notice (11-44-30), which is a lettering rule rather than a color rule. Wisconsin accepts markings at least one foot long reading "private land" with the owner's name, without naming a color (943.13). In Vermont, a 2026 House bill, H.608, proposes purple paint for hunting and fishing posting; a bill is not law, and Vermont's posting statute still relies on signs.

Disorderly conduct and trespass laws by state: comparison table

Each row summarizes that state's page; follow the state link for the statute text, every penalty range and the exceptions. "Felony trespass forms" counts any felony grade the state attaches to trespass, to damage done in the course of a trespass or unlawful occupancy, or to unauthorized entry, other than burglary and other offenses defined by entry with intent to commit a crime inside.

How the counts on this page were made. Each count comes from the rows above, one per jurisdiction (51 in all, counting the District of Columbia). A state counts as having a purple paint rule if any statute or posting rule on its page lets purple paint marks serve as notice, whatever the scope: that gives 17 (14 general, 3 limited to hunting or outdoor-recreation posting). The 7 other-paint states are those whose rules accept paint marks of another color, or fluorescent paint with no color named (Idaho and Utah), but do not name purple. A state counts as having a felony trespass form if its page names a felony grade for trespass, for damage done in the course of a trespass or unlawful occupancy, or for a separate unauthorized-entry offense, other than burglary and other offenses defined by entry with intent to commit a crime inside, whatever their name: 39 states. That rule takes in New Mexico's breaking and entering (30-14-8), which has no intent element, Oregon's interference with agricultural research (164.889(1)(d)) and Texas's criminal mischief to a habitation in the course of a trespass (28.03(b)(6)(B)). It leaves out Washington's first-degree vehicle prowling (9A.52.095), Connecticut's home invasion (53a-100aa) and Maryland's home invasion (Criminal Law 6-202(b)), each of which requires entry with intent to commit a crime inside. Sentencing enhancements that lengthen a repeat offender's term without making the offense a felony, Connecticut's persistent-offender rule (53a-40d) and the District's repeat-conviction statute (22-1804), are not counted. The 10 "No" jurisdictions are Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota and Washington; Maine and New Jersey are counted separately because their top trespass grades are a Class C crime and a crime of the fourth degree rather than grades labeled felony. The seven below-misdemeanor disorderly conduct states and the degree counts were tallied from the same rows.

Federal law: federal property, the Capitol and riots

The federal provisions on disorderly conduct and trespass are place-specific. Ordinary streets, private property and state or local land are governed by state law, and the federal rules below apply only on particular federal property or to riot and civil-disorder conduct. Federal prosecution does not displace the states: the Anti-Riot Act expressly preserves state and local jurisdiction over the same conduct (18 U.S.C. 2101(f)).

The Capitol and restricted buildings

U.S. Capitol Grounds and Buildings. Federal law (40 U.S.C. 5104(e)(2)) bars willfully and knowingly uttering "loud, threatening, or abusive language," or engaging "in disorderly or disruptive conduct," anywhere in the Grounds or Capitol Buildings with intent to impede, disrupt or disturb a session of Congress or a committee hearing or deliberation. The same subsection covers obstructing passage, acts of physical violence, unauthorized entry onto the House or Senate floor and into galleries, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in any of the Capitol Buildings. Violations of 5104(e)(2) carry a fine under title 18, up to six months in prison, or both; the firearms, explosives and incendiary device offenses in 5104(e)(1) carry up to five years (40 U.S.C. 5109).

Restricted buildings or grounds. 18 U.S.C. 1752 makes it a federal crime to knowingly enter or remain in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, or to engage in disorderly or disruptive conduct in or near one, with intent to impede or disrupt government business or official functions, when the conduct in fact impedes or disrupts them (1752(a)(2)). "Restricted buildings or grounds" means a posted, cordoned off or otherwise restricted area of the White House or the Vice President's residence, of a place where the President or another Secret Service protectee is or will be temporarily visiting, or of a special event of national significance (1752(c)). It is not a general public-building statute. The penalty is up to one year, or up to 10 years if the person uses or carries a deadly or dangerous weapon or firearm or the offense results in significant bodily injury (1752(b)).

Federal buildings, military bases, parks and aircraft

• Federal buildings protected by DHS. Since November 5, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security's rule at 6 CFR part 139 governs conduct on federal property under its protection. Section 139.35 prohibits disorderly conduct (including fighting, harassing, intimidating or threatening behavior), loud or unusual noise, obstructing entrances, lobbies and other areas, camping outside designated areas, and trespassing in areas closed to the public. A violation carries a fine under title 18, up to 30 days, or both (6 CFR 139.85). The older General Services Administration rules at 41 CFR 102-74.390 and 102-74.450 no longer appear in the Code of Federal Regulations; a GSA rule published and effective January 20, 2026 (91 FR 2316) removed that subpart as duplicative of the DHS rule.
• Military installations. Entering a military, naval or Coast Guard installation for a purpose prohibited by law or regulation, or reentering after being removed or ordered not to return, carries up to six months (18 U.S.C. 1382). Entering federal property, or a secure area of an airport or seaport, by fraud or false pretense carries up to six months, or up to 10 years with intent to commit a felony (18 U.S.C. 1036).
• National parks. National Park Service rules prohibit disorderly conduct, including fighting or threatening behavior, obscene or physically threatening language, and unreasonable noise, when done with intent to cause public alarm, nuisance, jeopardy or violence or with a knowing or reckless risk of it (36 CFR 2.34), and trespassing on park property not open to the public (36 CFR 2.31). The obstruction rule states that "the mere gathering of persons to hear a speaker communicate, or simply being a member of such a gathering, does not constitute obstruction." Violations are punished under 18 U.S.C. 1865: up to six months, a fine under title 18, or both (36 CFR 1.3).
• National forests. The Forest Service's disorderly conduct rule (36 CFR 261.4) covers fighting or other violent behavior, obscene or threatening utterances or acts, and unreasonable noise, when done intentionally to cause, or recklessly risking, public alarm, nuisance, jeopardy or violence, with a penalty of up to six months or a fine under 18 U.S.C. 3571, or both (36 CFR 261.1b).
• Aircraft. Interfering with a flight crew member or flight attendant by assault or intimidation on an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States carries up to 20 years, and any term of years or life if a dangerous weapon is used (49 U.S.C. 46504).

For federal offenses that say "fined under this title," the general fine ceilings apply: an offense with a maximum of six months or less but more than 30 days is a Class B misdemeanor (18 U.S.C. 3559(a)(7)) with an individual fine of up to $5,000, and an offense with a maximum of one year or less but more than six months is a Class A misdemeanor (3559(a)(6)) with a fine of up to $100,000 (18 U.S.C. 3571(b)).

The Anti-Riot Act and civil disorder

The Anti-Riot Act (18 U.S.C. 2101) punishes traveling in interstate or foreign commerce, or using a facility of commerce such as the mail, telephone, radio or television, with intent to incite, organize, participate in or commit violence in furtherance of a riot, followed by an overt act. The maximum is five years. Federal law defines a riot as a public disturbance involving acts of violence, or threats of violence with the ability of immediate execution, by one or more persons in an assemblage of three or more, that pose a clear and present danger of, or result in, injury to persons or damage to property (18 U.S.C. 2102(a)), and provides that inciting a riot does not include "the mere oral or written (1) advocacy of ideas or (2) expression of belief, not involving advocacy of any act or acts of violence or assertion of the rightness of, or the right to commit, any such act or acts" (2102(b)). In United States v. Miselis (2020), the Fourth Circuit held the Act substantially overbroad in part and severed the words "encourage," "promote" and "urging" from 2101(a)(2) and 2102(b), along with the final phrase of 2102(b) beginning "not involving." Section 2101(e) adds that the Act does not reach travel for "the legitimate objectives of organized labor, through orderly and lawful means."

A separate civil-disorder statute (18 U.S.C. 231) punishes teaching the use of firearms or explosives for use in a civil disorder, transporting them for that purpose, and obstructing a firefighter or law enforcement officer during a civil disorder that affects commerce or a federally protected function, with up to five years.

Federal law: what the Supreme Court has held

The U.S. Supreme Court does not write state disorderly conduct laws, but its First Amendment and due process decisions limit how far those laws can reach:

• Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942). The Court described "fighting words" as "those which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace," and upheld New Hampshire's statute as the state court had construed it, limited to "face-to-face words plainly likely to cause a breach of the peace by the addressee."
• Cohen v. California (1971). The Court reversed a conviction under the "offensive conduct" clause of California Penal Code 415 for wearing a jacket bearing a four-letter expletive in an anti-draft slogan, holding that absent a more particularized and compelling reason the State may not make the simple public display of that word a criminal offense.
• Gooding v. Wilson (1972). The Court held a Georgia statute punishing insulting or abusive spoken words facially unconstitutional because Georgia courts had not limited it to fighting words as Chaplinsky defines them.
• City of Houston v. Hill (1987). The Court held a city ordinance making it unlawful to "in any manner oppose, molest, abuse or interrupt any policeman in the execution of his duty" substantially overbroad and facially invalid, writing that "the freedom of individuals verbally to oppose or challenge police action without thereby risking arrest is one of the principal characteristics by which we distinguish a free nation from a police state."
• Papachristou v. City of Jacksonville (1972). The Court held Jacksonville's vagrancy ordinance void for vagueness, both because it failed to give fair notice and because it encouraged arbitrary and erratic arrests and convictions.
• Kolender v. Lawson (1983). The Court held California Penal Code 647(e), which as construed required a person who loiters or wanders without apparent reason to provide "credible and reliable" identification when a peace officer asks, unconstitutionally vague.
• City of Chicago v. Morales (1999). The Court held Chicago's gang-loitering ordinance, which defined loitering as remaining in one place "with no apparent purpose," unconstitutionally vague as construed, because it "affords too much discretion to the police and too little notice to citizens who wish to use the public streets."

Two other decisions are often cited in this area but decided different questions. Snyder v. Phelps (2011) was a civil damages case, not a criminal one: the Court held that the First Amendment shielded a church from tort liability for picketing near a funeral on public land next to a public street, and called its holding "narrow." City of Grants Pass v. Johnson (2024) held that enforcing generally applicable laws regulating camping on public property does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment; it was not a vagueness or free-speech decision.

Related guides

• Noise ordinance laws by state
• Squatters' rights by state
• Self-defense laws by state
• Felony and misdemeanor classes by state
• Assault and battery laws by state
• Expungement laws by state
• How to charge someone with trespassing

This guide provides general legal information about state disorderly conduct and criminal trespass statutes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and about federal law on federal property, as of 2026-10-18. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in the state where it arose.

Last updated: 2026-10-18.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is disorderly conduct?

Disorderly conduct is a state public-order offense. A typical statute, such as Alabama's 13A-11-7, punishes fighting, unreasonable noise, abusive language in public, disrupting a meeting or blocking traffic, done with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly risking it.

Is disorderly conduct a misdemeanor?

In most states, yes. Colorado, Hawaii, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Utah grade the base offense below the misdemeanor level, and some states make aggravated forms, such as the deadly-weapon form in Arizona, a felony.

Is disorderly conduct the same as breach of the peace or disturbing the peace?

They cover similar conduct under different names. Connecticut has both breach of the peace and disorderly conduct, Nevada and Wyoming call their offense breach of the peace, and California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nebraska and Oklahoma use disturbing the peace.

What is criminal trespass?

Criminal trespass is knowingly entering or remaining on property without license or privilege, usually after notice by words, signs, fencing or paint marks. In a place open to the public, many states require that the person defy a personal order to leave.

Is trespassing a felony?

Ordinary trespass is not. Thirty-nine states make some form a felony, typically for dwellings, critical infrastructure, weapons or repeat offenses, while 10 jurisdictions, including Alaska, California and Delaware, have no felony trespass offense.

Which states have a purple paint law?

Seventeen states: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia for general notice, plus North Carolina, Virginia and Minnesota for hunting or outdoor-recreation posting only.

What does purple paint on a tree or fence post mean?

In purple paint states it means no trespassing, if the marks meet the state's size, height and spacing rules. A common standard is a vertical mark at least 8 inches long, 3 to 5 feet off the ground, used in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana and Texas.

Do I need a No Trespassing sign?

Not in every case. Most states also accept an oral or written order from the owner, fencing designed to keep people out and, in some states, cultivation or paint marks; Delaware's third-degree trespass has no sign or fence requirement.

Is it a federal crime to trespass on federal property?

On specific federal property, yes: the Capitol (40 U.S.C. 5104), restricted Secret Service areas (18 U.S.C. 1752), military installations (18 U.S.C. 1382), national parks (36 CFR 2.31) and DHS-protected federal buildings (6 CFR 139.35) each have their own rules and penalties.

Can you be charged with disorderly conduct for swearing?

Only if the words fit the statute and the constitutional limits. The Supreme Court allows punishment of fighting words, and courts in states such as Florida, Georgia, Ohio and Massachusetts have read their statutes to reach offensive language only within that narrow category.