Is Disorderly Conduct a Misdemeanor in Colorado? Penalties, Trespass

In Colorado, most disorderly conduct under C.R.S. 18-9-106 is a petty offense, not a misdemeanor: an offensive utterance that tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace, unreasonable noise, or fighting in public carries a fine of up to $300, up to 10 days in county jail, or both. Displaying a firearm in a public place in a manner calculated to alarm, when it does alarm someone, is a class 2 misdemeanor, and discharging a firearm in a public place is a class 1 misdemeanor.

Criminal trespass has three degrees under C.R.S. 18-4-502 to 18-4-504. Third degree is a petty offense; first degree, in another person's dwelling, is a class 1 misdemeanor, or a class 6 felony if the dwelling is inhabited or occupied. Trespass on agricultural land with intent to commit a felony there is also a felony. For other states, see our guide to disorderly conduct and trespass laws by state.

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

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Colorado's state criminal statutes on disorderly conduct and the other offenses in Part 1 of Article 9 of Title 18 ("Public Peace and Order"), the false-report and false-alarm offenses in Article 8 of Title 18, the alcohol-treatment limits in Title 27, criminal trespass in Part 5 of Article 4 of Title 18, the related burglary grades, and hunting on private land under C.R.S. 33-6-116. It does not cover local noise ordinances and quiet hours (see Colorado noise laws), the civil process for removing squatters (see Colorado squatters' rights), use of force against an intruder (see Colorado self-defense laws), civil trespass lawsuits, city or county ordinances, or federal property rules.

What counts as disorderly conduct in Colorado

Under C.R.S. 18-9-106(1), a person commits disorderly conduct if he or she "intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly":

• (a) Offensive utterance or gesture. "Makes a coarse and obviously offensive utterance, gesture, or display in a public place and the utterance, gesture, or display tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace."
• (c) Noise. "Makes unreasonable noise in a public place or near a private residence that he has no right to occupy."
• (d) Fighting. "Fights with another in a public place except in an amateur or professional contest of athletic skill."
• (e) Firing a gun in public. "Not being a peace officer, discharges a firearm in a public place except when engaged in lawful target practice or hunting or the ritual discharge of blank ammunition cartridges as an attendee at a funeral for a deceased person who was a veteran of the armed forces of the United States."
• (f) Displaying a firearm. Not being a peace officer, displaying a real or simulated firearm, or an article fashioned to make a person reasonably believe it is a firearm, or representing "verbally or otherwise" that one is armed with a firearm, "in a public place in a manner calculated to alarm and does alarm another person."

Paragraph (b) was deleted in 2000. The mental state for every clause is "intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly." The noise clause, (1)(c), is the state's general noise offense; local codes usually set quiet hours and decibel limits, which our Colorado noise ordinance laws page covers.

Is disorderly conduct a misdemeanor in Colorado?

Only some forms. Section 18-9-106(3) grades each clause:

• (1)(a) offensive utterance and (1)(c) noise: petty offense, "except that, if the offense is committed with intent to disrupt, impair, or interfere with a funeral, or with intent to cause severe emotional distress to a person attending a funeral, it is a class 2 misdemeanor."
• (1)(d) fighting: petty offense.
• (1)(f) displaying a firearm: class 2 misdemeanor.
• (1)(e) discharging a firearm: class 1 misdemeanor.

Under C.R.S. 18-1.3-503(1.5), for offenses committed on or after March 1, 2022, a petty offense is punishable by "a fine of not more than three hundred dollars, imprisonment for not more than ten days in a county jail, or both." Under C.R.S. 18-1.3-501(1)(a.5), for offenses on or after that date, a class 1 misdemeanor carries up to 364 days, a fine of up to $1,000, or both, and a class 2 misdemeanor up to 120 days, a fine of up to $750, or both. Section 18-9-106 itself has no felony form, although under the habitual domestic violence offender provision, "Any misdemeanor offense that includes an act of domestic violence is a class 5 felony" when the defendant has three or more prior domestic violence convictions from separate episodes (18-6-801(7)(a)); domestic violence means violence against a current or former intimate partner, or another crime used to coerce, control, punish, intimidate or take revenge on that partner (18-6-800.3(1)).

Swearing, yelling and drinking in public

• Swearing or insults. Clause (1)(a) requires both a "coarse and obviously offensive" utterance, gesture or display "in a public place" and that it "tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace." Repeated coarse insults or taunts likely to provoke a violent or disorderly response can instead be harassment under 18-9-111(1)(h), a class 2 misdemeanor, and directing obscene language or an obscene gesture at someone in a public place is harassment under 18-9-111(1)(b), a petty offense.
• Fighting. Fighting in public is clause (1)(d), a petty offense; contests of athletic skill are excepted. Assault is a separate set of offenses; see Colorado assault laws.
• Being drunk in public. Part 1 of Article 9 contains no intoxication offense. Title 27 goes further: under C.R.S. 27-81-117(1), a county, municipality or other political subdivision "may not adopt or enforce a local law, ordinance, resolution, or rule having the force of law that includes drinking, being a person with an alcohol use disorder, or being found in an intoxicated condition as one of the elements of the offense." When an intoxicated person is taken into protective custody under C.R.S. 27-81-111, that "is not an arrest, and an entry or other record shall not be made to indicate that the person has been arrested or charged with a crime."

Riot, assembly and other public-order offenses in Colorado

Part 1 of Article 9 also holds Colorado's riot and disruption offenses. For this part, a "riot" is "a public disturbance involving an assemblage of three or more persons which by tumultuous and violent conduct creates grave danger of damage or injury to property or persons or substantially obstructs the performance of any governmental function" (C.R.S. 18-9-101(2)). Among the offenses in Part 1 are these:

• Engaging in a riot, 18-9-104. A class 2 misdemeanor, but a class 4 felony "if in the course of rioting the actor employs a deadly weapon, a destructive device," or an article fashioned to look like a deadly weapon, or represents that he or she is armed with a deadly weapon.
• Inciting riot, 18-9-102. Inciting or urging "a group of five or more persons to engage in a current or impending riot," or giving them commands, instructions or signals in furtherance of a riot. A class 1 misdemeanor, but "if injury to a person or damage to property results therefrom, it is a class 5 felony."
• Arming rioters, 18-9-103. Knowingly supplying a deadly weapon or destructive device for use in a riot, or teaching another to prepare or use one intending it be used in a riot. Class 4 felony.
• Disobeying a public safety order during a riot, 18-9-105. Knowingly disobeying "a reasonable public safety order to move, disperse, or refrain from specified activities in the immediate vicinity of the riot," during a riot or when one is impending. Class 2 misdemeanor. No such order applies to a news reporter or other person observing or recording for the news media unless that person is physically obstructing the response, and "inapplicability of the order is an affirmative defense."
• Obstructing a highway or other passageway, 18-9-107. Without legal privilege, intentionally, knowingly or recklessly obstructing a highway, street, sidewalk, railway, waterway, building entrance or other place of public passage, or disobeying a reasonable request or order to move from a peace officer, firefighter or person with authority over the premises. A petty offense, but knowingly obstructing the entrance to or exit from a funeral or funeral site, or a passageway where a funeral procession is taking place, is a class 2 misdemeanor.
• Disrupting a lawful assembly, 18-9-108. Intending to prevent or disrupt a lawful meeting, procession or gathering, significantly obstructing or interfering with it "by physical action, verbal utterance, or any other means." A petty offense; a class 2 misdemeanor if the actor knows it is a funeral.
• Interference with a funeral, 18-9-125. Knowing a funeral is being conducted, refusing to leave private property within 100 feet of the funeral site when the owner or the owner's agent asks, or refusing to leave public property within 100 feet when asked by a public official with authority over it or a peace officer who has reasonable grounds to believe the person has violated a rule or regulation applicable to that property, a statute or a local ordinance. Class 2 misdemeanor: up to 120 days, up to $750, or both. Section 18-9-125(2) makes the minimum fine prescribed by 18-1.3-501(1) mandatory, but the class 2 table for offenses on or after March 1, 2022 sets no minimum fine, only a maximum of $750 (the table for earlier offenses set a $250 minimum).
• Residential picketing, 18-9-108.5. "Targeted picketing" is picketing directed at a residence or its occupants on the sidewalk or street in front of or beside the residence or an adjoining one. Subsection (3) forbids it unless the picketer keeps marching, without stopping in front of or beside the residence, along a route extending beyond three adjacent structures or 300 feet on each side, whichever is shorter, and limits each targeted picketer to one sign of no more than six square feet. Under subsection (5), there is no violation unless a peace officer first ordered the person to move or comply and the person failed to promptly comply. A violation is a petty offense.
• Schools and colleges, 18-9-109. Willfully refusing or failing to leave an educational institution's property when asked by the chief administrative officer, a designee or a dean, while committing, threatening or inciting acts that would disrupt the institution's lawful functions, is a class 2 misdemeanor under 18-9-109(5)(a); violating subsection (1) is a petty offense. Impeding staff, faculty or students by restraint, coercion, intimidation or force (18-9-109(2)) is also a class 2 misdemeanor. Knowingly making a credible threat to cause death, or bodily injury with a deadly weapon, against a student, school official, employee or invitee on the premises is a class 1 misdemeanor (18-9-109(6)). Exercising "the right to lawful assembly and peaceful and orderly petition for the redress of grievances" is an affirmative defense under 18-9-109(4).
• School loitering, 18-9-112. Loitering in or within 100 feet of a school building or grounds when persons under 18 are present, with intent to disrupt the school program or to interfere with or endanger schoolchildren, without a custody or other legitimate reason, after being asked to leave by a school administrator, the administrator's representative or a peace officer. Petty offense. This is the only loitering offense in Part 1.
• Public buildings, 18-9-110. Willfully refusing to leave a public building when the chief administrative officer or a designee asks, after disruptive acts, is a petty offense (subsection (3)); disrupting a meeting of a judicial, legislative or administrative body by intrusion or intimidation is a class 2 misdemeanor (subsection (4)), as is impeding a public official or employee by restraint, coercion, intimidation or force (subsection (2)). Picketing inside a building housing the General Assembly's chambers or offices is a petty offense (subsection (6)).
• Unlawful conduct on public property, 18-9-117. The officer or agency managing a public building or public property may adopt rules on listed matters, including camping and picnicking, public meetings and assemblages, and fires. Violating such a rule is a petty offense. Violating a fire restriction or ban adopted under (1)(g) is a class 2 misdemeanor with a mandatory fine of $250 to $1,000, and violating a rule protecting funerals or funeral processions under (1)(c) is a class 2 misdemeanor. "No conviction may be obtained under this section unless notice of such limitations or prohibitions is prominently posted at all public entrances" or actually given to the person first.
• Other Part 1 offenses. Desecrating a public monument, a place of worship or a burial place is a class 2 misdemeanor (18-9-113); knowingly and forcibly stopping and hindering a public transportation vehicle without lawful authority is a petty offense (18-9-114); knowingly obstructing entry to or exit from a health-care facility is a petty offense (18-9-122(2)), and within 100 feet of a health-care facility entrance, knowingly approaching within eight feet of a person without consent to hand them a leaflet, show a sign or engage in oral protest, education or counseling is also a petty offense (18-9-122(3)); and barricading or refusing police entry by force and refusing to leave when a peace officer with probable cause asks is a class 2 misdemeanor, a class 1 misdemeanor if the person also holds or confines someone without a deadly weapon or makes an officer believe he or she is armed, a class 4 felony if the person holds a hostage by making the hostage believe he or she has a deadly weapon, and a class 3 felony if the person holds a hostage with a deadly weapon; a convicted person also pays up to $2,000 of extraordinary police expenses (18-9-119).
• Harassment, 18-9-111. With intent to harass, annoy or alarm another person, doing any of the listed acts, including striking, shoving or other physical contact, following someone in a public place, directing obscene language or an obscene gesture at someone in a public place, repeatedly insulting, taunting or challenging someone in offensively coarse language likely to provoke a violent or disorderly response, or wrongfully interfering with a transit worker. Section 18-9-111(2) grades the forms: obscene language or gestures in public is a petty offense; the repeated-insult, harassing-communication and repeated-call forms are class 2 misdemeanors; and physical contact, following, interfering with a transit worker, or any form committed because of the person's actual or perceived race, religion or another listed characteristic is a class 1 misdemeanor.

False alarms and false reports (Title 18, Article 8)

Knowingly reporting that a bomb, explosive, chemical or biological agent, poison, weapon or harmful radioactive substance has been placed somewhere, knowing the report is false, is a class 5 felony (C.R.S. 18-8-110(1)). A knowingly false report of a mass shooting or active shooter that causes an evacuation or shelter-in-place order, disrupts regular activities or starts a standard response protocol is a class 6 felony (18-8-110(2)).

Under 18-8-111(1), knowingly causing a false fire or emergency alarm, or reporting a crime or incident to law enforcement knowing it did not occur, is false reporting to authorities, a class 2 misdemeanor. When the false report is of an imminent threat to people by use of a deadly weapon, it is false reporting of an emergency under 18-8-111(2): a class 2 misdemeanor; a class 1 misdemeanor if it causes an evacuation, shelter-in-place order, disruption or standard response protocol, or bodily injury; a class 4 felony if the emergency response results in serious bodily injury; and a class 3 felony if it results in death. The court must also order restitution of the response costs.

Part 1 has no separate breach of the peace or affray offense; "breach of the peace" appears only as an element of the disorderly conduct clause in 18-9-106(1)(a).

Criminal trespass in Colorado

Colorado has three degrees of criminal trespass in Part 5 of Article 4:

• First degree, 18-4-502: knowingly and unlawfully entering or remaining "in a dwelling of another," or entering any motor vehicle "with intent to commit a crime therein."
• Second degree, 18-4-503: unlawfully entering or remaining on premises of another "which are enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders or are fenced"; knowingly and unlawfully entering or remaining in "the common areas of a hotel, motel, condominium, or apartment building"; or knowingly and unlawfully entering or remaining in another person's motor vehicle.
• Third degree, 18-4-504: unlawfully entering or remaining "in or upon premises of another."

For second- and third-degree trespass, "premises" means "real property, buildings, and other improvements thereon, and the stream banks and beds of any nonnavigable fresh water streams flowing through such real property" (C.R.S. 18-4-504.5).

Grades, and when trespass is a felony

• First degree (dwelling): class 1 misdemeanor, "but it is a class 6 felony if the dwelling is inhabited or occupied" (18-4-502(2)(a)). First degree by entering a motor vehicle with intent to commit a crime is a class 1 misdemeanor.
• Second degree (fenced or enclosed premises; common areas): petty offense, "but it is a class 5 felony if the person trespasses on premises so classified as agricultural land with the intent to commit a felony thereon" (18-4-503(2)(a)). Second degree in another person's motor vehicle is a class 2 misdemeanor.
• Third degree: petty offense, but a class 5 felony "if the person trespasses on premises classified as agricultural land with the intent to commit a felony thereon; except that it is a class 6 felony if the agricultural land did not have a fence securing the perimeter" (18-4-504(2)(b)).
• Habitual domestic violence offender (18-6-801(7)): a misdemeanor trespass, such as first-degree trespass in an uninhabited dwelling or second-degree trespass in a vehicle, becomes a class 5 felony if it includes an act of domestic violence and the defendant has been "previously convicted of three or more prior offenses that included an act of domestic violence and that were separately brought and tried and arising out of separate criminal episodes" (18-6-801(7)(a)). Domestic violence covers a crime against property only "when used as a method of coercion, control, punishment, intimidation, or revenge directed against a person with whom the actor is or has been involved in an intimate relationship" (18-6-800.3(1)). The prior convictions may be federal, state or municipal, and may be felonies, misdemeanors or ordinance violations (18-6-801(7)(b)).

Under the felony table in C.R.S. 18-1.3-401(1)(a)(V.5)(A), for offenses committed on or after July 1, 2020, the presumptive range for a class 6 felony is 1 year to 18 months, and for a class 5 felony 1 to 3 years, with mandatory parole periods of one year (class 6) and two years (class 5).

Notice: signs, fences and personal warnings

The definition of entering or remaining "unlawfully" in C.R.S. 18-4-201(3) applies across Article 4. A person is there unlawfully when "not licensed, invited, or otherwise privileged to do so." Then:

• Unfenced, unused land. A person on "unimproved and apparently unused land that is neither fenced nor otherwise enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders" is there with license and privilege "unless notice against trespass is personally communicated to the person by the owner of the land or some other authorized person or unless notice forbidding entry is given by posting with signs at intervals of not more than four hundred forty yards or, if there is a readily identifiable entrance to the land, by posting with signs at such entrance." The hunting rule in C.R.S. 33-6-116(1) is an exception to this.
• Designated access roads. On a designated access road not otherwise posted, notice "shall be posted at the entrance to private land" and read substantially: "ENTERING PRIVATE PROPERTY REMAIN ON ROADS."
• Buildings partly open to the public. Permission to be in the open part of a building is not permission to be in "that part of the building that is not open to the public."

Knowingly marring, destroying or removing a posted notice authorized by law is a civil infraction (C.R.S. 18-4-510).

Does Colorado have a purple paint law?

No. Neither Title 18 nor Article 6 of Title 33, the wildlife article that governs hunting on private land, contains a purple paint provision. Posted notice under 18-4-201(3) is given by signs, at intervals of no more than 440 yards or at a readily identifiable entrance.

Asked to leave a store or other business

For premises open to the public, 18-4-201(3) provides that a person who enters or remains "regardless of his or her intent" does so "with license and privilege unless the person defies a lawful order not to enter or remain, personally communicated to him or her by the owner of the premises or some other authorized person."

A retailer's written ban is graded under the burglary statute. Second degree burglary under C.R.S. 18-4-203(1) is knowingly breaking into, entering unlawfully or remaining unlawfully in a building or occupied structure "with intent to commit therein a crime against another person or property." Under 18-4-203(2)(c), it is a class 2 misdemeanor "if the person knowingly violated a written notice by a retailer or an order by a court of lawful jurisdiction specifically restraining a person from entering a particular retail location during hours which the retail store is open to the public." Otherwise, second degree burglary is a class 4 felony for an occupied structure or a building used for a commercial business, and a class 3 felony for a dwelling or when the objective is theft of a controlled substance or of firearms or ammunition (18-4-203(2)(a), (b)); burglary of any other building is a class 5 felony (18-4-203(2)(d), added by HB 23-1293 for offenses on or after October 1, 2023).

Hunting on private land

Under C.R.S. 33-6-116(1), it is unlawful "to enter upon privately owned land or lands under the control of the state board of land commissioners to hunt or take any wildlife by hunting, trapping, or fishing without first obtaining permission from the owner or person in possession of such land." A violation is a misdemeanor punished by "a fine of two hundred dollars and an assessment of twenty license suspension points" (33-6-116(3)). Posting or signing public land not held under an exclusive control lease as privately owned is also unlawful under 33-6-116(2).

Surveyors, squatters and force

Licensed professional land surveyors, and people under their direct supervision, who give the notice required by C.R.S. 18-4-515(2) do not violate the Part 5 trespass laws when they enter land to investigate boundary evidence and perform boundary surveys. Title 18 contains no separate squatting or critical-infrastructure trespass offense; for the civil removal process see Colorado squatters' rights, and for force against an intruder see Colorado self-defense laws.

Colorado disorderly conduct and trespass penalties at a glance

Petty-offense penalties come from C.R.S. 18-1.3-503(1.5) and misdemeanor penalties from C.R.S. 18-1.3-501(1)(a.5), both for offenses committed on or after March 1, 2022. Felony figures are the presumptive ranges in C.R.S. 18-1.3-401(1)(a)(V.5)(A) for offenses on or after July 1, 2020. For the full class table, see Colorado felony and misdemeanor classes.

Recent changes

• March 1, 2022: misdemeanor reclassification. SB 21-271 reduced misdemeanors to two classes and set the single petty-offense penalty for offenses committed on or after March 1, 2022. It amended 18-9-106(1)(f) and (3), the three trespass sections and many of the Part 1 offenses above. The class penalties quoted on this page apply to offenses committed on or after that date.
• October 1, 2023: felony regrading. HB 23-1293, for offenses committed on or after October 1, 2023, reduced second-degree trespass on agricultural land with intent to commit a felony from a class 4 to a class 5 felony, made the third-degree form a class 6 felony when the land had no perimeter fence, added a class 5 felony grade for second degree burglary of other buildings, and raised the armed hostage forms of 18-9-119 to class 3 and class 4 felonies.
• 2025: transit workers. HB 25-1290, effective August 6, 2025, added a transit worker definition to 18-9-101(3) and made wrongfully interfering with a transit worker a form of harassment under 18-9-111(1)(i); it does not change the riot or disorderly conduct text.

Section 18-9-106 carries no 2025 or 2026 amendment in the 2026 compilation of Title 18. Federal law separately governs conduct on federal property and at the U.S. Capitol; our state-by-state disorderly conduct and trespass guide covers that layer.

Related Colorado and state-by-state guides

• Disorderly conduct and trespass laws by state
• Colorado noise ordinance laws
• Colorado felony and misdemeanor classes
• Colorado squatters' rights
• Colorado assault laws
• Colorado self-defense laws
• Colorado record sealing laws

This article provides general legal information about Colorado law as of 2026-10-18. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Colorado.

Last updated: 2026-10-18.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is disorderly conduct a misdemeanor in Colorado?

Usually not. Offensive utterances, unreasonable noise and fighting under C.R.S. 18-9-106 are petty offenses, punishable by up to $300, up to 10 days in jail, or both. Displaying a firearm to alarm is a class 2 misdemeanor and discharging a firearm in public is a class 1 misdemeanor.

Can you get disorderly conduct for swearing in Colorado?

Clause 18-9-106(1)(a) covers a coarse and obviously offensive utterance, gesture or display in a public place only when it tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace. It is a petty offense, or a class 2 misdemeanor if done with intent to disrupt a funeral or distress a mourner. Repeated coarse insults or taunts likely to provoke a violent or disorderly response can instead be harassment under 18-9-111(1)(h), a class 2 misdemeanor.

Is public intoxication a crime in Colorado?

Part 1 of Article 9 of Title 18 contains no intoxication offense, and C.R.S. 27-81-117(1) bars counties and municipalities from making drinking or being found intoxicated an element of an offense. Protective custody of an intoxicated person under 27-81-111 is not an arrest.

What are the degrees of criminal trespass in Colorado?

First degree (18-4-502) is a dwelling of another, or a vehicle entered with intent to commit a crime. Second degree (18-4-503) covers fenced or enclosed premises, common areas of hotels and apartment buildings, and another person's vehicle. Third degree (18-4-504) is any premises of another.

Is trespassing a felony in Colorado?

Under the trespass sections, in three situations: first-degree trespass in a dwelling that is inhabited or occupied (class 6 felony), and second- or third-degree trespass on agricultural land with intent to commit a felony there (class 5 felony, or class 6 in third degree if the land had no perimeter fence). Other trespass is a petty offense or misdemeanor, except that a misdemeanor trespass that includes an act of domestic violence, meaning it was 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 (18-6-801(7)).

What does a no trespassing sign need in Colorado?

For unimproved, apparently unused land that is not fenced, C.R.S. 18-4-201(3) requires personal notice or signs at intervals of not more than 440 yards, or signs at a readily identifiable entrance. Hunting, trapping or fishing on private land needs the owner's permission whether or not the land is posted (33-6-116). An unposted designated access road needs a sign at the entrance reading substantially: ENTERING PRIVATE PROPERTY REMAIN ON ROADS.

Does Colorado have a purple paint law?

No. Title 18 and the wildlife article of Title 33 contain no purple paint provision. Posted notice under 18-4-201(3) is given by signs.

What happens if a store tells you to leave in Colorado?

Under 18-4-201(3), a person in premises open to the public is there with license unless the person defies a lawful order not to enter or remain, personally communicated by the owner or another authorized person. Burglary committed while knowingly violating a retailer's written notice or a court order barring entry to that store is a class 2 misdemeanor under 18-4-203(2)(c).

Is hunting on private land without permission a crime in Colorado?

Yes. C.R.S. 33-6-116 makes it a misdemeanor to enter private land to hunt, trap or fish without the owner's permission, punished by a $200 fine and 20 license suspension points.