Delaware Disorderly Conduct and Criminal Trespass Laws (2026)

Delaware's disorderly conduct statute, 11 Del. C. 1301, makes it a crime to intentionally cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or to create a risk of it, through listed acts such as fighting, unreasonable noise or abusive language. It is an unclassified misdemeanor; because section 1301 names no sentence, the default for unclassified misdemeanors applies: up to 30 days of incarceration and a fine of up to $575 (11 Del. C. 4206(c)).

Criminal trespass has three degrees. Third degree, entering or remaining unlawfully on any real property, is a violation; second degree (a building or fenced land) is an unclassified misdemeanor; and first degree (a dwelling or an animal building) is a class A misdemeanor. None of the trespass degrees is 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 Delaware's state statutes on disorderly conduct (11 Del. C. 1301), related public-order offenses in Title 11, chapter 5, subchapters VI and VII and Title 20, chapter 31, and criminal trespass (11 Del. C. 820 to 829 and the hunting trespass rule in Title 7). It does not cover local noise ordinances and quiet hours (see Delaware noise laws), the civil process for removing occupants (see Delaware squatters' rights), use of force against an intruder (see Delaware self-defense laws), county or municipal ordinances, civil trespass lawsuits, or federal property rules.

What counts as disorderly conduct in Delaware

Section 1301(a) has three paragraphs. Under paragraph (1), a person is guilty when the person "intentionally causes public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm to any other person, or creates a risk thereof" by:

• a. "Engaging in fighting or in violent, tumultuous or threatening behavior";
• b. "Making an unreasonable noise or an offensively coarse utterance, gesture or display, or addressing abusive language to any person present";
• c. "Disturbing any lawful assembly or meeting of persons without lawful authority";
• d. "Obstructing vehicular or pedestrian traffic";
• e. "Congregating with other persons in a public place and refusing to comply with a lawful order of the police to disperse";
• f. "Creating a hazardous or physically offensive condition which serves no legitimate purpose"; or
• g. congregating in a public place while wearing masks, hoods or other face-concealing garments "for the purpose of and in a manner likely to imminently subject any person to the deprivation of any rights, privileges or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States of America."

Paragraph (2) covers a person who engages "with at least 1 other person in a course of disorderly conduct" under paragraph (1) "which is likely to cause substantial harm or serious inconvenience, annoyance or alarm," and "refuses or knowingly fails to obey an order to disperse made by a peace officer to the participants."

Paragraph (3), added in 2025, covers a person who "intentionally interferes with the operation of a school bus" that is transporting, picking up or dropping off students, by boarding and refusing to exit after being lawfully ordered to by the driver or bus attendant, wrongfully restricting the bus's movement, or threatening the driver or a passenger. The section adds that "a statement that a person plans to hire an attorney, seek a legal remedy, or inform others about concerns, is not a threat," that an authorized passenger, including a student, "may not be guilty of disorderly conduct" under paragraph (3), and that a parent of a student with an IEP or section 504 plan does not violate the boarding or movement clauses when "addressing a health or safety concern involving their student in a manner that is safe for the other occupants of the school bus" (1301(c), (d)).

The noise clause is one line of the statute; quiet hours and decibel limits are covered in Delaware noise laws.

A "public place" for these offenses is "a place to which the public or a substantial group of persons has access," including highways, transportation facilities, schools, parks and the common areas of apartment houses and hotels (11 Del. C. 1337(b)). Delaware's Criminal Code has no separate breach of the peace or disturbing the peace offense in subchapter VII.

Penalty for disorderly conduct

"Disorderly conduct is an unclassified misdemeanor" (1301(b)). Section 4206(c) provides that if the law defining an unclassified misdemeanor specifies no sentence, "the sentence may include up to 30 days incarceration at Level V and such fine up to $575, restitution or other conditions as the court deems appropriate." Section 1301 contains no repeat-offender step-up.

Swearing, yelling and fighting

Subsection (a)(1)b reaches "an offensively coarse utterance, gesture or display" and "addressing abusive language to any person present," and (a)(1)a reaches fighting and "violent, tumultuous or threatening behavior." Each applies only when the person acts intentionally to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or creates a risk of it. Where fighting causes injury, the assault statutes may also apply; see Delaware assault laws.

Public intoxication

Delaware does make public intoxication an offense. Under 11 Del. C. 1315, a person is guilty when the person "appears in a public place manifestly under the influence of alcohol or narcotics or any other drug not administered or prescribed to be taken by a physician, to the degree that the person may be in danger or endanger other persons or property, or annoy persons in the vicinity." It is a violation, "unless the accused has been convicted of public intoxication twice before within 1 year, in which case the offense is an unclassified misdemeanor." Section 4210 provides that a person taken into custody for public intoxication is taken to a detoxification center, and that a diagnosis of chronic alcoholism is an affirmative defense to a 1315 charge.

Related public-order offenses

Among the other public-order offenses in Delaware's Criminal Code and emergency-management law are these:

• Riot (1302). Participating with 2 or more persons in a course of disorderly conduct with intent to commit or facilitate a felony or misdemeanor, with intent to prevent or coerce official action, or when a participant uses or plans to use a firearm or other deadly weapon, to the accused's knowledge. Riot is a class F felony, punishable by up to 3 years at Level V (4205(b)(6)), and a person over 16 may be prosecuted as an adult.
• Disorderly conduct at a funeral or memorial service (1303). Within 300 feet of the location of a funeral or memorial service, or within 1,000 feet of a funeral procession or burial, directing abusive epithets or making a threatening gesture likely to provoke a violent reaction, or intentionally disrupting the service. It covers the period from 1 hour before through 2 hours after. A first offense is a class A misdemeanor; a second or subsequent offense is a class F felony. Section 1303(d) allows a county or municipality to enforce its own more restrictive law.
• Falsely reporting an incident (1245). Knowingly making a false report or warning of a fire, explosion, crime, catastrophe or emergency where public alarm is likely or emergency vehicles might be summoned, a false report to law enforcement, or summoning fire, ambulance or rescue units without just cause. It is a class A misdemeanor, or a class G felony if the defendant has violated the section before. The statute adds a minimum fine of $500 ($1,000 for a false report of a child abduction that would trigger an alert) that cannot be suspended, at least 100 hours of community service, and reimbursement of response costs.
• Terroristic threatening by false statement (621(a)(2)). Making a false statement knowing it is likely to cause evacuation of a building, place of assembly or public transportation facility is a class E felony, up to 5 years. A false statement knowing it is likely to cause serious inconvenience, or made in reckless disregard of the risk of terror or serious inconvenience, is a class G felony, or a class F felony where the place is a daycare, nursery, preschool, school or long-term care facility for elderly persons. A first (a)(2) offense by a person 17 or younger is a class A misdemeanor. Each (a)(2) conviction also carries a fine of $1,000 to $2,500 that cannot be suspended and at least 100 hours of community service (621(c)).
• Hoax device (622). Possessing, transporting, using or placing a hoax device with intent to cause anxiety, unrest, fear or personal discomfort is a class F felony.
• Providing a false statement to law enforcement (1245A). Knowingly giving a law enforcement officer or agency a false statement material to an investigation, with intent to prevent, hinder or delay it. A class G felony if the crime investigated is a felony; otherwise a class A misdemeanor.
• Wearing a disguise during a felony (1239). Wearing a hood, mask or other disguise during the commission of any felony is a class E felony.
• Malicious interference with emergency communications (1313). Intentionally preventing or hindering another person's emergency call, or making repeated nonemergency calls to 911 knowing it is likely to disrupt operations. A class B misdemeanor.
• Loitering (1321). Six forms, including failing to move on when lawfully ordered by a police officer, obstructing a sidewalk after a reasonable request to make way, loitering for the purpose of begging, and prowling "under circumstances that warrant alarm for the safety of persons or property." For the prowling form, an officer must first give the person a chance to explain, and no one may be convicted if the officer did not or if the explanation was true and would have dispelled the alarm. Loitering is a violation. Section 1321 remains in the Code, but in an October 18, 2024 letter the Attorney General stated that the Department of Justice will not enforce it, or 21 Del. C. 4147 (standing in a highway to solicit employment, business, contributions or a ride), until the General Assembly amends them, directed prosecutors to cease enforcing both, told law enforcement agencies to stop relying on them for any stop, search or arrest, and asked that both be removed as charging options.
• Loitering on state-supported school, college or university property (1320). Remaining on the grounds without a custodial or other specific, legitimate reason and without written permission. A violation.
• Criminal nuisance (1322). Knowingly or recklessly creating or maintaining a condition that endangers others' safety or health, or knowingly maintaining premises where people gather to engage in unlawful conduct. An unclassified misdemeanor.
• Obstructing public passages (1323). Intentionally or recklessly making a public passage unreasonably inconvenient or hazardous to use, without legal privilege. A violation.
• Obstructing entrances to public buildings (1324). Knowingly preventing a person from passing through an entrance or exit of a public building; the section "shall not apply to lawful picketing or to picketing for any lawful union objective." An unclassified misdemeanor.
• Violating an emergency order (20 Del. C. 3125). Except where the chapter prescribes another penalty, violating chapter 31 or an emergency order issued under it carries a fine of $50 to $500 or up to 6 months of imprisonment for each violation.
• Destruction, looting or injury during a state of emergency (20 Del. C. 3128). Maliciously destroying or damaging property or injuring another during a state of emergency is a class C felony, punishable by up to 15 years (4205(b)(3)).

Criminal trespass in Delaware

The three degrees

Delaware grades trespass by the kind of property, not by notice:

• Third degree (821). "A person is guilty of criminal trespass in the third degree when the person knowingly enters or remains unlawfully upon real property." It is a violation.
• Second degree (822). Knowingly entering or remaining unlawfully "in a building or upon real property which is fenced or otherwise enclosed in a manner manifestly designed to exclude intruders." It is an unclassified misdemeanor.
• First degree (823). Knowingly entering or remaining unlawfully "in a dwelling or building used to shelter, house, milk, raise, feed, breed, study or exhibit animals." It is a class A misdemeanor.

A separate offense, trespassing with intent to peer or peep into a window or door of another (820), applies to a person who knowingly enters the occupied property of another used as a dwelling, intending to peer or peep into a window or door, and acts as a "Peeping Tom" while there. It is a class B misdemeanor.

Notice, signs and being told to leave

Third-degree trespass reaches any real property, and its text includes no requirement of signs, fencing or other notice. The controlling definition is in 11 Del. C. 829(e): a person enters or remains unlawfully "when the person is not licensed or privileged to do so." For places open to the public, the same subsection provides:

"A person who, regardless of intent, enters or remains upon premises which appear at the time to be open to the public does so with license and privilege unless the person defies a lawful order not to enter or remain, personally communicated by the owner of the premises or another authorized person. A license or privilege to enter or remain in a building which is only partly open to the public is not a license or privilege to enter or remain in that part of the building which is not open to the public."

So at a store or other place open to the public, a lawful order to leave, personally communicated by the owner or another authorized person, is what the statute ties the loss of privilege to. A person "enters" premises "when the person introduces any body part or any part of any instrument, by whatever means, into or upon the premises" (829(d)), and "premises" includes any building and any real property (829(h)).

Delaware's trespass subchapter (820 to 829) and its hunting subchapter (7 Del. C. 701 to 726) contain no posting rule and no purple paint provision.

Hunting, trapping and fishing trespass

Under 7 Del. C. 714, "Whoever enters upon the lands or waters of another within this State, without first obtaining permission to do so from the owner or lessee, for the purpose of hunting, trapping or fishing, shall be guilty of a class C environmental violation." Under 7 Del. C. 1304(f), that carries a fine of $100 to $250 plus costs; a repeat class C or greater environmental violation within 5 years carries $100 to $500 plus costs, up to 20 days of imprisonment, or both. A first-offense class C conviction is not reported on criminal history records provided for employment purposes (1304(i)). Section 724, which makes it an offense to obstruct lawful hunting, fishing or trapping, provides that those activities "while trespassing upon the private lands of another" are not lawful hunting for its purposes.

Utility infrastructure, burglary and squatting

Delaware's trespass subchapter has no separate critical infrastructure trespass offense. Section 811A instead makes it aggravated criminal mischief, a class D felony punishable by up to 8 years (4205(b)(4)), to knowingly damage or tamper with critical utility infrastructure "with the intent to interrupt or impair utility operations or the delivery, supply, or receipt of utility services." The listed infrastructure includes electric, gas, water, telecommunications and petroleum facilities, and the section does not apply to employees or contractors working in the scope of their employment.

Trespass becomes burglary when the person enters or remains unlawfully "with intent to commit a crime therein." Burglary in the third degree (a building) is a class F felony (824), and burglary in the second degree (a dwelling, or a building where the person is armed or injures someone) is a class D felony (825). Burglary in the first degree (an occupied dwelling) is a class C felony with a minimum of 1 year at Level V, and a class B felony when the person is armed with explosives or a deadly weapon or injures a non-participant (826).

Delaware's trespass and burglary subchapter contains no separate squatting offense, and forcible entry and detainer in 10 Del. C. 8123 is a civil writ procedure with time limits, not a crime. Unlawful occupancy of a building or land falls under the trespass degrees above. For the civil side of occupancy disputes, see Delaware squatters' rights; for the rules on force against an intruder, see Delaware self-defense laws.

Delaware disorderly conduct and trespass penalties at a glance

Delaware's class ranges come from Title 11, chapter 42. Felonies are in section 4205(b): class C up to 15 years, class D up to 8 years, class E up to 5 years, class F up to 3 years and class G up to 2 years, served at Level V. Misdemeanors are in section 4206: class A up to 1 year and a fine up to $2,300, class B up to 6 months and up to $1,150, and unclassified misdemeanors as their own statute provides or, if it is silent, up to 30 days and up to $575. Violations are in section 4207: a fine of up to $345 for a first offense, $690 for a second and $1,150 for a third of the same violation (counting only violations within 5 years), plus up to 1 year of Level I probation. For the full class table, see Delaware felony classes and misdemeanor penalties.

Recent changes

• 2025, 85 Del. Laws c. 194 (formerly Senate Bill 48), approved September 2, 2025. Added the school bus interference form, 1301(a)(3), along with the passenger exemption in 1301(c) and the IEP and section 504 parent exception in 1301(d). The chapter states no separate effective date.
• 84 Del. Laws c. 247. Added section 811A, aggravated criminal mischief for knowingly damaging critical utility infrastructure, a class D felony.

Federal law separately governs conduct on federal property and at the U.S. Capitol; see the disorderly conduct and trespass laws by state hub.

Related Delaware laws

• Disorderly conduct and trespass laws by state
• Delaware noise laws
• Delaware felony classes and misdemeanor penalties
• Delaware squatters' rights
• Delaware self-defense laws
• Delaware assault laws
• How to charge someone with trespassing

This article provides general legal information about Delaware's disorderly conduct, public-order and criminal trespass statutes as of 2026-10-18. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Delaware.

Last updated: 2026-10-18.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is disorderly conduct a misdemeanor in Delaware?

Yes. Section 1301(b) makes it an unclassified misdemeanor, and because 1301 sets no sentence, 4206(c) allows up to 30 days of incarceration and a fine of up to $575.

Can you get disorderly conduct for swearing in Delaware?

Section 1301(a)(1)b lists an offensively coarse utterance, gesture or display and addressing abusive language to any person present, but only when done intentionally to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or creating a risk of it.

Is public intoxication a crime in Delaware?

It is an offense under 11 Del. C. 1315 when a person appears in public manifestly under the influence to the degree of possible danger or annoyance. It is a violation, or an unclassified misdemeanor after two prior convictions within 1 year.

What are the degrees of criminal trespass in Delaware?

Third degree (821, any real property) is a violation; second degree (822, a building or fenced or enclosed land) is an unclassified misdemeanor; first degree (823, a dwelling or animal building) is a class A misdemeanor, up to 1 year and $2,300.

Is trespassing a felony in Delaware?

None of the three trespass degrees is a felony. Entering or remaining unlawfully in a building with intent to commit a crime there is burglary, a class F felony in the third degree (824) and higher when it involves a dwelling (825, class D) or an occupied dwelling (826, class C or B).

Does Delaware have a purple paint law?

No. Delaware's trespass subchapter (820 to 829) and hunting subchapter contain no posting or purple paint rule, and third-degree trespass reaches any real property entered or remained on unlawfully.

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

Under 829(e), a person on premises that appear open to the public is there with license and privilege unless the person defies a lawful order not to enter or remain, personally communicated by the owner or another authorized person. Remaining unlawfully after that can be criminal trespass.

Is squatting a crime in Delaware?

Delaware's trespass and burglary subchapter has no separate squatting offense; unlawfully entering or remaining in a building or on land falls under the trespass degrees. Forcible entry and detainer (10 Del. C. 8123) is a civil writ procedure.