Disorderly conduct is one of the most common charges in Ohio's municipal courts, and it has two lives. As a charge, it is written for arguing outside a bar, yelling at an officer, refusing to leave a party, or being drunk enough in public to be a risk to yourself. As a plea, it is the offense many other misdemeanors get reduced to, because it is a minor misdemeanor in its basic form and does not read as violence or dishonesty on a record. Which of those two you are dealing with changes everything about how to handle it.
Disorderly conduct, as defined in Revised Code 2917.11, is written broadly on purpose. It requires recklessly causing inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm to another person by one of the listed kinds of conduct, and the list is wide enough that officers use it as a catch-all when nothing else quite fits. The conduct it reaches:
In Ohio, disorderly conduct is generally a minor misdemeanor, which carries a fine of up to $150 and no jail time. It can be elevated to a fourth-degree misdemeanor when an aggravating circumstance is present, such as:
The minor misdemeanor version is a ticket. The fourth-degree version carries up to 30 days in jail and goes on a criminal record, and the only thing separating them is an aggravating fact, most often that the person persisted after being told to stop. That fact comes from the officer's report, and whether the warning was actually given, and actually understood, is where these cases are argued. The other argument is more basic: loud is not the same as disorderly, and an officer being annoyed is not the same as the public being alarmed.
Disorderly conduct can be written as a minor misdemeanor or as a fourth-degree misdemeanor, and only the second carries the possibility of jail. Which one you are facing turns on details like whether you persisted after a warning. Speak with one of our attorneys about how your charge has been written. Consultations are free and confidential.
The Law Offices of Brian J. Smith, ltd. handles disorderly conduct charges in municipal and mayor's courts across Northern Ohio. On a fourth-degree charge, the goal is usually to get it down to the minor misdemeanor or dismissed, so there is no jail exposure and nothing that reads as a criminal record. On a minor misdemeanor, the question is whether paying it will cost more later than it seems to now, which for students, license holders, and anyone with a pending immigration matter it often does. Consultations are free and confidential.
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The attorneys at The Law Offices of Brian J. Smith, ltd. provide criminal defense representation in courts along the North Coast of Ohio, including all courts in the following counties: Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Ottawa, Portage, Sandusky, and Summit.
20545 Center Ridge Road, Ste. 215, Rocky River, OH 44116
Huron, Ohio. Port Clinton, Ohio. Wickliffe, Ohio.
Please keep in mind that the success of any legal matter depends on the unique circumstances of each case and we cannot guarantee particular results for future clients based on successes we have achieved in past legal matters.
The Law Offices of Brian J. Smith, ltd. provides legal services throughout Ohio, from Ashtabula to Cleveland to Toledo, including Sandusky, Akron, Vermilion, Huron, Elyria, Lorain, Port Clinton, Rocky River, Parma, Oak Harbor, Norwalk, Milan, Amherst, Sheffield, Avon, Oberlin, North Ridgeville, North Olmsted, Bay Village, Westlake, Cleveland Heights, Lakewood, Brook Park, Garfield Heights, Euclid, Maple Heights, Bellevue, Clyde and Berea, and within counties such as Cuyahoga, Lorain, Erie, Ottawa, Sandusky, Huron, Geauga, Lake, Ashtabula, Portage and Summit.
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