Rhode Island § 11-45-1 § 11-45-1. Disorderly conduct.

Rhode Island Statutes

§ 11-45-1 — § 11-45-1. Disorderly conduct.

Rhode Island § 11-45-1

Title 11Criminal Offenses

Ch. 11-45Disorderly Conduct

This text of Rhode Island § 11-45-1 (§ 11-45-1. Disorderly conduct.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Rhode Island primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-45-1 (2026).

Text

§ 11-45-1. Disorderly conduct.
(a) A person commits disorderly conduct if he or she intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly:
         
(1) Engages in fighting or threatening, or in violent or tumultuous behavior;
         
(2) In a public place or near a private residence that he or she has no right to occupy,
            disturbs another person by making loud and unreasonable noise which under the circumstances
            would disturb a person of average sensibilities;
         
(3) Directs at another person in a public place offensive words which are likely to provoke
            a violent reac

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§ 11-45-1. Disorderly conduct.

(a) A person commits disorderly conduct if he or she intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly:

(1) Engages in fighting or threatening, or in violent or tumultuous behavior;

(2) In a public place or near a private residence that he or she has no right to occupy, disturbs another person by making loud and unreasonable noise which under the circumstances would disturb a person of average sensibilities;

(3) Directs at another person in a public place offensive words which are likely to provoke a violent reaction on the part of the average person so addressed;

(4) Alone or with others, obstructs a highway, street, sidewalk, railway, waterway, building entrance, elevator, aisle, stairway, or hallway to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access or any other place ordinarily used for the passage of persons, vehicles, or conveyances;

(5) Engages in conduct which obstructs or interferes physically with a lawful meeting, procession, or gathering;

(6) Enters upon the property of another and for a lascivious purpose looks into an occupied dwelling or other building on the property through a window or other opening; or

(7) Who without the knowledge or consent of the individual, looks for a lascivious purpose through a window, or any other opening into an area in which another would have a reasonable expectation of privacy, including, but not limited to, a restroom, locker room, shower, changing room, dressing room, bedroom, or any other such private area, notwithstanding any property rights the individual may have in the location in which the private area is located.

(8) [Deleted by P.L. 2008, ch. 183, § 1].

(b) Any person, including a police officer, may be a complainant for the purposes of instituting action for any violation of this section.

(c) Any person found guilty of the crime of disorderly conduct shall be imprisoned for a term of not more than six (6) months, or fined not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or both.

(d) In no event shall subdivisions (a)(2) — (5) of this section be construed to prevent lawful picketing or lawful demonstrations including, but not limited to, those relating to a labor dispute.

Legislative History

P.L. 1979, ch. 304, § 1; P.L. 1987, ch. 44, § 1; P.L. 1988, ch. 539, § 12; P.L. 1998, ch. 124, § 1; P.L. 1998, ch. 301, § 1; P.L. 2003, ch. 193, § 1; P.L. 2003, ch. 195, § 1; P.L. 2004, ch. 202, § 1; P.L. 2004, ch. 206, § 1; P.L. 2007, ch. 330, § 1; P.L. 2008, ch. 183, § 1.