Fort Collins Disorderly Conduct Lawyer
Is Public Drunkenness a Crime in Fort Collins?

Public drunkenness is not a criminal charge in Fort Collins, but often people who are drunk in public end up with Disorderly Conduct charges.

We often hear about actors, musicians, and other famous people being charged for being drunk in public. In Fort Collins, Loveland, and Estes Park, public drunkenness is not actually a crime. However, there is one Colorado criminal statute that tends to coincide with drinking in public – Disorderly Conduct.

Larimer County Disorderly Conduct Attorney: What is the Definition of Disorderly Conduct?

In Larimer, Boulder, and Grand County, Disorderly Conduct – C.R.S. 18-9-106 – is defined as:

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

(a) 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; or

(c) Makes unreasonable noise in a public place or near a private residence that he has no right to occupy; or

(d) Fights with another in a public place except in an amateur or professional contest of athletic skill; or

(e) 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; or

(f) Not being a peace officer, displays a real or simulated firearm, displays any article used or fashioned in a manner to cause a person to reasonably believe that the article is a firearm, or represents verbally or otherwise that he or she is armed with a firearm in a public place in a manner calculated to alarm and does alarm another person.

Generally, when alcohol is involved, parts (a), (c), and (d) are the commonly charged subsections. When drunk, people tend to get loud and easily offended – making offensive remarks, and starting fights with others.

Sentence for Disorderly Conduct For Excessive Noise in Public in Loveland

Disorderly Conduct can be charged as a class 1 petty offense, a class 2 misdemeanor, or a class 1 misdemeanor in Fort Collins and Loveland, depending on which subsection you are charged under.


If you or someone you love has been charged with Disorderly Conduct, be smart, exercise your right to remain silent, and contact the best Disorderly Conduct criminal defense attorneys from the O’Malley Law Office at 970-658-0007 today. Together, we can protect your future.

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