H.B. 217

1

DISORDERLY CONDUCT AMENDMENTS
2 1999 GENERAL SESSION
3 STATE OF UTAH
4 Sponsor: Afton B. Bradshaw
5 AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL LAW; AMENDING THE DEFINITION OF
6 DISORDERLY CONDUCT BY DELETING ABUSIVE OR OBSCENE LANGUAGE, IN
7 COMPLIANCE WITH A UTAH SUPREME COURT RULING; MAKING TECHNICAL
8 CORRECTIONS; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
9 This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
10 AMENDS:
11 76-9-102, as enacted by Chapter 196, Laws of Utah 1973
12 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
13 Section 1. Section 76-9-102 is amended to read:
14 76-9-102. Disorderly conduct.
15 (1) A person is guilty of disorderly conduct if:
16 (a) [He] he refuses to comply with the lawful order of the police to move from a public
17 place, or knowingly creates a hazardous or physically offensive condition, by any act which serves
18 no legitimate purpose; or
19 (b) [Intending] intending to cause public inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm, or recklessly
20 creating a risk thereof, he:
21 (i) [He] engages in fighting or in violent, tumultuous, or threatening behavior; [or]
22 (ii) [He] makes unreasonable noises in a public place; [or]
23 (iii) [He] makes unreasonable noises in a private place which can be heard in a public
24 place; or
25 [(iv) He engages in abusive or obscene language or makes obscene gestures in a public
26 place; or]
27 [(v) He] (iv) obstructs vehicular or pedestrian traffic.

28 (2) "Public place," for the purpose of this section, means any place to which the public or
29 a substantial group of the public has access and includes but is not limited to streets, highways, and
30 the common areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses, office buildings, transport facilities, and
31 shops.
32 (3) Disorderly conduct is a class C misdemeanor if the offense continues after a request
33 by a person to desist. Otherwise it is an infraction.
34 Section 2. Effective date.
35 If approved by two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, this act takes effect
36 upon approval by the governor, or the day following the constitutional time limit of Utah
37 Constitution Article VII, Section 8, without the governor's signature, or in the case of a veto, the
38 date of veto override.




Legislative Review Note
as of 1-5-99 3:27 PM

A limited legal review of this legislation raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel