Legal Question in Criminal Law in North Carolina

Disorderly conduct and public intoxication are not typically the same charges. Disorderly conduct includes a variety of offenses, while public intoxication alone is not a crime in North Carolina.

� 14 288.4. Disorderly conduct.

(a) Disorderly conduct is a public disturbance intentionally caused by any person who does any of the following:

(1) Engages in fighting or other violent conduct or in conduct creating the threat of imminent fighting or other violence.

(2) Makes or uses any utterance, gesture, display or abusive language which is intended and plainly likely to provoke violent retaliation and thereby cause a breach of the peace.

- And many more specific things -

It could also be charged under:

� 14 132. Disorderly conduct in and injuries to public buildings and facilities.

(a) It is a misdemeanor if any person shall:

(1) Make any rude or riotous noise, or be guilty of any disorderly conduct, in or near any public building or facility; or

(2) Unlawfully write or scribble on, mark, deface, besmear, or injure the walls of any public building or facility, or any statue or monument situated in any public place; or

(3) Commit any nuisance in or near any public building or facility.

- And many more specific things -

Both are Class 2 misdemeanors for the first offense.

There is a third way it could be charged:

� 14-444. Intoxicated and disruptive in public.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person in a public place to be intoxicated and disruptive

in any of the following ways:

(1) Blocking or otherwise interfering with traffic on a highway or public vehicular area, or

(2) Blocking or lying across or otherwise preventing or interfering with access to or passage across a sidewalk or entrance to a building, or

(3) Grabbing, shoving, pushing or fighting others or challenging others to fight, or

(4) Cursing or shouting at or otherwise rudely insulting others, or

(5) Begging for money or other property.

(b) Any person who violates this section shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.

Though public intoxication may be an element of a disorderly conduct charge, there are several differences between the two. Public intoxication is not a crime in North Carolina.

� 14-447. No prosecution for public intoxication.

(a) No person may be prosecuted solely for being intoxicated in a public place. A person who is intoxicated in a public place and is not disruptive may be assisted as provided in G.S. 122C-301.