Disorderly Conduct Lawyer In Beaumont, TX
Disorderly conduct is not one act but a list of them in Penal Code § 42.01. Most are fine-only Class C misdemeanors, and two involving firearms carry jail time. This page explains the list, the penalties and how a citation can be defended.
What Is Disorderly Conduct In Texas?
Disorderly conduct under Penal Code § 42.01 is a list of public order acts, including offensive language that tends to incite a breach of the peace, unreasonable noise, fighting in public, and firearm discharge or display. Most are Class C misdemeanors with a fine only. The two firearm provisions are Class B.
Source: Texas Penal Code Chapter 42, Disorderly Conduct and Related Offenses
Understanding Texas Law
How Does Texas Law Define Disorderly Conduct?
Penal Code § 42.01 makes it an offense to commit any one of a series of acts intentionally or knowingly. Each item has its own elements, and a citation or complaint should say which one is alleged. The label on the ticket is broad, but the statute behind it is specific.
Several items apply only in a "public place," which § 1.07 defines as any place the public or a substantial group of it can enter, including streets, parking lots, schools, and the common areas of apartment buildings and businesses.
The list in § 42.01(a) covers conduct such as:
- Abusive or vulgar words in public that tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace
- An offensive gesture or display in public with the same tendency
- Abusing or threatening a person in public in an obviously offensive manner
- Unreasonable noise in public, or near a private residence
- Fighting in a public place
- Discharging a firearm in a public place or on or across a public road
- Displaying a firearm in public in a manner calculated to alarm
- Exposing the genitals or anus in public, or looking into a home, restroom or changing area for a lewd purpose
For each act, the state has to prove the conduct itself, a public place where the subsection needs one, and the required mental state, all beyond a reasonable doubt.
Penalties And Consequences
What Are The Penalties For Disorderly Conduct In Texas?
The level depends on which subsection is charged. These are statutory limits, not predictions.
Most subsections. No jail.
The two firearm provisions.
- Most subsections
- Class C misdemeanor. A fine up to $500 and no jail.
- Firearm in public, (a)(7) and (a)(8)
- Class B misdemeanor. Up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.
- Firearm on or across a road, (a)(9)
- Classified as a Class C misdemeanor under § 42.01, although the same act can support other charges.
- Noise
- Noise over 85 decibels is presumed unreasonable once a magistrate or peace officer has given notice that it is a public nuisance.
- Handgun carry
- A conviction under (a)(7) or (a)(8) within the previous five years is one of the categories that limits lawful handgun carry under Chapter 46.
- Costs
- Court costs are added to any fine, and a conviction appears on a criminal history.
Because a Class C case carries no jail, many people pay the ticket without a hearing. Paying is a plea that results in a conviction, so the choice deserves a look before money changes hands.
Real Questions
What Do People Ask About Disorderly Conduct In Texas?
Can cursing at a police officer be disorderly conduct?
What counts as unreasonable noise?
Is a visible handgun in a holster a crime?
Does paying the ticket close the case?
Possible Defenses
How Can Disorderly Conduct Be Defended?
Each subsection has its own elements, so the first step is identifying which act the citation or complaint alleges. An attorney then compares that act with the evidence. No result can be promised.
The language and gesture provisions are limited by the First Amendment. They reach only words or gestures that by their very utterance tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace.
Disorderly conduct often shares an incident with a heavier charge.
A fight can be filed as disorderly conduct or as assault. A threat can be disorderly conduct or a terroristic threat. Pointing a gun at someone is a different offense altogether, deadly conduct.
Because the classes sit close together, the charge chosen is part of the case. For firearm questions, see unlawful carrying of a weapon.
Public Place
Did the act happen somewhere the public can enter, as the subsection requires?
Tends To Incite
Do the words or gesture meet the fighting words standard, or were they merely offensive?
Mental State
Did the person act intentionally or knowingly?
Calculated To Alarm
For a display charge, what did the person do besides carry the gun?
Notice And Decibels
For a noise charge, was notice given, and how was the level measured?
The Contact
Was the officer's stop or detention lawful in the first place?
Local Process
What Happens After A Disorderly Conduct Charge In Jefferson County?
The class of the charge decides whether a case begins with a citation or an arrest. The steps follow Texas law, and the table shows how they run locally.
Citation Or Arrest
A Class C act may be handled with a citation and a court date. A Class B firearm charge can involve an arrest, booking and a magistrate who sets bond.
The First Setting
A Class C goes to a justice or municipal court, where a plea is entered. A Class B is filed by the prosecutor as a complaint and information.
Evidence And Resolution
Video, officer reports and witness statements are reviewed. The case can end in dismissal, a reduction, deferred disposition where offered, a plea or a trial.
- Where it is heard
- Class C citations go to a justice of the peace court or a municipal court. Class B charges are filed in one of the Jefferson County Courts at Law.
- Who prosecutes Class B
- prosecutors in Jefferson County.
- Who writes the citation
- Beaumont Police Department, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, Texas DPS Highway Patrol, Port Arthur Police Department, Nederland Police Department, Port Neches Police Department, or Groves Police Department. A stop in Nederland or Port Neches is handled by that town's department.
- Booking
- Arrestees from every law enforcement agency in the county are booked into the county's jail system.
- If the case is appealed
- the Ninth Court of Appeals in Beaumont.
Next Steps
What Should You Do After A Disorderly Conduct Charge?
These steps are general information, not advice for any one person.
Read The Citation
Find the subsection charged, plus the court date and location.
Hold Off Paying
Paying a fine is a plea. Ask about the record before sending money.
Keep Video And Texts
Phone clips, messages and the names of witnesses can show what was said and done.
Write Out The Sequence
Record what happened while the details are fresh.
Check Carry Rights
A firearm charge can affect lawful carry for years. Ask before carrying again.
Make The Court Date
A missed setting can add a warrant and further charges.
A lawyer can look at the subsection charged, the evidence and the options before a plea. Mitchell Law Firm offers a confidential conversation about disorderly conduct charges in Jefferson County, and serves the county from its Orange office.
Official Texas Sources
Read The Law Behind This Page
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 42: Disorderly conduct in § 42.01
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 1: Definition of public place in § 1.07
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 12: Punishment classes and ranges
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 46: Weapons offenses and handgun carry
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 45: Procedure in justice and municipal courts
Who Handles Your Case
The Texas Lawyer Who Speaks Science
Attorney Brennon Mitchell isn't just a seasoned Beaumont trial lawyer. He's one of the few in Texas, and the entire country, to earn the prestigious title of an ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist. That means he's gone beyond the courtroom and into the laboratory, receiving in-depth, hands-on training in forensic chromatography, the same kind of testing used by crime labs to try and convict Texans every day.
What does that mean for you?
It means when the state uses blood alcohol or drug testing to try to prove its case, Mr. Mitchell knows how to challenge it. He's trained to:
- Analyze lab results and spot faulty science
- Cross-examine forensic experts with precision
- Break down complex chemical evidence in plain language for juries
This is not the kind of background you find in most criminal defense attorneys, and it could make the difference between a conviction and a clean slate.
Brennon graduated from Texas A&M University School of Law and practices from offices in Orange and Conroe.
Client Reviews
What Clients Say About Brennon Mitchell
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different and is decided on its own facts.
Related Topics
Other Criminal Charges Handled In Beaumont, TX
A public order citation can sit next to heavier charges from the same incident. See the full criminal defense overview for Beaumont.
Other Criminal Charges
Property, weapons, and public order offenses that sit outside the main categories.
Probation And Sentencing
What a sentence can look like, and what happens when the terms of one are challenged.
Records And Defense
How a case can come off, or be shielded on, a record, and the defense tools the law provides.
Common Questions
Disorderly Conduct Questions People In Beaumont Ask
Is disorderly conduct a misdemeanor in Beaumont, TX?
Every act listed in Penal Code § 42.01 is a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine up to $500 with no jail, except two. Discharging a firearm in a public place and displaying a firearm or other deadly weapon in public in a manner calculated to alarm are Class B misdemeanors, with up to 180 days in jail and a fine up to $2,000.
Does a disorderly conduct conviction in Jefferson County affect carrying a handgun?
A conviction under § 42.01(a)(7) or (a)(8), the two firearm provisions, committed within the previous five years is one of the categories Chapter 46 treats as a limit on lawful handgun carry. Other disorderly conduct convictions are not on that list. The exact effect today is worth confirming against the current statute.
Is carrying a handgun in a holster disorderly conduct in Beaumont, TX?
Section 42.01 states that displaying a handgun in a manner calculated to alarm is not an offense solely because the handgun was partially or wholly visible while carried in a holster. Under subsection (a)(8), the question is whether the display was calculated to alarm, which looks at the person's conduct and not only at visibility.
Can profanity be disorderly conduct in Jefferson County?
Under § 42.01(a)(1), abusive, indecent, profane or vulgar language in a public place is an offense only when the words by their very utterance tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace. That requirement comes from the fighting words line of First Amendment cases. Offensive speech without that tendency does not meet the statute.
Which court hears a disorderly conduct citation in Beaumont, TX?
A Class C citation is heard in a justice of the peace court, or in a municipal court when a city officer wrote it inside city limits. A Class B charge for a firearm provision is filed as a misdemeanor in one of the Jefferson County Courts at Law, which hear Class A and B cases.
Can a fight in Beaumont, TX be charged as disorderly conduct instead of assault?
Fighting with another person in a public place is its own act under § 42.01, and the same fight can also be charged as assault, which carries a higher range. The prosecutor picks the charge, and a reduction from assault to Class C disorderly conduct is one of the outcomes the system allows when the facts support it.
Mitchell Law Firm, PLLC
A Citation Is Still A Charge
Even a fine-only offense can leave a mark on a record. Look at what the citation actually alleges before the deadline to respond.
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