Mississippi Code
Miss. Code Ann. § 97-35-7 (2026)
Disorderly conduct; failure to comply with requests or commands of law enforcement officers; penalties; exception
✓ current as of July 2026
- (1) Whoever, with intent to provoke a breach of the peace, or under such circumstances as may lead to a breach of the peace, or which may cause or occasion a breach of the peace, fails or refuses to promptly comply with or obey a request, command, or order of a law enforcement officer, having the authority to then and there arrest any person for a violation of the law, to:
- (a) Move or absent himself and any vehicle or object subject to his control from the immediate vicinity where the request, command or order is given, or
- (b) Arise, if lying or sitting down, and move to a point designated by said officer outside the immediate area of, or which is affected by the occurrences at, the place of issuing such order, command or request, or
- (c) Refrain from lying down or sitting down at, or in the immediate vicinity of, the place where said order, request or command is given, or
- (d) Refrain from obstructing, with his body or any part thereof, or in any manner, the lawful movement or passage of any vehicle, or
- (e) Refrain from placing, or permitting, or cooperating with another to place, his body or any part thereof, in front of or behind any vehicle, in such manner as to interfere with, or prevent its movement or block its path in lawful movement, or
- (f) Refrain from chaining or tying or binding himself or another to any object or person, or
- (g) Unbind, unchain or loosen himself, or remove himself, from any chain or other means whereby he may be prevented from moving away from the place or the immediate vicinity where he may be when such officer issues said order, request or command, or
- (h) Walk or move to, enter and remain in, either or both, as may be directed by such officer, any police or other vehicle operated by any law enforcement officer or department, or any other vehicle designated by such an officer, or
- (i) Act or do or refrain from acting or doing as ordered, requested or commanded by said officer to avoid any breach of the peace at or near the place of issuance of such order, request or command, shall be guilty of disorderly conduct, which is made a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, such person or persons shall be punished by a fine of not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
- (2) Any person who causes, or aids, or encourages, or abets another to violate, or in violating, any provision of subsection (1) hereof, shall be guilty of disorderly conduct which is made a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, such person or persons shall be punished by a fine of not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
- (3) If any person alone or in concert with others violates subsection (1) or (2) hereof, or both, under such circumstances or in such a manner as to evince a willful and wanton disregard for the life or safety of another and if as a result thereof another person or persons be injured, maimed or killed, the person or persons so violating subsection (1) or (2) hereof, or both, shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, such person or persons shall be imprisoned in the State Penitentiary not longer than five (5) years or be fined not more than Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00), or both such fine and imprisonment.
- (4) The act of breast-feeding shall not constitute disorderly conduct.
- (5) The provisions of this section are supplementary to the provisions of any other statutes of this state.
Codes, 1942, § 2087.9; Laws, 1964, ch. 336, §§ 1-4; Laws, 2006, ch. 520, § 7, eff. 4/3/2006.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 54
cases (19 in the last 5 years), 1986–2026 · leading case: Sendelweck v. State, 101 So. 3d 734 (Miss. Ct. App. 2012).
Sendelweck v. State, 101 So. 3d 734 (Miss. Ct. App. 2012). “” The charging affidavit reflects that Sendelweck, in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-35-7(1) (Rev. 2006), “did willfully and unlawfully refuse to comply with the request of [Sergeant] Parfait, a law enforcement officer, who had the authority to then and there…”
City of Chicago v. Morales, 527 U.S. 41 (1999). “715 (1998); Miss. Code Ann. § 97-35-7 (1) (1994); Mo.”
Mease v. State, 539 So. 2d 1324 (Miss. 1989). “§ 97-9-73 (1972), to disorderly conduct, Miss. Code Ann. § 97-35-7 (3) (1972), to carrying a concealed weapon, Miss.”
Qualls v. State, 947 So. 2d 365 (Miss. Ct. App. 2007). “See Miss. Code Ann. § 97-35-7 (Rev.2006). The fact that the officer only saw one individual in the vehicle initially, when two men were seen running in the neighborhood, does not lessen the officer's reasonable suspicion.”
Titus v. Williams, 844 So. 2d 459 (Miss. 2003). “§ 97-35-15), and refusing to obey a police order (Miss.Code Ann. § 97-35-7). Thus, they argue that the town is exempted from any possible liability to Titus because of his criminal activity.”
McCoy v. City of Florence, 949 So. 2d 69 (Miss. Ct. App. 2006). “" According to Section 97-35-7(1)(i): [w]hoever, with intent to provoke a breach of the peace, or under such circumstances as may lead to a breach of the peace, fails or refuses to promptly comply with or obey a request, command, or order of a law enforcement officer, having the…”
Mastin v. State, 180 So. 3d 732 (Miss. Ct. App. 2015). “Whether Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-35-7(1)® (Rev.2014), 1 as applied in this case, violates Mastin’s First Amendment right to free speech and is thus overly broad; III.”
Jones v. State, 798 So. 2d 1241 (Miss. 2001). “Under Miss.Code Ann. § 97-35-7: Whoever, with intent to provoke a breach of the peace, or under such circumstances as may lead to a breach of the peace or which may cause or occasion a breach of peace, fails or refuses to promptly comply with or obey a request, command, or order…”
Gregory Brooks v. City of West Point Mississippi, 639 F. App'x 986 (5th Cir. 2016). “Miss.Code Ann. § 97-35-7(1) (2006). Thus, to convict a person of violating subsection (i) of Mississippi’s disorderly conduct statute the state must prove that the accused failed to comply with an officer’s command, order, or request to act, or not to act, as instructed, while…”
James Christopher Skinner v. State of Mississippi, 270 So. 3d 1046 (Miss. Ct. App. 2018). “Miss. Code Ann. § 97-35-7 (1)(i). Miss. Code Ann.”
Campbell v. City of Indianola, 117 F. Supp. 3d 854 (N.D. Miss. 2015). “Plaintiffs do not dispute that Hagerman had a reasonable belief that Demetrius, at the time of the grabbing, had committed the crime of disorderly conduct; See Miss.Code Ann. § 97-35-7, 18 However, it is clear that failure to comply with .”
The Univ. of Mississippi Med. Ctr. v. Enoch Oliver, 235 So. 3d 75 (Miss. 2017). “See Miss, Code Ann, § 97-35-7 (Rev. 2014) (disorderly conduct); Miss.”
— Miss. Code Ann. § 97-35-7(1) — 21 cases
Sendelweck v. State, 101 So. 3d 734 (Miss. Ct. App. 2012). “” The charging affidavit reflects that Sendelweck, in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-35-7(1) (Rev. 2006), “did willfully and unlawfully refuse to comply with the request of [Sergeant] Parfait, a law enforcement officer, who had the authority to then and there…”
Gregory Brooks v. City of West Point Mississippi, 639 F. App'x 986 (5th Cir. 2016). “Miss.Code Ann. § 97-35-7(1) (2006). Thus, to convict a person of violating subsection (i) of Mississippi’s disorderly conduct statute the state must prove that the accused failed to comply with an officer’s command, order, or request to act, or not to act, as instructed, while…”
Mark Matthews v. City of Madison, Mississippi, 143 So. 3d 579 (Miss. 2014).
Mastin v. State, 180 So. 3d 732 (Miss. Ct. App. 2015). “Whether Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-35-7(1)® (Rev.2014), 1 as applied in this case, violates Mastin’s First Amendment right to free speech and is thus overly broad; III.”
In the Interest of S.M.K.S. v. Youth Court of Union Cnty., 155 So. 3d 747 (Miss. 2015).
— Miss. Code Ann. § 97-35-7(1)(a) — 1 case
Morton v. City of Corinth, Mississippi (N.D. Miss. 2024).
— Miss. Code Ann. § 97-35-7(1)(i) — 3 cases
McCoy v. City of Florence, 949 So. 2d 69 (Miss. Ct. App. 2006). “" According to Section 97-35-7(1)(i): [w]hoever, with intent to provoke a breach of the peace, or under such circumstances as may lead to a breach of the peace, fails or refuses to promptly comply with or obey a request, command, or order of a law enforcement officer, having the…”
Woods v. Berryhill (N.D. Miss. 2024).
James Sims a/k/a James Arthur Sims, Jr. v. State of Mississippi (Miss. Ct. App. 2021).
— Miss. Code Ann. § 97-35-7(2) — 1 case
McCoy v. City of Florence, 949 So. 2d 69 (Miss. Ct. App. 2006). “" According to Section 97-35-7(1)(i): [w]hoever, with intent to provoke a breach of the peace, or under such circumstances as may lead to a breach of the peace, fails or refuses to promptly comply with or obey a request, command, or order of a law enforcement officer, having the…”
— Miss. Code Ann. § 97-35-7(l)(a) — 1 case
Sendelweck v. State, 101 So. 3d 734 (Miss. Ct. App. 2012). “” The charging affidavit reflects that Sendelweck, in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-35-7(1) (Rev. 2006), “did willfully and unlawfully refuse to comply with the request of [Sergeant] Parfait, a law enforcement officer, who had the authority to then and there…”
— Miss. Code Ann. § 97-35-7(l)(i) — 1 case
Mastin v. State, 180 So. 3d 732 (Miss. Ct. App. 2015). “Whether Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-35-7(1)® (Rev.2014), 1 as applied in this case, violates Mastin’s First Amendment right to free speech and is thus overly broad; III.”
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