Ohio Rev. Code » Chapter 2917 - Ohio Revised Code | Ohio Laws
Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 2917.13 (2026)

Misconduct at emergency

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section ORCcodes.ohio.gov (official) Justiaon Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
Effective:
March 22, 2004
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 57 - 125th General Assembly
PDF:
Download Authenticated PDF
 

(A) No person shall knowingly do any of the following:

(1) Hamper the lawful operations of any law enforcement officer, firefighter, rescuer, medical person, emergency medical services person, or other authorized person, engaged in the person's duties at the scene of a fire, accident, disaster, riot, or emergency of any kind;

(2) Hamper the lawful activities of any emergency facility person who is engaged in the person's duties in an emergency facility;

(3) Fail to obey the lawful order of any law enforcement officer engaged in the law enforcement officer's duties at the scene of or in connection with a fire, accident, disaster, riot, or emergency of any kind.

(B) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit access or deny information to any news media representative in the lawful exercise of the news media representative's duties.

(C) Whoever violates this section is guilty of misconduct at an emergency. Except as otherwise provided in this division, misconduct at an emergency is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. If a violation of this section creates a risk of physical harm to persons or property, misconduct at an emergency is a misdemeanor of the first degree.

(D) As used in this section:

(1) "Emergency medical services person" is the singular of "emergency medical services personnel" as defined in section 2133.21 of the Revised Code.

(2) "Emergency facility person" is the singular of "emergency facility personnel" as defined in section 2909.04 of the Revised Code.

(3) "Emergency facility" has the same meaning as in section 2909.04 of the Revised Code.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 21 cases (7 in the last 5 years), 1984–2026 · leading case: City of Chicago v. Morales, 527 U.S. 41 (1999).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
City of Chicago v. Morales, 527 U.S. 41 (1999). · cites it 2× “1-25-04 (1997); Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2917.13 (A)(2) (1997); Okla.”
Carter v. Reese (Slip Opinion), 2016 Ohio 5569 (Ohio 2016). · cites it 2× “Richland Cty. Bd. of Cty. Commrs., 170 Ohio St. 486 , 166 N.”
Com. & Indus. Ins. v. City of Toledo, 543 N.E.2d 1188 (Ohio 1989). “Code 1301:7-1-03(1); Toledo Municipal Code Section 1511:03, F-102.”
State v. Hines, 764 N.E.2d 1040 (Ohio Ct. App. 2001). · cites it 3× “” R.C. 2917.13 makes it unlawful for a person to knowingly hamper the lawful operations of a firefighter engaged in his duties at the scene of a fire.”
Penwell v. Taft Broad. Co., 469 N.E.2d 1025 (Ohio Ct. App. 1984). · cites it 2× “While McArthur additionally takes the position that appellant’s arrest without a warrant was the result of appellant’s failure to obey a lawful order of a law enforcement officer pursuant to R.C. 2917.13, 1 this provision of the Criminal Code is clearly inapposite.”
Akron v. Threadgill, 2024 Ohio 5674 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 6× “Threadgill failed to comply with scores of orders to return to her vehicle, officers arrested her for misconduct at an emergency, in violation of Ohio Revised Code Section 2917.13(A)(3). A jury found her guilty of the offense, and the municipal court sentenced her to 30 days in…”
Kinzer v. Schuckmann, 850 F. Supp. 2d 785 (S.D. Ohio 2012). · cites it 2× “Kinzer was cited, O.R.C. § 2917.13, reads as follows: (A) No person shall knowingly do any of the following: (1) Hamper the lawful operations of any law enforcement officer .”
State v. Harris, 2020 Ohio 4600 (Ohio Ct. App. 2020). “” R.C. 2917.13(C). It is possible that Muskingum County, Case No.”
Kinkus v. Vill. of Yorkville, 453 F. Supp. 2d 1009 (S.D. Ohio 2006). · cites it 8× “” Ohio Rev.Code § 2917.13(A)(1). 9 . Section 2917.”
State v. Wagar, 632 N.E.2d 546 (Ohio Ct. App. 1993). · cites it 4× “Defendant Richard Wagar has appealed his conviction for misconduct at an emergency in violation of R.C. 2917.13(A). He has argued that (1) the trial court incorrectly overruled his motion for acquittal; (2) his conviction was against the manifest weight of the evidence; and (3)…”
Parma v. Odolecki, 2017 Ohio 2979 (Ohio Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 4× “(R.C. 2917.13; Ord. 53-03. Eff. Mar. 3, 2003.”
State v. Bryant, 2011 Ohio 4555 (Ohio Ct. App. 2011). · cites it 5× “Bryant was convicted of misconduct at an emergency in violation of R.C. 2917.13, a first degree misdemeanor.”
Show all 21 citing cases →
— Ohio Rev. Code § 2917.13(A) — 3 cases
State v. Wagar, 632 N.E.2d 546 (Ohio Ct. App. 1993). “Defendant Richard Wagar has appealed his conviction for misconduct at an emergency in violation of R.C. 2917.13(A). He has argued that (1) the trial court incorrectly overruled his motion for acquittal; (2) his conviction was against the manifest weight of the evidence; and (3)…”
State v. Gaito, 2024 Ohio 2132 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024).
Willey v. Springfield Twp., 2026 Ohio 1842 (Ohio Ct. App. 2026).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 2917.13(A)(1) — 8 cases
Carter v. Reese (Slip Opinion), 2016 Ohio 5569 (Ohio 2016). “Richland Cty. Bd. of Cty. Commrs., 170 Ohio St. 486 , 166 N.”
Com. & Indus. Ins. v. City of Toledo, 543 N.E.2d 1188 (Ohio 1989). “Code 1301:7-1-03(1); Toledo Municipal Code Section 1511:03, F-102.”
Kinkus v. Vill. of Yorkville, 453 F. Supp. 2d 1009 (S.D. Ohio 2006). “” Ohio Rev.Code § 2917.13(A)(1). 9 . Section 2917.”
State v. Wagar, 632 N.E.2d 546 (Ohio Ct. App. 1993). “Defendant Richard Wagar has appealed his conviction for misconduct at an emergency in violation of R.C. 2917.13(A). He has argued that (1) the trial court incorrectly overruled his motion for acquittal; (2) his conviction was against the manifest weight of the evidence; and (3)…”
State v. Mapes, 2021 Ohio 257 (Ohio Ct. App. 2021).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 2917.13(A)(3) — 4 cases
Akron v. Threadgill, 2024 Ohio 5674 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024). “Threadgill failed to comply with scores of orders to return to her vehicle, officers arrested her for misconduct at an emergency, in violation of Ohio Revised Code Section 2917.13(A)(3). A jury found her guilty of the offense, and the municipal court sentenced her to 30 days in…”
Kinkus v. Vill. of Yorkville, 453 F. Supp. 2d 1009 (S.D. Ohio 2006). “” Ohio Rev.Code § 2917.13(A)(1). 9 . Section 2917.”
State v. Green, 2020 Ohio 4370 (Ohio Ct. App. 2020).
State v. Longnecker, 2025 Ohio 4780 (Ohio Ct. App. 2025).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 2917.13(B) — 1 case
Parma v. Odolecki, 2017 Ohio 2979 (Ohio Ct. App. 2017). “(R.C. 2917.13; Ord. 53-03. Eff. Mar. 3, 2003.”
— Ohio Rev. Code § 2917.13(C) — 3 cases
State v. Harris, 2020 Ohio 4600 (Ohio Ct. App. 2020). “” R.C. 2917.13(C). It is possible that Muskingum County, Case No.”
State v. Bryant, 2011 Ohio 4555 (Ohio Ct. App. 2011). “Bryant was convicted of misconduct at an emergency in violation of R.C. 2917.13, a first degree misdemeanor.”
State v. Rucker, 2025 Ohio 5466 (Ohio Ct. App. 2025).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.