Domestic disorderly conduct is a catch-all charge that the police will utilize typically when a argument between family members gets out of control.  Occasionally, the police will charge someone with domestic disorderly conduct by itself.  However, more often than not it is charged with other criminal offenses such as domestic assault and battery.  Domestic disorderly conduct in Rhode Island can be charged when a wide variety of unlawful behavior is alleged.  The penalties and stigma associated with a conviction for domestic disorderly conduct can be severe as well.

 

 

To be charged and convicted of domestic disorderly conduct in Rhode Island, one needs to commit an act which qualifies as disorderly conduct when committed by one family or household member against another family or household member.  The statute governing disorderly conduct in Rhode Island states that anyone who commits the following acts intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly is guilty of disorderly conduct.

 

(1) Engages in fighting or threatening, or in violent or tumultuous behavior; 

(2) In a public place or near a private residence that he or she has no right to occupy, disturbs another person by making loud and unreasonable noise which under the circumstances would disturb a person of average sensibilities; 

(3) Directs at another person in a public place offensive words which are likely to provoke a violent reaction on the part of the average person so addressed; 

(4) Alone or with others, obstructs a highway, street, sidewalk, railway, waterway, building entrance, elevator, aisle, stairway, or hallway to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access or any other place ordinarily used for the passage of persons, vehicles, or conveyances;

(5) Engages in conduct which obstructs or interferes physically with a lawful meeting, procession, or gathering; 

(6) Enters upon the property of another and for a lascivious purpose looks into an occupied dwelling or other building on the property through a window or other opening; or 

(7) Who without the knowledge or consent of the individual, looks for a lascivious purpose through a window, or any other opening into an area in which another would have a reasonable expectation of privacy, including, but not limited to, a restroom, locker room, shower, changing room, dressing room, bedroom, or any other such private area, not withstanding any property rights the individual may have in the location in which the private area is located.

 

 

The penalties for domestic disorderly conduct are much more severe than the penalties for non-domestic disorderly conduct.  The offense is a "petty misdemeanor" meaning that it carries less than one year in jail.  In fact, domestic disorderly conduct carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail and/or a $500 fine.  In addition to those penalties, anyone convicted of domestic disorderly conduct in Rhode Island will be required to pay a $125 assessment and complete a 20 week batterers intervention program (domestic violence classes).  Furthermore, anyone who has their domestic disorderly conduct case Filed for one year will need to wait two additional years after the filing has expired before the case can be removed from their criminal record (BCI).