Disorderly conduct in Illinois is defined by 720 ILCS 5/26-1, which lists twelve separate behaviors a person can be charged with, from a loud public disturbance to a false bomb threat. Only one of those behaviors is a low-level Class C misdemeanor. Most of the rest are felonies. That means the same statute name can hide penalties ranging from a $1,500 fine to ten years in prison, and the subsection you’re charged under matters far more than the label on the charging document.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 720 ILCS 5/26-1 – Disorderly Conduct
What Counts as Disorderly Conduct
Every subsection of the statute requires that you acted “knowingly.” The state has to prove you were aware of what you were doing, not that you accidentally caused a scene.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 720 ILCS 5/26-1 – Disorderly Conduct The twelve categories fall into three groups.
Breach of the Peace
Subsection (a)(1) covers any act done in an unreasonable way that alarms or disturbs another person and provokes a breach of the peace. This is what most people picture when they hear “disorderly conduct”: a public confrontation, an aggressive scene at a business, loud and threatening behavior on the street. It’s also the only subsection classified as a Class C misdemeanor.
False Reports and Alarms
Nine of the twelve subsections target knowingly false reports made to emergency services or government agencies:
- False fire alarms to any fire department or fire protection district
- False bomb, explosive, poison gas, biological, or radiological threats with no reasonable basis
- School threats involving destruction of school property or violence against people at a school, school function, or school event, whether or not school is in session
- False crime reports to a peace officer, public officer, or public employee
- False reports to a public safety agency without reasonable grounds to believe the report is necessary
- False 911 calls or texts when you know the call is baseless and could trigger an emergency response
- False child-abuse reports to the Department of Children and Family Services
- False nursing home or care-facility reports to the Department of Public Health
- False alarms to police or fire that could prompt an emergency response
This is where the statute gets serious. Almost every false-report subsection is a felony. “Swatting” — filing a fake emergency report to send armed officers to someone’s address — sits under subsection (a)(6) and carries felony consequences.
Peeping and Debt-Collection Harassment
Two remaining subsections don’t involve false reports. Subsection (a)(11) criminalizes entering someone else’s property and deliberately looking into a dwelling through a window for a lewd or unlawful purpose. Subsection (a)(12) targets collection agencies or their employees who make harassing or intimidating phone calls while trying to collect a debt.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 720 ILCS 5/26-1 – Disorderly Conduct
Penalties by Classification
The penalty depends entirely on the subsection charged. The statute spans five classifications.
Class C misdemeanor. Subsection (a)(1) only. Up to 30 days in jail and a fine up to $1,500, or probation or conditional discharge for up to two years.2Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-65 – Class C Misdemeanors Sentence
Class B misdemeanor. Subsections (a)(8) and (a)(10) — false reports to the Department of Public Health about nursing homes or care facilities. Up to six months in jail and a fine up to $1,500.3Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-60 – Class B Misdemeanors Sentence
Class A misdemeanor. Subsections (a)(5) and (a)(11) — false public-safety-agency reports without reasonable grounds, and peeping into a dwelling. Up to 364 days in jail and a fine up to $2,500.4Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-55 – Class A Misdemeanors Sentence
Class 4 felony. Subsections (a)(2), (a)(3.5), (a)(4), (a)(6), (a)(7), and (a)(9) — false fire alarms, school threats, false crime reports, false 911 calls, false DCFS reports, and false alarms to police or fire. One to three years in prison, with an extended-term range up to six years.5Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-45 – Class 4 Felonies Sentence
Class 3 felony. Subsection (a)(3) only — false bomb, explosive, poison gas, biological, or radioactive-substance threats. Two to five years in prison, with an extended-term range of five to ten years, plus a mandatory fine between $3,000 and $10,000.6Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-40 – Class 3 Felonies Sentence
Restitution for Emergency Response Costs
The statute adds a cost many defendants don’t see coming. Anyone convicted under subsection (a)(3.5) (school threats) or (a)(6) (false 911 calls) must reimburse the responding public agency for the reasonable costs of the emergency response, up to $10,000.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 720 ILCS 5/26-1 – Disorderly Conduct Covered costs include dispatching police, firefighters, State Fire Marshal employees, or ambulances, plus any evacuation that resulted. Courts waive the restitution only when the defendant is found indigent. A false 911 call that triggers a full tactical response can hit the cap fast.
Court Supervision for a First-Time Misdemeanor
For misdemeanor-level charges, Illinois courts have a tool many defendants don’t know about. Under 730 ILCS 5/5-6-1, a judge can defer sentencing, place you under supervision for a set period, and enter no conviction if you complete the conditions successfully.7Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 730 ILCS 5/5-6-1 – Supervision
Supervision is available when the judge believes you’re unlikely to reoffend and the public interest is better served by keeping a conviction off your record. The statute bars supervision for felonies and for certain specific Class A misdemeanors, but a standard subsection (a)(1) disorderly conduct is not on the exclusion list. That makes supervision a realistic outcome for first-time offenders charged with a breach-of-peace offense. The practical difference is significant: successful supervision leaves you with no conviction, while a guilty plea without supervision creates a permanent record.
Defenses That Actually Work
Lack of Knowing Intent
Because every subsection requires that you acted knowingly, the prosecution must prove more than that your behavior happened to alarm someone. A loud phone argument that bystanders misread as a public threat is not, by itself, disorderly conduct. For the false-report felonies, the state has to prove more still: that you knew at the time there was no reasonable ground for the report. Someone who genuinely, if incorrectly, believed an emergency existed hasn’t met that threshold.
First Amendment Protection
Subsection (a)(1) frequently runs into free speech. Offensive language alone doesn’t automatically qualify as disorderly conduct. In People v. Bradshaw, an Illinois appellate court reversed a disorderly conduct conviction where the defendant used vulgar language toward a bar manager, holding that the words didn’t rise to disorderly conduct given the context.8Illinois Courts. People v. Redwood – Section: Discussion of People v. Bradshaw Speech that is rude, profane, or even infuriating is often constitutionally protected unless it amounts to fighting words likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction.
Self-Defense
If your behavior was a response to an immediate physical threat, self-defense or defense of others can justify conduct that would otherwise look disorderly. The response has to be proportionate to the danger. Shoving away someone who came at you first is different from escalating a verbal argument into a brawl.
Sealing the Record Afterward
Illinois law allows many criminal records, including disorderly conduct convictions, to be sealed from public view. Under 20 ILCS 2630/5.2, misdemeanor convictions and successfully completed orders of supervision are eligible for sealing so long as the offense isn’t on the statute’s exclusion list.9Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 20 ILCS 2630/5.2 – Sealing and Expungement Standard disorderly conduct offenses are not among the excluded crimes, which focus on sex offenses, DUI, domestic battery, and similar categories.
The waiting period depends on how the case ended. For convictions and completed supervision, records become eligible two years after the termination of your last sentence. Felony convictions follow a three-year waiting period. Sealing doesn’t destroy the record. Law enforcement and certain government agencies still see it, but standard employment and rental background checks won’t.
If your case was dismissed or you were acquitted, you’re eligible for expungement — full destruction of the record — rather than sealing.
Immigration and Employment Consequences
Even a misdemeanor disorderly conduct conviction can show up on employer background checks until it’s sealed. A single Class C misdemeanor is unlikely to be disqualifying for most jobs, but it can raise questions for positions requiring professional licensing or security clearances.
For noncitizens the stakes climb. Felony disorderly conduct convictions, particularly the false-report subsections, can trigger immigration consequences when court-ordered losses to a public authority exceed $10,000. Defense attorneys in these cases often negotiate plea agreements that keep documented losses below that threshold. If you hold a visa or green card and face any disorderly conduct charge above a Class C misdemeanor, consulting an immigration attorney alongside your criminal defense lawyer is worth doing early.