Disturbing the peace in Michigan is a misdemeanor under MCL 750.170, carrying up to 90 days in jail, a fine of up to $500, or both.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 750.170 – Disturbance of Lawful Meetings2Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 750.504 – Punishment of Misdemeanors When Not Fixed by Statute The statute reaches a wider range of conduct than most people assume, and a conviction leaves a criminal record visible to employers, landlords, and licensing boards. The good news: the law’s broad language also opens the door to several real defenses.
What Counts as a Disturbance
MCL 750.170 prohibits two separate things: causing a “disturbance” or causing a “contention” in the places the statute lists. In People v. Weinberg, a Michigan court explained that “contention” involves actual or threatened violence, while “disturbance” is far broader and requires no physical confrontation at all. The court defined a disturbance as an interruption of peace and quiet, a violation of public order, or interference with someone going about their lawful business.3vLex. People v. Weinberg
The Weinberg defendants entered a business, sat on the floor in front of teller windows, sang songs, and refused to leave. Nobody was threatened. But because customers had to step over them and staff rerouted service to other desks, the court found the conduct qualified. You don’t need to throw a punch or scream at anyone. Blocking access, forcing others to work around you, or creating a scene loud enough to alarm bystanders can be enough.
Where the Law Applies
The statute names specific locations. Businesses of any kind — taverns, stores, groceries, manufacturing establishments, and “any other business place” — along with streets, alleys, highways, public buildings, parks, and grounds. It also covers elections and public meetings where people are lawfully gathered.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 750.170 – Disturbance of Lawful Meetings
Private residences are conspicuously absent. If a neighbor is playing music at 2 a.m. from inside their own home, MCL 750.170 likely doesn’t reach that conduct. Residential noise complaints in Michigan are typically handled under local city or township ordinances, which set quiet hours and decibel limits and carry their own penalties.
The Penalty You’re Facing
MCL 750.170 labels the offense a misdemeanor but doesn’t assign a specific punishment. Michigan fills that gap through MCL 750.504, which sets a default of up to 90 days in jail, a fine of up to $500, or both.2Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 750.504 – Punishment of Misdemeanors When Not Fixed by Statute
In practice, a first offense without aggravating circumstances rarely draws the maximum jail term. Judges often impose probation, community service, or conditions like anger management counseling. The sentence itself usually isn’t the biggest problem. Court costs and administrative fees in Michigan routinely add hundreds of dollars on top of any fine, so the total financial hit can run well above $500.
Defenses That Work
Disturbing the peace charges are more defensible than most misdemeanors because the statute’s reach bumps up against constitutional limits. A few defenses come up again and again.
First Amendment Protection
The strongest defense in many cases is that the charged conduct was protected speech or assembly. Streets, sidewalks, and parks are traditional public forums where First Amendment protections are at their peak. The critical line is between speech that annoys or offends and speech that constitutes “fighting words” — a direct personal insult or an invitation to immediate physical confrontation. Speech that merely invites dispute or causes unrest is protected, even when listeners find it deeply offensive. A protest that disrupts traffic or draws angry counterprotestors isn’t automatically a disturbance. The prosecution has to show the conduct crossed from protected expression into actual disruption of public order.
Self-Defense
If the alleged disturbance grew out of a physical confrontation, Michigan’s Self-Defense Act may apply. Under MCL 780.972, a person who is not committing a crime may use non-deadly force anywhere they have a legal right to be, with no duty to retreat, if they honestly and reasonably believe force is necessary to defend against an imminent unlawful attack.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 780.972 – Use of Deadly Force by Individual Not Engaged in Commission of Crime; Conditions Your fear has to be both actual and reasonable. If someone swings first and you defend yourself, the resulting commotion isn’t your disturbance to answer for.
Vagueness
Breach of peace statutes have been struck down elsewhere on void-for-vagueness grounds, and MCL 750.170’s language is broad enough to raise the issue. A criminal law must define the offense clearly enough that an ordinary person can understand what’s prohibited and that police aren’t left to enforce it on a purely subjective, case-by-case basis.5Constitution Annotated. Overview of Void for Vagueness Doctrine Michigan courts have upheld the statute, partly through cases like Weinberg that gave its terms a narrowing judicial construction. But if the prosecution tries to stretch the law to cover conduct that falls outside any reasonable definition of a disturbance, the challenge is still worth raising.
Recording Police
People filming police encounters in public sometimes find themselves charged under MCL 750.170. The First Amendment protects your right to record officers performing their duties in any public space where you have a legal right to be. The protection has limits — you can’t physically obstruct officers, and they can order you to a reasonable distance — but a disturbing the peace charge based solely on the act of recording is unlikely to survive constitutional review.
What a Conviction Does to Your Record
A conviction shows up on background checks. Employers, landlords, and licensing boards can see it. Federal law doesn’t bar employers from considering misdemeanor records; the EEOC directs them to weigh the nature of the offense, the time since it happened, and the job’s requirements, and to give applicants a chance to explain.6U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Criminal Records That guidance helps but isn’t bulletproof. Many employers screen out any misdemeanor record, especially for positions involving public trust, security clearances, or professional licensing.
Clean Slate Removal
Michigan’s Clean Slate law, effective April 2021, created an automatic expungement process for qualifying misdemeanors. Because disturbing the peace carries a maximum of 90 days in jail, it falls into the category of misdemeanors punishable by less than 92 days. Those convictions become eligible for automatic set-aside seven years after the date of sentencing, as long as the offense isn’t on the exclusion list — which covers assaultive crimes, serious misdemeanors, crimes of dishonesty, and certain other categories.7State of Michigan. Clean Slate A standard disturbing the peace conviction isn’t classified as assaultive or dishonest, so it should qualify in most cases. If you don’t want to wait seven years, you can petition the convicting court sooner under MCL 780.621.
Don’t Skip the Court Date
Because the charge sounds trivial, some people blow off the court appearance. That is a serious mistake. Failing to appear on a Michigan misdemeanor charge produces a bench warrant for your arrest, and the warrant doesn’t expire. It surfaces at the next traffic stop, the next passport application, the next encounter with law enforcement. A charge that could have been resolved with a small fine and probation can turn into additional charges and mandatory jail time once a warrant is outstanding. Show up.