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This page is a current-reference page for 16-11-39. Disorderly conduct.. Match the facts to the statutory language and verify local charging practice for enhancements or related offenses.
O.C.G.A. section
16-11-39. Disorderly conduct.
Officer field notes
- Identify the exact statutory element supported by the facts; do not rely on the code number alone.
- Document victim/suspect relationship, location, injury/property details, value, weapons, statements, video, and witness evidence when relevant.
- Check family violence, weapon, school zone, prior-conviction, protected-victim, and felony/misdemeanor enhancement issues before final charging.
Report articulation tips
- Use concrete observed facts and quotes instead of conclusions.
- Tie each charge to the element it proves: act, intent/knowledge, victim/property, location, value, injury, or prohibited status.
- If probable cause depends on statements, video, records, or victim/witness identification, identify the source clearly.
Current statutory text
16-11-39. Disorderly conduct.
A person commits the offense of disorderly conduct when such person commits any of the following:
Acts in a violent or tumultuous manner toward another person whereby such person is placed in reasonable fear of the safety of such person’s life, limb, or health;
Acts in a violent or tumultuous manner toward another person whereby the property of such person is placed in danger of being damaged or destroyed;
Without provocation, uses to or of another person in such other person’s presence, opprobrious or abusive words which by their very utterance tend to incite to an immediate breach of the peace, that is to say, words which as a matter of common knowledge and under ordinary circumstances will, when used to or of another person in such other person’s presence, naturally tend to provoke violent resentment, that is, words commonly called “fighting words”; or
Without provocation, uses obscene and vulgar or profane language in the presence of or by telephone to a person under the age of 14 years which threatens an immediate breach of the peace.
Any person who commits the offense of disorderly conduct shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
This Code section shall not be deemed or construed to affect or limit the powers of counties or municipal corporations to adopt ordinances or resolutions prohibiting disorderly conduct within their respective limits.
(Code 1863, § 4271; Ga. L. 1865-66, p. 233, § 2; Code 1868, § 4306; Ga. L. 1872, p. 9, § 1; Code 1873, § 4372; Ga. L. 1875, p. 25, § 1; Code 1882, § 4372; Ga. L. 1890-91, p. 83, § 1; Penal Code 1895, § 396; Penal Code 1910, § 387; Ga. L. 1919, p. 103, § 1; Code 1933, § 26-6303; Ga. L. 1963, p. 455, § 1; Code 1933, § 26-2610, enacted by Ga. L. 1968, p. 1249, § 1; Ga. L. 1974, p. 470, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 16; Ga. L. 1995, p. 574, § 3.)
Cross references.
– Constitutional guarantee of free speech and press, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. I, Para. V.
Further provisions regarding unlawful communications by telephone,
§
46-5-21
.
Use of telephone to transmit obscene or lewd communications for commercial purposes,
§
46-5-22
.
Law reviews.
–
For article recommending more consistency in age requirements of laws pertaining to the welfare of minors, see 6 Ga. St. B.J. 189 (1969). For article, “Misdemeanor Sentencing in Georgia,” see 7 Ga. St. B.J. 8 (2001).
For note discussing First Amendment problems in application of this Code section with particular reference to Breaux v. State,
230 Ga. 506
,
197 S.E.2d 695
(1973), see 25 Mercer L. Rev. 371 (1974).
For comment discussing the constitutional standard for judging obscenity, in light of Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15,
93 S. Ct. 2607
,
37 L. Ed. 2
d 419 (1973), see 10 Ga. St. B.J. 327 (1973).
Source / verification note: Updated from the Georgia Code public CIC/Lexis-linked source snapshot used for this audit. Verify court-sensitive decisions against the official Georgia Code and agency policy. Last reviewed: 2026-05-23.