Louisiana § RS 14:108 - Resisting an officer

§ RS 14:108. Resisting an officer

            A. Resisting an officer is the intentional interference with, opposition or resistance to, or obstruction of an individual acting in his official capacity and authorized by law to make a lawful arrest, lawful detention, or seizure of property or to serve any lawful process or court order when the offender knows or has reason to know that the person arresting, detaining, seizing property, or serving process is acting in his official capacity.

            B.(1) The phrase "obstruction of" as used in this Section shall, in addition to its common meaning, signification, and connotation, mean the following:

            (a) Flight by one sought to be arrested before the arresting officer can restrain him and after notice is given that he is under arrest.

            (b) Any violence toward or any resistance or opposition to the arresting officer after the arrested party is actually placed under arrest and before he is incarcerated in jail.

            (c) Refusal by the arrested or detained party to give his name and make his identity known to the arresting or detaining officer or providing false information regarding the identity of such party to the officer.

            (d) Congregation with others on a public street and refusal to move on when ordered by the officer.

            (e) Knowing interference with a police cordon resulting from the intentional crossing or traversing of a police cordon by an unauthorized person or an unmanned aircraft system (UAS). The cordoned area includes the airspace above the cordoned area.

            (i) For purposes of this Subparagraph, "police cordon" means any impediment or structure erected or established by an officer for crowd or traffic control, or to prevent or obstruct the passage of a person at the scene of a crime or investigation.

            (ii) "Impediment or structure" includes but is not limited to crime scene tape, rope, cable, wire or metal barricades, or the posting of uniformed officers or other personnel otherwise identifiable as law enforcement officers.

            (iii) "Unmanned aircraft system" shall have the same meaning as provided by R.S. 14:337(B).

            (iv) If the flight of a UAS into the cordoned area endangers the public or an officer's safety, law enforcement personnel or fire department personnel are authorized to disable the UAS.

            (f) Failure to provide or display the person's state-issued driver's license or identification on the officer's request when the person is an operator of a motor vehicle, the person has been lawfully detained for an alleged violation of a law, and the officer has exhausted all resources at his disposal to verify the identity of the person.

            (2) The word "officer" as used herein means any peace officer, as defined in R.S. 40:2402, and includes deputy sheriffs, municipal police officers, probation and parole officers, city marshals and deputies, and wildlife enforcement agents.

            C. Whoever commits the crime of resisting an officer shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or be imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.

            Amended by Acts 1952, No. 127, §4; Acts 1960, No. 76, §1; Acts 1963, No. 98, §1; Acts 1968, No. 647, §1; Acts 1984, No. 584, §1; Acts 1989, No. 206, §1; Acts 1991, No. 677, §1; Acts 1992, No. 302, §1; Acts 1993, No. 860, §1; Acts 1997, No. 565, §1; Acts 2001, No. 247, §1; Acts 2006, No. 132, §1; Acts 2016, No. 268, §1; Acts 2024, No. 276, §1.