Criminal mischief in Louisiana is a misdemeanor defined by Revised Statutes 14:59, covering nine specific intentional acts — from filing a false police report to shooting at a train — and punishable by up to a $500 fine, up to six months in parish jail, or both. It is not the same as criminal damage to property, which is a separate statute that can rise to a felony when the dollar amount of destruction is high enough.
What Counts as Criminal Mischief
The statute lists nine kinds of conduct, and every one of them requires that you acted intentionally. Accidentally setting off an alarm or bumping into someone’s property does not qualify. The covered acts are:
- Tampering with someone else’s property without permission, with the goal of disrupting their use or enjoyment of it.
- Triggering any alarm or sending any notice that would reasonably cause an emergency response.
- Driving nails, tacks, or metal longer than one and a half inches into a tree on someone else’s land without consent.
- Felling, topping, or pruning trees or shrubs in a state highway right-of-way without written approval from the Department of Transportation and Development. Utility workers handling emergencies are exempt.
- Giving a sheriff, deputy, or any law enforcement officer a false report about a crime or attempted crime.
- Throwing stones or other projectiles in streets, alleys, highways, public squares, or other open spaces, or throwing objects at a train or railway car.
- Taking temporary possession of part of a business or staying after the person in charge has told you to leave.
- Making threatening communications that disrupt a public water utility, cause employees to fear for their safety, force a building evacuation, or interrupt water service.
- Discharging a firearm at any train, locomotive, or railway car.
The common thread is intentional conduct that disrupts property use or public safety, whether or not anything gets destroyed.1Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 14:59 – Criminal Mischief
The Penalty Is the Same Regardless of the Act
Criminal mischief carries a single penalty tier no matter which of the nine acts is charged: a fine of up to $500, imprisonment for up to six months in parish jail, or both.1Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 14:59 – Criminal Mischief There is no felony version. Every prosecution under R.S. 14:59 is a misdemeanor.
On top of that, the court may order restitution when the victim suffered an actual financial loss. Louisiana law requires judges to order restitution in these circumstances, with payments running through a court-designated intermediary rather than directly to the victim. If you cannot pay in full at the time of conviction, the court can set up a periodic payment plan.
How It Differs From Criminal Damage to Property
This is where most people get confused. Criminal mischief under R.S. 14:59 targets interference and disruption. Simple criminal damage to property under R.S. 14:56 targets actual destruction, and it scales with the dollar amount of harm:
- Damage under $1,000: a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months in jail, or both.
- Damage from $1,000 to under $50,000: a fine of up to $1,000, imprisonment with or without hard labor for up to two years, or both.
- Damage of $50,000 or more: a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment with or without hard labor for one to ten years, or both.
When one person damages multiple properties through a series of connected acts, the court adds up the total damage to decide which tier applies.2Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 14 RS 14:56 – Simple Criminal Damage to Property Spray-painting five storefronts in one night is a single offense based on the combined repair cost, not five separate misdemeanors.
The practical gap is large. Tampering with someone’s mailbox to annoy them is criminal mischief, a misdemeanor. Smashing that mailbox and causing $1,500 in damage to the surrounding property is criminal damage, a felony carrying up to two years of hard labor. Both involve property and both require intent, but the legal exposure is worlds apart.
Criminal damage also explicitly reaches tenants who intentionally damage a rental they live in, closing a loophole where renters argued they had a right to be on the property.2Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 14 RS 14:56 – Simple Criminal Damage to Property Neither statute covers destruction by fire or explosion. That falls under the separate arson laws.
Defenses That Actually Work
Because every criminal mischief charge requires proof of intent, the strongest defense is usually showing you did not mean to do what you’re accused of. Accidentally triggering a fire alarm is not the same as deliberately pulling one. Knocking something over is not tampering. The prosecution has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you acted intentionally, and circumstantial evidence often struggles to clear that bar.
Consent is another common defense. If the property owner gave you permission, or you reasonably believed they had, the charge falls apart. Several of the listed offenses expressly require acting “without the consent of the owner.”1Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 14:59 – Criminal Mischief A text message from a neighbor saying “go ahead and trim that branch” can be enough, even if they later regret it.
Mistaken identity matters too, particularly for acts like throwing objects or tampering with property where the accused was not caught in the act. Surveillance footage, alibi witnesses, and cell phone location data can all show that the wrong person was charged. This defense is strongest when the accusation rests on a single witness identification with no corroborating physical evidence.
For the “refusing to leave a business” charge, the fight usually turns on whether the person in charge actually directed you to leave. A vague suggestion is not the same as a clear instruction, and leaving promptly once told may mean no offense occurred at all.
After a Conviction: Civil Suits and Expungement
A criminal conviction does not stop the victim from suing you in civil court. Louisiana Civil Code Article 2315 says anyone whose fault causes damage to another is obligated to repair it.3Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code Art. 2315 – Liability for Acts Causing Damages A victim can pursue repair costs, loss of property use, and related expenses in a civil lawsuit on top of whatever the criminal court imposes. Restitution ordered in the criminal case and a civil judgment are separate obligations, though the victim cannot collect twice for the same loss.
Beyond the direct penalties, a misdemeanor property conviction can affect background checks for jobs, rental applications, and, for younger people, college admissions and scholarship eligibility. Louisiana lets you expunge a misdemeanor conviction along two paths. If the court set aside your conviction and dismissed the prosecution under the state’s deferred sentencing provisions, you can file a motion to expunge the record. Otherwise, you must wait at least five years after completing your sentence, probation, or parole, with no felony convictions during that period and no pending felony charges. The motion has to include a certification from the district attorney confirming your clean record.4Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 977 – Motion to Expunge Record of Arrest and Conviction of a Misdemeanor Offense
Not every misdemeanor qualifies. Sex offenses, domestic abuse battery, and stalking cannot be expunged under this provision.4Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 977 – Motion to Expunge Record of Arrest and Conviction of a Misdemeanor Offense Criminal mischief is not on that exclusion list, so most people convicted under R.S. 14:59 will eventually qualify if they stay out of trouble.