Disorderly Conduct in Broward County, Florida

Disorderly conduct cases in Broward County resolve very differently than statewide patterns. The 57.5 percent adjudication withheld rate far exceeds Florida's 25 percent average, meaning judges in Broward choose to find guilt but avoid formal conviction records in most cases. Guilty verdicts occur in 36 percent of cases—above the typical outcome for this charge—while dismissals happen in just 1.7 percent of cases, slightly below the statewide 2.4 percent rate. The State Attorney's office in the 17th Judicial Circuit appears to prioritize conviction outcomes while judges frequently preserve defendants' records through withheld adjudication. Diversion programs, which allow case dismissal upon program completion, process only 4.7 percent of defendants here compared to 7.6 percent statewide.

Defendants convicted or withheld in Broward face modest but real consequences. Average sentences run 43.6 days, though the median is 29 days, indicating wide variation depending on circumstances. Probation terms average 251 days—about eight months. Only 13.3 percent of sentenced defendants receive jail time, meaning most serve probation without incarceration, though a quarter-year supervision period remains standard.