Author: Shanna Campbell
By Shanna Campbell · Updated August 29, 2026 · Statutes verified August 29, 2026. General information, not legal advice. Oklahoma has a badge rule no other state does: it is a crime to display the words “State Police” on a badge, vehicle, clothing, identification card, or any other object withRead More
By Shanna Campbell · Updated August 29, 2026 · Statutes verified August 29, 2026. General information, not legal advice. Ohio’s impersonation statute is the most carefully engineered in the Midwest. Under O.R.C. §2921.51, the offense is graded four different ways depending on what the impersonator actually did — and theRead More
By Shanna Campbell · Updated August 29, 2026 · Statutes verified August 29, 2026 against the North Dakota Century Code. General information, not legal advice. North Dakota’s badge law contains a structural surprise that runs opposite to almost every other state. Under Century Code section 12.1-13-04, falsely pretending to beRead More
By Shanna Campbell · Updated August 29, 2026 · Statutes verified August 29, 2026. General information, not legal advice. New Hampshire has the strictest badge statute in the United States, and almost nobody outside the state knows it. RSA 104:28-a, titled simply “False Personation,” makes it a Class B felonyRead More
By Shanna Campbell · Updated August 29, 2026 · Statutes verified August 29, 2026. General information, not legal advice. Nebraska keeps its badge law simple and comparatively light. Under Nebraska Revised Statute 28-610, a person commits impersonating a peace officer by falsely pretending to be a peace officer and performingRead More
By Shanna Campbell · Updated August 29, 2026 · Statutes verified August 29, 2026 against the Montana Code Annotated 2025. General information, not legal advice. Montana’s badge law is one sentence of elements and one of the country’s heaviest flat penalties. Under Montana Code Annotated 45-7-209, a person commits impersonatingRead More
By Shanna Campbell · Updated August 29, 2026 · Statutes verified August 29, 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice. Missouri is the lenient outlier among Midwestern badge laws. Under Revised Statutes of Missouri section 575.120, false impersonation is a class B misdemeanor — and it rises onlyRead More
By Shanna Campbell · Updated August 29, 2026 · Statutes verified August 29, 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice. Mississippi’s badge law just made one of the biggest jumps in the country. For decades, impersonating an officer in Mississippi was among the lightest offenses of its kindRead More
By Shanna Campbell · Updated August 29, 2026 · Statutes verified August 29, 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice. Massachusetts quietly rewrote its police impersonation law at the end of 2025, and most published guides have not caught up. General Laws chapter 268, section 33 — theRead More
By Shanna Campbell · Updated August 29, 2026 · Statutes verified August 29, 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice. Maryland has one of the broadest police badge statutes in the country. Section 3-502 of the Public Safety Article does three separate things: it prohibits impersonating a policeRead More
By Shanna Campbell · Updated August 29, 2026 · Statutes verified August 29, 2026. General information, not legal advice. Iowa’s badge law hides its weight behind a mild word. Under Iowa Code §718.2, falsely claiming to be — or assuming to act as — an elected or appointed officer, magistrate,Read More
By Shanna Campbell · Updated August 29, 2026 · Statutes verified August 29, 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice. Indiana regulates police badges more directly than most states. Two statutes matter: Indiana Code 35-44.1-2-6 makes impersonating a public servant a Class A misdemeanor and elevates it toRead More