Matthew’s Most Outrageous Laws

At the Matthew’s Most Outrageous Laws (MMoL) website I found some really funny and wacky laws that exist in the United States. All credit goes to MMoL for finding them! =)

Alabama

• Bogies may not be flicked into the wind
• It is illegal to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in a church
• It is illegal for a driver to be blindfolded while operating a vehicle
• Putting salt on a railroad track may be punishable by death.
• It is legal to drive the wrong way down a one-way street if you have a lantern attached to the front of your automobile.

Alaska

• It is illegal to let huskies into school buildings
• It is illegal to look at a moose through the windows of an aeroplane
• In Fairbanks it is illegal to feed a moose alcohol
• It is an offence to push a live moose out of a moving airplane.

Arizona

• Hunting or shooting camels is illegal
• Cutting down a cactus may result in you going to jail for 25 years
• Donkeys may not sleep in bathtubs
• It is illegal to refuse a person a glass of water.
• In Mohave County, anyone caught stealing soap must wash themselves with it until it is all used up
• In Yuma, those caught stealing fruit may be punished by being made to take castor oil.

Arkansas

• It is illegal to keep an alligator in your bathtub.
• A man can legally beat his wife, but not more than once a month.
• Schoolteachers who bob their hair will not get a raise in salary
• Bean shooters are forbidden
• In Little Rock it is unlawful to walk one’s cow down Main Street after 1:00 PM on Sunday.

California

• Cats and dogs have to have a license before mating.
• Animals may not mate publicly within 500 feet of a tavern, school or place of worship.
• It is an offence to detain a homing pigeon.
• It is illegal to set a mousetrap without a hunting license.
• It is illegal to peel an orange in your hotel room.
• No vehicle without a driver may exceed 60 miles per hour.
• In Hemet the driver of “any vehicle involved in an accident resulting in death…shall immediately stop…and give his name and address to the person struck.”
• In Hanford people may not interfere with children jumping over water puddles.
• In Riverside it is illegal to stick out your tongue in the direction of a dog
• In Los AngelesIt is illegal to drive more than two thousand sheep down Hollywood Boulevard at one time.
• In L.A. it is forbidden for customers at a meat market to poke a turkey to see how tender it is
• In L.A. it is forbidden to hunt moths under a streetlight
• In San Francisco if you are walking an elephant down Market Street, it must be kept on a leash.

Colorado

• One may not mutilate a rock in a state park
• In Pueblo, it is illegal to raise or permit a dandelion to grow within the city limits.
• In Denver the dogcatcher must notify dogs of their impending impoundment by posting notices on trees and along a public road
• In Sterling cats may not run loose without having been fit with a taillight.

Connecticut

• In order for a pickle to be called a pickle, it must bounce
• Restaurant owners must proved separate nose blowing and non-nose blowing areas
• In Woodville people are banned from playing Scrabble whilst waiting for a politician to speak
• In Branford, it is against the law to appear on the street unless covered from shoulder to knee.
• In New Britain, it is illegal for fire trucks to exceed 25mph, even when going to a fire

Delaware

• It is illegal to fly over any body of water unless carrying sufficient supplies of food and drink

District of Columbia

• All taxicabs must carry a broom and a shovel.

Florida

• It is illegal to put livestock on board a school bus
• You and the salon owner can be fined if you fall asleep under a dryer in a hairdressers
• If you try and commit suicide and do not succeed, you are free. However if you do succeed you will have committed a felony and can be sent to jail.
• Farting in a public place after 6pm on Thursdays is illegal
• It is illegal to get a fish drunk
• In Key West, turtle racing is prohibited.

Georgia

• It is illegal for barbers to advertise their prices.
• It is illegal to swim in the nude anywhere in the vicinity of Georgetown. Offenders may be transported to the outskirts of town and left to fend for themselves. Those caught engaged in a sexual act may be covered in paint, attached to an ass and transported out of town, where they are told never to return.
• It is against the law to slap a man on the back
• It is illegal to swear in front of a dead body, which lies in a funeral home or in a coroner’s office.
• In Atlanta, it is against the law to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole or street lamp

Hawaii

• It is illegal to own a snake. The exception is zoos, which are allowed 2, provided they are both non-venomous and male
• It is illegal to own a mongoose without a permit
• If you are a resident of Hawaii, you can be fined for not owning a boat

Idaho

• Anti-delinquency statutes mean that children may not deliberately step on ants
• It is illegal for a man to give his sweetheart a box of candy weighing less than fifty pounds
• You cannot buy onions after dark without the permission of the sheriff
• In Idaho Falls, anyone over 88 may not ride a motorcycle.
• In Pocatello a law passed in 1912 states that “The carrying of concealed weapons is forbidden, unless some are exhibited to public view.”

Illinois

• Cars may only be driven using a steering wheel
• It is against the law for a conductor to collect fares without his hat on.
• Animals can be sent to jail
• You may be arrested for vagrancy if you do not have at least 1 dollar on your person
• You must contact the police before entering the city in an automobile
• The English language is not to be spoken.
• Plying a dog with alcohol is illegal
• In Chicago you are forbidden to eat in a place that is on fire

Indiana

• It is illegal to shoot open a can of food.
• A man over the age of 18 may be arrested for statutory rape if the passenger in his car is not wearing her socks and shoes, and is under the age of 17.
• Baths may not be taken between the months of October and March.

Iowa

• In Fort Madison, the law requires the fire department to practice for fifteen minutes before attending a fire.

Kansas

• When two trains approach each other at a crossing, both shall come to a full stop and neither may start again until the other has gone.
• You cannot shoot rabbits from a motorboat.
• In Natoma, you cannot throw a knife at a man who is wearing a striped suit.
• In Wichita, drivers who want to drive across the intersection of Douglas and Broadway must first get out of their vehicle and fire three shotgun rounds into the air.

Kentucky

• You may not dye a duckling blue and offer it for sale unless you sell more than six at once.
• It is illegal to sleep in a restaurant.
• It is illegal to fish in the Ohio River in Kentucky without an Indiana Fishing License.
• It is illegal to marry the same man more than 3 times.
• In Lexington anyone who has been drinking is sober until he or she “cannot hold onto the ground.”

Louisiana

• It is against the law to gargle in public.
• In Lake Charles it is illegal to let a rain puddle remain in your front yard for more than twelve hours
• In New Orleans you may not tie an alligator to a fire hydrant.

Maine

• You can be fined for having your Christmas decorations still up after January 14.
• You may not step out of a plane in flight.

Maryland

• You may not grow thistles in your yard.
• In Baltimore it is illegal to take a lion to the movies

Massachusetts

• It is forbidden to eat peanuts in church.
• At a wake, mourners may eat no more than three sandwiches
• No gorilla is allowed in the back seat of any car (the law says nothing about the front seat though)
• In Boston no more than two baths may be taken within the confines of the city
• In Boston duels to the death permitted on the common on Sundays provided that the Governor is present

Michigan

• A burglar can file a law suit if he or she got hurt in your house.
• It is illegal to kill a dog using a decompression chamber
• You can be sent to jail for throwing an octopus on to the ice during a Red Wings (ice hockey team) game.
• In Rochester, anyone bathing in public must first have his suit inspected by a police officer.

Minnesota

• In Minneapolis red cars may not drive down Lake Street

Mississippi

• Private citizens may personally arrest any person that disturbs a church service.

Missouri

• Single men between the ages of twenty-one and fifty must pay an annual tax of one dollar

Montana

• It is illegal to have a sheep in the cab of your truck without a chaperone

Nebraska

• Heavy women who happen to be single, widowed, or divorced are banned from parachuting on Sunday. Those who violate this law can be arrested, fined, and given a jail term.
• If a child burps during church, his parent may be arrested

Nevada

• It is illegal to drive a camel on the highway

New Hampshire

• It is illegal to pick seaweed up off of the beach
• You may not tap your feet, nod your head, or in any way keep time to the music in a tavern, restaurant, or cafe

New Jersey

• It is illegal to wear a bulletproof vest while committing a murder
• It is forbidden to slurp your soup
• It is illegal to delay or detain a homing pigeon

New Mexico

• State officials ordered 400 words of “sexually explicit material” to be cut from Romeo and Juliet.

New York (state)

• You can be sentenced to death for jumping off a building.
• If you are riding in an elevator, you must talk to no one, and fold your hands while looking toward the door.
• In Walden, it is illegal to give a drink of water to anyone unless you have a permit.
• In Rochester firemen must wear neckties on duty
• In New York City women may go topless in public, providing it is not being used as a business

North Carolina

• A three dollar tax must be paid on all white goods sold
• You cannot use an elephant to plough cotton fields.
• It is illegal to sing off key (boy bands beware!)
• North Dakota
• It is illegal to serve pretzels and beer at the same time

Ohio

• No one may be arrested on Sunday or on the Fourth of July
• In Youngstown it is illegal to ride on the roof of a taxi.
• In Columbus it is illegal for stores to sell corn flakes on Sunday
• In Canton you lose your pet tiger, they must notify the authorities within one hour.

Oklahoma

• Dogs must have a permit signed by the mayor in order to congregate in groups of three or more on private property.
• People who make “ugly faces” at dogs may be fined and/or jailed
• In Oklahoma City you cannot walk backwards downtown while eating a hamburger

Oregon

• You must wear “suitable clothing” in order to bathe (defined as clothing which covers one’s body from neck to knee)
• In Portland it is against the law for a wedding ceremony to be performed at a skating rink
• In Salem women may not wrestle

Pennsylvania

• It is illegal to sleep on top of a refrigerator outdoors
• If you are driving along a country road at night you must stop every mile and send up a rocket signal, wait 10 minutes for the road to be cleared of livestock, and then continue
• A special cleaning ordinance bans housewives from hiding dirt and dust under a rug in a dwelling.
• You may not sing in the bath
• In Pittsburgh it is illegal to bring a donkey or a mule onto a trolley car

Rhode Island

• Any marriage where either one of the parties is an idiot or lunatic is null and void

South Carolina

• If a man promises to marry an unmarried woman, the marriage must take place
• Horses may not be kept in bathtubs
• When you are approaching a four way or blind intersection in a non-horse driven vehicle you must stop 100 ft from the junction and shoot a firearm into the air to warn horse traffic
• Every adult male must bring a rifle to church on Sunday in order to ward off Indian attacks
• It is a capital offence to accidentally kill someone while attempting suicide
• In Greenville the drinking age on Furman University campus is 60 years old

South Dakota

• It is illegal to lie down and fall asleep in a cheese factory

Tennessee

• It is illegal to use Lassos to catch a fish.
• Skunks may not be carried into the state
• It is illegal to drive whilst asleep
• It is legal to pick up and eat road kill
• In Memphis it is illegal for a woman to drive a car unless there is a man either running or walking in front of it waving a red flag to warn approaching motorists and pedestrians

Texas

• A criminal is required to give their victims 24 hours notice, either orally or in writing of the crime they will commit and to explain the nature of the crime.
• It is illegal to take more than three sips of beer at a time while standing
• In Houston it is illegal to sell Limburger cheese on Sunday

Utah

• It is illegal to detonate a nuclear weapon. You can have one – you just can’t use it.
• In Salt Lake County no one may walk down the street carrying a paper bag containing a violin

Vermont

• It is illegal to whistle underwater.

Virginia

• It is it illegal to have sex with the lights on.
• One may also not have sex in any position other than missionary
• In Prince William County you may not keep a skunk as a pet

Washington (state)

• In Wilbur, it is against the law to ride down the street on an ugly horse
• It is illegal to pretend that your parents are rich.
• If you have criminal intentions, you must stop at the city limits and telephone the Chief of Police to tell him that you are coming.
• Lollipops are banned
• In Auburn men who deflower virgins, regardless of their age or marital status, may be jailed for up to 5 years

West Virginia

• If you make fun of a person who does not accept a challenge, you can be jailed for up to 6 months.
• You may take road kill home for supper
• Whistling underwater is illegal
• In Roderfield, only babies are allowed to ride in baby carriages.

Wisconsin

• Citizens may not enter Wisconsin with a chicken on their head
• You need a license to make cheese. However if you are making Limburger cheese you need a master cheese maker’s license
• In Milwaukee it is illegal to be out in public during the day if you are considered “offensive looking”.
• In Sun Prairie you may not manufacture nuclear weapons within the city limits (own one yes – make one, no)
• In La Crosse it is illegal to “worry a squirrel”

Wyoming

• It is illegal to take pictures of a rabbit between January and April without an official permit.