Weird Laws in the US That Are Still on the Books

What are the weird laws in the US that are still on the books? The real answer is that some are current state statutes or city ordinances, some are dormant but unrepealed, and some viral “laws” are just misquotes or myths. The only reliable test is the exact jurisdiction and the exact text.

Key takeaways

• “Weird laws” can mean real statutes, local ordinances, or stale code that nobody enforces.
• A funny headline is not proof; the exact jurisdiction and current wording matter.
• Old rules often survived because they once solved ordinary problems like noise, animals, or public safety.
• A law can be valid even if it feels outdated, so always verify it in an official source before sharing it.

What “weird laws in the US” actually means

Weird laws in the US usually fall into four real categories: current statutes, local ordinances, dormant provisions that still remain in code, and rules that have already been repealed but still show up in old roundups. A law can sound absurd and still be legitimate if it was written for a concrete problem like livestock, noise, fireworks, or street use.

That distinction matters because the internet flattens everything into one screenshot. A city ordinance, a state criminal statute, and a repealed provision are not interchangeable, and the legal consequences are very different. Current text in a municipal code is one thing; a recycled list from years ago is another.

For this article, the standard is simple: if a claim can’t be tied to a current official code, a legislature site, or a reputable legal reference such as Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute, Justia, Nolo, or FindLaw, treat it as unverified. The goal is to separate code text from folklore, not to repeat the folklore with better formatting.

A quick reality check: which weird laws are still on the books?

Here is a quick comparison of the best-known “weird law” examples that still survive in current code or credible legal references: Louisiana, La. Rev.

Stat. § 14:89, still on the books as a current state criminal statute, not a joke law, because it was retained in the criminal code and periodically defended as an obscenity/public morality rule; myth risk is high because it is often summarized badly.

New Orleans, Code of the City of New Orleans, noise/public nuisance provisions, current local ordinance, local regulatory rule, it survived because cities keep nuisance and public-order rules tied to neighborhood enforcement, myth risk is medium.

Texas, Texas Health and Safety Code provisions on tanning facility minors and similar public-health restrictions, current state law, regulatory rule, it survived because the issue is still regulated, myth risk is low but the headline can be misleading if shortened.

Maine, 17-A M.R.S. public indecency and nuisance-related provisions, current state law, criminal/public-order rule, it survived because older morality and disorder provisions were retained in modern code, myth risk is high when viral posts omit the narrow elements.

Alaska, Alaska Stat. provisions on fish and wildlife or public conduct that are frequently cited in roundup lists, current text only when the exact section is identified, regulatory/public-order rule, it survived because Alaska’s code still contains broad resource-management language, myth risk is very high unless the section is named.

Indiana, local and state public-conduct provisions often quoted in “weird laws” lists, current only if tied to a specific chapter and section, nuisance/public-order rule, it survived because older code language was not fully cleaned up, myth risk is very high when no code section is given.

The most famous weird laws, sorted by what they really are

• A classic example is the Indiana law that once restricted Sunday sales of cold soft drinks and certain consumer goods; parts of these blue-law traditions have been narrowed, changed, or removed over time, so the only safe move is to check the current Indiana Code rather than a meme screenshot. The broader point: old Sabbath-style commerce rules often get cited long after they have been revised.
• A frequently repeated claim about Alaska says you can’t wake a sleeping bear for a photo. That line is the kind of statement that often spreads without a clean code citation, so it belongs in the “verify before you repeat” bucket, not the “fun fact” bucket.
• A real and still-useful oddity in many places is an anti-livestock-on-street ordinance. In some cities and towns, the rule sounds comic because cows or goats seem out of place now, but it began as a normal urban order rule when animal traffic was a live nuisance.
• New Orleans’ famous old local rules around keeping a houseboat, tethering animals, or handling street behavior are a reminder that city codes often preserve the strangest language. The quirks live at the municipal level, which is exactly where local history tends to stay visible.
• Some of the best-known “weird laws” are actually zoning or public-decency provisions that became internet legends because the wording is vivid. A rule against certain public acts on a sidewalk sounds funny in isolation, but it is really a routine municipal control mechanism.
• A number of state-level oddities involve game, fish, fireworks, or alcohol rather than cartoonish nonsense. Those rules are usually easier to verify because state legislature websites and code databases show the exact chapter and section, which is why they deserve more trust than reposted social media slides.

The key point in that table is the source trail: a law can be real and still be misrepresented online. The Library of Congress and the National Conference of State Legislatures are useful for legal context, but the current rule usually lives in the state or municipal code itself, and that is where a claim has to be checked before it gets shared.

Why these laws exist in the first place

The internet usually gets the shape of the law wrong before it gets the wording wrong. A viral post will strip out the section heading, the exceptions, and the jurisdiction, which is why a sentence that sounds ridiculous can turn into a normal nuisance rule once you read the actual code text.

Weird laws survive because lawmakers often wrote them to solve ordinary problems, not to create novelty. Public-order rules, nuisance controls, animal restrictions, transport limits, and safety ordinances often used narrow language that made sense when horse carts, open fires, or crowded downtown streets were common.

Local codes are where the strange wording shows up most clearly because cities regulate smaller, more specific problems than states do. A municipal code may still mention chickens, fireworks, street vendors, or business hours because those issues were common enough to need a line item, and no one has taken the time to rewrite the whole chapter.

Why local ordinances look stranger than state statutes

There is also a difference between a law that looks outdated and a law that is legally gone. Rewriting a code section can clean up embarrassing language, but if the underlying conduct still creates complaints, the city or state may keep the rule and simply enforce it less often. That is why “old” and “dead” are not the same thing.

A claim can be true in one town and false two counties away. That is especially common with local nuisance rules, animal-control ordinances, and public-conduct limits. Broad “weird laws in the US” lists blur that difference, which is why the exact city, county, or state section matters.

How to verify a weird law before sharing it or relying on it

1. Identify the exact jurisdiction first. A claim about “in Texas” means nothing until you know whether it refers to a state statute, a city ordinance, or a county rule. Search for the city name, county name, or state chapter, not just the catchy headline.
2. Pull the current text from an official or reputable source. State legislature websites and municipal code websites are best for live text; Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute, Justia, Nolo, and FindLaw are useful for organized references and cross-checking. If the wording only appears on a meme account, treat it as unverified.
3. Look for repeal history and amendments. The best clue is whether the section has a revision note, an amendment date, or a deletion mark. A rule may have been changed so much that old internet posts still describe the earlier version.
4. Check whether the rule is statewide or local. A state law can preempt a city ordinance, but not always. If the issue is a local nuisance rule, the city text controls unless a higher law says otherwise.
5. Ask whether the rule is enforceable as written. Some laws are current but very hard to apply because of constitutional limits, selective enforcement, or vague wording. That is different from repeal, and it matters if you are relying on the rule in a real dispute.

A practical verification habit is to check the same claim in two places: the official code and a reputable legal reference. If the wording matches, you are probably looking at a real statute or ordinance. If the wording changes from source to source, the claim probably got simplified, clipped, or recycled from an older list.

The bottom line on weird laws in the US

The safest way to read weird laws in the US is to assume the weirdness is usually in the presentation, not the existence of the rule. A law can be real, current, and boring in purpose at the same time, especially once you see the historical problem it was written to solve.

That distinction matters most when the claim could affect real behavior. A trivia post about a silly rule is harmless; a rule about alcohol sales, animal control, public conduct, or business hours can still matter in a citation, permit dispute, or local complaint. If the consequence is real, the source has to be current too.

Use this simple rule before reposting a weird-law claim: verify the exact section, identify the jurisdiction, then classify it as live law, dormant law, repealed text, or myth. If the post does not give you a section number, a code name, or a city ordinance citation, do not treat it as confirmed.

Frequently asked questions

Are weird laws in the US actually real?

When not to trust a viral weird-law claim: if it names no jurisdiction, quotes no section, or uses a screenshot with no chapter heading, assume it is incomplete. Verify by finding the rule in the current code, checking whether the chapter still exists, and seeing whether later amendments or repeals changed it.

Exceptions matter too: a rule may exist only for a narrow place, a narrow activity, or a narrow age group, so a broad headline can still be misleading even when the text is real.

Why do old weird laws still stay on the books?

Here are the classifications that actually help: live law means the text is current and enforceable in that jurisdiction; dormant law means the text remains in force but is rarely used; repealed text means the provision was removed from current code; viral myth means the claim does not match current code or was lifted out of context. That four-part split is more useful than asking whether a law is “weird.”

Can someone really be fined under an old weird law?

Worked example 1: Louisiana’s often-cited morality statute, La. Rev. Stat. § 14:89, is a good example of a law that remains in current code but gets misdescribed online. The verification steps are straightforward: find the exact section in the Louisiana Revised Statutes, read the present text, and compare the title and elements to the meme version. What it proves is that a law can still be on the books even if the internet turns it into a punchline.

What is the best way to check if a weird law is true?

Worked example 2: a New Orleans “weird law” claim should be checked against the city code, not a state roundup. If the claim involves noise, vendors, animals, or public behavior, the relevant text is usually in the municipal code and may be a nuisance rule rather than a criminal statute. What that proves is that local law often explains the weirdest headlines, but only if you name the city and the exact ordinance.