When You Have to Give Your Name
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-217 — a driver gives a name and address on request of an officer in uniform
A person operating or in charge of a motor vehicle may not, when an officer in uniform asks, refuse to give their name and address, or give a false one, and on demand produces the license, registration and insurance card. A violation is an infraction.
Who handles this in Connecticut: legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Connecticut directory.
Apart from drivers, the sections this guide reads set no duty to give a name. What they do forbid is obstructing, resisting, hindering or endangering a peace officer in the performance of duties, a class A misdemeanor.
The Supreme Court of the United States has held that an officer who can point to specific facts suggesting criminal activity may stop a person briefly to investigate, and may pat down their outer clothing for weapons where the officer reasonably believes the person is armed and dangerous. It has also held that a state law requiring a person lawfully detained on reasonable suspicion to state their name does not violate the Fourth Amendment. Whether any such duty exists is a question of the state's own statute, which is what this page sets out. Those holdings are a floor: a state's own constitution and statutes can give more protection than they do, never less.
Sources for this section (4)
- Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-217 — Operator to give name and address and show or surrender license, registration and insurance identification card when requested
- Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53a-167a — Interfering with an officer: Class A misdemeanor or class D felony
- Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968) — Investigative stops require reasonable suspicion
- Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District, 542 U.S. 177 (2004) — A stop and identify law may be enforced only once reasonable suspicion exists
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Connecticut attorney.