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Texas State law makes it a crime to make a false alarm or false report.

What is Against the Law?

Under Texas law, it is a crime to make a false report.  This is intended to deter people from making false calls related to emergencies and to deter false police reports and false allegations.

The Texas Penal Code makes it illegal to make a false report. Under Texas Penal Code Section 42.06, a person commits an offense if he knowingly initiates, communicates, or circulates a report of a present, past, or future bombing, fire, offense, or another emergency that he knows is false or baseless and that would ordinarily:

1. Cause action by an official or voluntary agency organized to deal with emergencies:
2. Place a person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury or
3. Prevent or interrupt the occupation of a building, room, place of assembly, place to which the public has access, or aircraft, automobile, or other mode of conveyance.

An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor unless the false report involves an emergency involving a public or private higher education institution or a public primary or secondary school, public communications, public transportation, public water, gas, power supply, or other public service. In this event, the offense is a state jail felony.

False Allegations

Under Texas law, a person commits an offense if he knowingly initiates, communicates, or circulates a report of an offense that he knows is false or baseless and that would ordinarily cause action by an official. If someone gets mad at you and calls the police and makes a false allegation against you, they have committed this offense. No one should be subject to false allegations, and this offense offers punishment for those who make false allegations.

False Reports that Cause an Official Response

Under Texas law, a person commits an offense if they communicate a report that would cause a police response. Sometimes, for different reasons, including attention, people will call the police and claim they are the victim of a serious crime. Even though the caller has not identified a specific suspect, the call violates the law.   For example, if a person calls the police and falsely claims there is an intruder in their home, that call would be a false report. A false report like this will cause an immediate police response and unnecessarily tie up police resources. False reports like this can cause more than an immediate police response. Such false reports can create the need to investigate the falsely reported crime. Again, this is a waste of valuable police resources.

False Threats of Future Crimes

Under Texas, a person commits an offense if they communicate a report of or threaten a future offense. If a person makes a false report that someone is going to be the subject of a serious future crime and they place someone in fear of imminent serious bodily injury, then they may have committed an offense under this statute.

False Bomb Threats

Under Texas law, a person commits an offense if they call in a bomb threat.  The location that is the subject of the false bomb threat is of critical importance. If, for example, a bomb threat is made against a school, the offense is considered more severe, and the potential punishment is increased. A bomb threat against a school is a state jail felony. State jail felony offenses are punishable by up to two years in a state jail facility. While students may think calling in a bomb threat is a gag, it is no laughing matter. The law treats bomb threats very seriously, and those who are accused of such offenses face a felony conviction.

Defending Against False Alarm or False Report Allegations

As in any criminal case, a person accused of Making a False Alarm Report is presumed innocent. Anyone accused of making such a report should retain an experienced Texas criminal defense lawyer to fight the allegation. There are unique defenses to False Reporting charges. As the alleged criminal conduct involves speech, a defense may be found in the accused’s First Amendment Right to Free Speech. While not all speech is protected, Constitutional protections must be considered when evaluating the best possible defense.