Recently Passed Laws Heighten Penalties for False Emergency Reports

Sometimes, unruly teenagers or bored adults will make false emergency reports for their own entertainment. Other times, people may pretend that they are about to commit a serious crime in order to get attention and get peers talking. Situations of this nature waste hours of law enforcement officer’s time.

When law enforcement officers could be out fighting crime, they are instead responding to fictitious situations that were invented by individuals looking for a little entertainment. This can be extremely frustrating for the law enforcement, which is why the Texas state department has chosen to increase the penalties for this crime.

According to reports, the state of Texas has increased the penalties for the offense if initiating, communicating, or circulating a false report of an emergency that involves an institution of higher education. The crime of circulating a false report used to be considered a Class A misdemeanor.

Now, the offense of relaying false emergency reports is considered a state jail felony. Those that are found guilty may be required to serve time in prison and will have a felony posted on their record. It is important as a citizen of the United States to honor the state code in order to avoid serious penalties.

Many suspects arrested for this crime will need to spend time behind bars simply because they violated the law for their own amusement. Don’t hesitate to contact an attorney at The Martinez Law Firm if you need assistance in defending yourself against charges of intentional false report.

You will certainly want an attorney to represent you if you truly did believe that there was a threat and circulated the report out of a conviction that you needed to warn law enforcement. In this situation, you will want to prove that you truly were concerned and issued the threat out of a desire to help your fellow man. Talk with a Houston criminal defense attorney if you need help today!