Texas Bomb Threat Law- Kaufman Courthouse Edition
The Kaufman courthouse has been evacuated. Allegedly, someone called in a bomb threat.
Texas law makes it illegal to call in a fake bomb threat. Here is the law. The question is… is today’s bomb threat fake? I really hope so. And, is a courthouse a “public service”. If so, this is a State Jail Felony. If not, this is a misdemeanor.
§ 42.06. FALSE ALARM OR REPORT.
(a) A person commits an offense if he knowingly initiates, communicates or circulates a
report of a present, past, or future bombing, fire, offense, or
other emergency that he knows is false or baseless and that would
ordinarily:
(1) cause action by an official or volunteer 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.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor unless the false report is of an emergency involving a public primary or secondary school, public communications, public
transportation, public water, gas, or power supply or other public service, in which event the offense is a state jail felony