State of Texas False Alarm or Report Policy

Occasionally, false bomb threats (and other similar false reports) are called in at colleges and universities.

Making a false threat at any Texas higher education institution is considered a State Jail Felony, not a Class A misdemeanor.

Texas Penal Code § 42.06 (False Alarm or Report):

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:
- Cause action by an official or volunteer agency organized to deal with emergencies;
- Place a person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury; or
- 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 is of an emergency involving a public or private institution of higher education or 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.

An individual adjudged guilty of a state jail felony shall be punished by confinement in a state jail for any term of not more than two years or less than 180 days and, in addition to confinement, may be punished by a fine not to exceed $10,000.

UT Dallas students should be aware that the state of Texas takes these threats seriously, and the legal consequences, which are severe, go beyond anything that the University’s disciplinary committee can address.

Brent Tourangeau
University Police Chief