Making a False Alarm or Report

Making a False Alarm or Report

Texas law requires Paris Junior College to notify every incoming student of the penalty for making a false alarm or report involving an institution of higher education.

Under Texas Penal Code § 42.06, a person commits an offense if the person knowingly initiates, communicates, or circulates a report of a present, past, or future bombing, fire, offense, or other emergency that the person 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 a vehicle or other mode of conveyance.

When the false report involves an emergency at a public or private institution of higher education, the offense is a state jail felony, punishable by 180 days to two years in a state jail and a fine of up to $10,000. In other circumstances the offense is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $4,000.

This includes pulling a fire alarm when there is no fire, calling in a bomb threat, and reporting an active shooter, a fire, or another emergency the person knows is not happening — whether the report is made in person, by phone, by text, by email, or on social media.

A student who makes a false alarm or report is also subject to discipline under the PJC Student Code of Conduct, up to and including suspension or expulsion, separate from any criminal charge.

This law applies to reports a person knows are false. It does not apply to a report made in good faith that turns out to be mistaken. If something concerns you, report it — an honest report is never an offense under this section.

PJC Police: 903-782-0399, or extension 1399 from a campus phone. Off campus, dial 911.