Prohibits falsely reporting an incident and/or making a terroristic threat which include claims of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument being involved or which threaten a school or place of worship.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7945
IN SENATE
January 4, 2024
___________
Introduced by Sen. WEBER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to prohibiting falsely
reporting an incident and/or making a terroristic threat which include
claims of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument being involved or
which threaten a school or place of worship
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 240.55 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 477
2 of the laws of 1989, subdivisions 1 and 2 as amended by chapter 561 of
3 the laws of 1999, subdivision 3 as added by chapter 301 of the laws of
4 2001 and as renumbered by chapter 302 of the laws of 2001, and the clos-
5 ing paragraph as amended by chapter 301 of the laws of 2001, is amended
6 to read as follows:
7 § 240.55 Falsely reporting an incident in the second degree.
8 A person is guilty of falsely reporting an incident in the second
9 degree when, knowing the information reported, conveyed or circulated to
10 be false or baseless, he or she:
11 1. Initiates or circulates a false report or warning of an alleged
12 occurrence or impending occurrence of a fire, explosion, the use or
13 possession of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument by an individual,
14 or the release of a hazardous substance under circumstances in which it
15 is not unlikely that public alarm or inconvenience will result;
16 2. Reports, by word or action, to any official or quasi-official agen-
17 cy or organization having the function of dealing with emergencies
18 involving danger to life or property, an alleged occurrence or impending
19 occurrence of a fire, explosion, the use or possession of a deadly weap-
20 on or dangerous instrument by an individual or individuals, or the
21 release of a hazardous substance which did not in fact occur or does not
22 in fact exist; or
23 3. Knowing the information reported, conveyed or circulated to be
24 false or baseless and under circumstances in which it is likely public
25 alarm or inconvenience will result, he or she initiates or circulates a
26 report or warning of an alleged occurrence or an impending occurrence of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13936-01-3
S. 7945 2
1 a fire, an explosion, the use or possession of a deadly weapon or
2 dangerous instrument by an individual or individuals, or the release of
3 a hazardous substance upon any private premises.
4 Falsely reporting an incident in the second degree is a class E felo-
5 ny.
6 § 2. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 240.60-a to read
7 as follows:
8 § 240.60-a Falsely reporting an incident at a school or place of
9 worship.
10 1. A person is guilty of falsely reporting an incident at a school or
11 place of worship when he or she, knowing the information reported,
12 conveyed or circulated to be false or baseless and under circumstances
13 in which it is likely public alarm or inconvenience will result, he or
14 she initiates or circulates a report or warning of an alleged occurrence
15 or impending occurrence of a fire, explosion, the use or possession of a
16 deadly weapon or dangerous instrument by an individual or individuals in
17 or upon school or a place of worship.
18 2. For the purposes of this section, the term "school" includes any
19 building or grounds, owned or leased, of any educational institutions,
20 colleges and universities, licensed private career schools, school
21 districts, public schools, private schools licensed under article one
22 hundred one of the education law, charter schools, non-public schools,
23 board of cooperative educational services, special act schools,
24 preschool special education programs, private residential or non-resi-
25 dential schools for the education of students with disabilities, and any
26 state-operated or state-supported schools.
27 Falsely reporting an incident at a school or place of worship is a
28 class C felony.
29 § 3. Section 490.20 of the penal law, as added by chapter 300 of the
30 laws of 2001, is amended to read as follows:
31 § 490.20 Making a terroristic threat in the second degree.
32 1. A person is guilty of making a terroristic threat in the second
33 degree when with intent to intimidate or coerce a civilian population,
34 influence the policy of a unit of government by intimidation or coer-
35 cion, or affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder, assassi-
36 nation or kidnapping, he or she threatens to commit or cause to be
37 committed a specified offense and thereby causes a reasonable expecta-
38 tion or fear of the imminent commission of such offense.
39 2. It shall be no defense to a prosecution pursuant to this section
40 that the defendant did not have the intent or capability of committing
41 the specified offense or that the threat was not made to a person who
42 was a subject thereof.
43 Making a terroristic threat in the second degree is a class D felony.
44 § 4. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 490.22 to read
45 as follows:
46 § 490.22 Making a terroristic threat in the first degree.
47 1. A person is guilty of making a terroristic threat in the first
48 degree when with intent to intimidate, coerce, threaten or alarm a
49 civilian population, he or she threatens to commit or cause to be
50 committed a specified offense upon school grounds or a place of worship,
51 and thereby causes a reasonable expectation or fear of the imminent
52 commission of such offense.
53 2. For the purposes of this section, the term "school" includes any
54 building or grounds, owned or leased, of any educational institutions,
55 colleges and universities, licensed private career schools, school
56 districts, public schools, private schools licensed under article one
S. 7945 3
1 hundred one of the education law, charter schools, non-public schools,
2 board of cooperative educational services, special act schools,
3 preschool special education programs, private residential or non-resi-
4 dential schools for the education of students with disabilities, and any
5 state-operated or state-supported schools.
6 3. It shall be no defense to a prosecution pursuant to this section
7 that the defendant did not have the intent or capability of committing
8 the specified offense.
9 Making a terroristic threat in the first degree is a class C felony.
10 § 5. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subdivision 1 of section 70.02 of the
11 penal law, paragraph (b) as amended by chapter 94 of the laws of 2020
12 and paragraph (c) as amended by chapter 134 of the laws of 2019, are
13 amended to read as follows:
14 (b) Class C violent felony offenses: an attempt to commit any of the
15 class B felonies set forth in paragraph (a) of this subdivision; aggra-
16 vated criminally negligent homicide as defined in section 125.11, aggra-
17 vated manslaughter in the second degree as defined in section 125.21,
18 aggravated sexual abuse in the second degree as defined in section
19 130.67, assault on a peace officer, police officer, firefighter or emer-
20 gency medical services professional as defined in section 120.08,
21 assault on a judge as defined in section 120.09, gang assault in the
22 second degree as defined in section 120.06, strangulation in the first
23 degree as defined in section 121.13, aggravated strangulation as defined
24 in section 121.13-a, burglary in the second degree as defined in section
25 140.25, robbery in the second degree as defined in section 160.10,
26 falsely reporting an incident at a school or place of worship as defined
27 in section 240.60-a, criminal possession of a weapon in the second
28 degree as defined in section 265.03, criminal use of a firearm in the
29 second degree as defined in section 265.08, criminal sale of a firearm
30 in the second degree as defined in section 265.12, criminal sale of a
31 firearm with the aid of a minor as defined in section 265.14, aggravated
32 criminal possession of a weapon as defined in section 265.19, soliciting
33 or providing support for an act of terrorism in the first degree as
34 defined in section 490.15, making a terroristic threat in the first
35 degree as defined in section 490.22, hindering prosecution of terrorism
36 in the second degree as defined in section 490.30, and criminal
37 possession of a chemical weapon or biological weapon in the third degree
38 as defined in section 490.37.
39 (c) Class D violent felony offenses: an attempt to commit any of the
40 class C felonies set forth in paragraph (b) of this subdivision; reck-
41 less assault of a child as defined in section 120.02, assault in the
42 second degree as defined in section 120.05, menacing a police officer or
43 peace officer as defined in section 120.18, stalking in the first
44 degree, as defined in subdivision one of section 120.60, strangulation
45 in the second degree as defined in section 121.12, rape in the second
46 degree as defined in section 130.30, criminal sexual act in the second
47 degree as defined in section 130.45, sexual abuse in the first degree as
48 defined in section 130.65, course of sexual conduct against a child in
49 the second degree as defined in section 130.80, aggravated sexual abuse
50 in the third degree as defined in section 130.66, facilitating a sex
51 offense with a controlled substance as defined in section 130.90, labor
52 trafficking as defined in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision three of
53 section 135.35, criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree as
54 defined in subdivision five, six, seven, eight, nine or ten of section
55 265.02, criminal sale of a firearm in the third degree as defined in
56 section 265.11, intimidating a victim or witness in the second degree as
S. 7945 4
1 defined in section 215.16, soliciting or providing support for an act of
2 terrorism in the second degree as defined in section 490.10, and making
3 a terroristic threat in the second degree as defined in section 490.20,
4 falsely reporting an incident in the first degree as defined in section
5 240.60, placing a false bomb or hazardous substance in the first degree
6 as defined in section 240.62, placing a false bomb or hazardous
7 substance in a sports stadium or arena, mass transportation facility or
8 enclosed shopping mall as defined in section 240.63, aggravated unper-
9 mitted use of indoor pyrotechnics in the first degree as defined in
10 section 405.18, and criminal manufacture, sale, or transport of an unde-
11 tectable firearm, rifle or shotgun as defined in section 265.50.
12 § 6. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
13 it shall have become a law.
