Terroristic Threats Lawyer In Beaumont, TX
Despite the name, a terroristic threat charge is not limited to terrorism, since the statute reaches a remark made in an argument just as it reaches a threat that shuts down a building. This page explains the elements, the penalty levels, how threat cases are defended and how one moves through Jefferson County.
What Is A Terroristic Threat In Texas?
A terroristic threat under Penal Code § 22.07 is threatening to commit a violent offense against a person or property with a listed intent, such as placing someone in fear of imminent serious bodily injury or causing an emergency response. Levels run from a Class B misdemeanor to a third degree felony, depending on the target and the purpose.
Understanding Texas Law
How Does Texas Law Define A Terroristic Threat?
Section 22.07 does not describe a single offense. It describes six threats of violence, each tied to a different purpose, and the branch named in the charging document is the one the state has to prove.
- Causing a reaction by an official or volunteer agency organized to deal with emergencies
- Placing any person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury
- Preventing or interrupting the occupation of a building, place of assembly, vehicle or other public place
- Causing impairment or interruption of public communications, water, gas, power or another public service
- Placing the public or a substantial group of it in fear of serious bodily injury
- Influencing the conduct of a branch or agency of the government
A threat is judged by intent, not by result.
The statute does not require that the threat was carried out or that the person could have carried it out. Every branch begins with the same act, a threat of violence, and what differs is the purpose the state must prove. That purpose is a question about the accused's mind, and it is often shown through messages, earlier conduct and the setting.
A threat made to someone during an argument often falls under the second item. The word imminent matters there, because a threat of harm at some unstated later time is not the same as a threat of harm that is about to happen.
Penalties And Consequences
What Are The Penalties For A Terroristic Threat In Texas?
One set of words can be charged at very different levels, which is why the branch matters. The target of the threat and the result it was meant to bring about move the level. These are statutory limits, not predictions.
Up to a $2,000 fine.
Up to a $4,000 fine.
Fine of up to $10,000.
- Emergency reaction, § 22.07(a)(1)
- Class B misdemeanor. Up to 180 days in county jail and a fine of up to $2,000.
- Fear of imminent serious bodily injury, § 22.07(a)(2)
- Class B misdemeanor. Class A when the target is a family or household member or a public servant. State jail felony when the target is a known peace officer or judge.
- Interrupting a building or public place, § 22.07(a)(3)
- Class A misdemeanor, or a state jail felony where the loss to the victim is $1,500 or more.
- Public service, the public, or a government agency
- Third degree felony under § 22.07(a)(4), (5) and (6). Two to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
- Family violence finding
- A threat against a family or household member can carry a finding in the judgment, with the firearm and record consequences described on the family violence page.
The same event can also lead to an assault charge or another offense, each with a range of its own.
Real Questions
What Do People Ask About Terroristic Threats In Texas?
Where is the line between a threat and a joke?
Can a threat against a school or workplace be charged?
Does the threat have to be spoken face to face?
What if the person did not believe it?
Can a threat charge involve a protective order?
Possible Defenses
How Can A Terroristic Threat Charge Be Defended?
A threat case is built from words, so the evidence is the exact wording and the setting around it. A text thread, a voicemail or a post can be the entire case. An attorney reviews the complete record and not only the excerpt quoted in the report. No result can be promised.
Threat charges often travel with others. A threat made while holding a weapon can be filed as aggravated assault, and a threat aimed at a partner can sit inside a family violence case.
Some online threats are handled federally.
Those cases are filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division, and follow federal procedure instead of the county's.
When a threat comes with physical contact, the state can add an assault count. A threat aimed at an officer during an arrest can likewise sit beside an assault charge.
The Exact Words
Is the record complete, and are the words quoted accurately and in context?
Imminence
Was the threat about immediate harm, or about something at an unstated later time?
Intent
Do the words and conduct show a listed intent, or exaggeration and frustration?
True Threat
Is it a true threat the First Amendment does not protect, or protected speech?
Authorship
Can the state prove who wrote or sent the message?
Conditional Wording
Was the statement conditional, and does it still meet the statute?
Local Process
What Happens After A Terroristic Threat Arrest In Jefferson County?
The steps below follow Texas law. The court, the prosecutor and the booking are those of Jefferson County.
The Report
A complaint comes from the person threatened or from someone else who saw or received the message.
Gathering The Words
Phone extractions, screenshots, recordings and witness statements are collected and compared, and the defense can request them under article 39.14.
Court And Resolution
After the magistrate sets bond under article 15.17, the case moves toward dismissal, a plea, a reduction to another offense, or trial.
- Where it is filed
- Misdemeanors are filed in one of the Jefferson County Courts at Law. Felonies are heard in the district courts at the Jefferson County Courthouse on 1085 Pearl Street after a grand jury indictment.
- Who prosecutes
- Felonies are prosecuted by the Jefferson County Criminal District Attorney's Office. Misdemeanors are handled by prosecutors in Jefferson County.
- Who makes the arrest
- Beaumont Police Department, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, Texas DPS Highway Patrol, Port Arthur Police Department, Nederland Police Department, Port Neches Police Department, or Groves Police Department.
- Where you are booked
- Arrestees from every law enforcement agency in the county are booked into the county's jail system.
- If the case is appealed
- the Ninth Court of Appeals in Beaumont.
Next Steps
What Should You Do After A Terroristic Threat Charge?
These steps are general information, not advice for any one person.
Delete Nothing
Removing messages can create new problems. Keep the whole thread and tell your attorney.
Do Not Message The Other Person
Contact can break bond terms and adds evidence.
Save The Surrounding Context
Keep what was said before and after the words in question.
List Who Saw Or Heard It
Names of people present can show tone and context.
Stay Silent Online
Explaining or apologizing in a post can be used as evidence.
Mark Court Dates
A missed setting can bring a warrant and a bond problem.
Speak with a lawyer before explaining the words to police or posting anything. A threat charge can carry a family violence finding, or a felony level, depending on the facts. Mitchell Law Firm offers a confidential conversation about a terroristic threat charge in Jefferson County.
Official Texas Sources
Read The Law Behind This Page
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 22: Terroristic threat and related offenses
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 12: Punishment ranges
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 6: Culpable mental states
- Texas Family Code Chapter 71: Family violence definitions
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 15: Arrest and the magistrate warning
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 39: Discovery of the state's evidence
Who Handles Your Case
The Texas Lawyer Who Speaks Science
Attorney Brennon Mitchell isn't just a seasoned Beaumont trial lawyer. He's one of the few in Texas, and the entire country, to earn the prestigious title of an ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist. That means he's gone beyond the courtroom and into the laboratory, receiving in-depth, hands-on training in forensic chromatography, the same kind of testing used by crime labs to try and convict Texans every day.
What does that mean for you?
It means when the state uses blood alcohol or drug testing to try to prove its case, Mr. Mitchell knows how to challenge it. He's trained to:
- Analyze lab results and spot faulty science
- Cross-examine forensic experts with precision
- Break down complex chemical evidence in plain language for juries
This is not the kind of background you find in most criminal defense attorneys, and it could make the difference between a conviction and a clean slate.
Brennon graduated from Texas A&M University School of Law and practices from offices in Orange and Conroe.
Client Reviews
What Clients Say About Brennon Mitchell
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different and is decided on its own facts.
Related Assault Charges
Other Assault Charges Handled In Beaumont, TX
Threat cases often grow out of an argument, and the same words can be charged more than one way. See the full Assault Crimes defense overview for Beaumont.
Assault
Three offenses share one statute, from a fine-only Class C to a felony when the facts or the person involved change.
Aggravated Assault
An assault plus serious bodily injury or a deadly weapon. A second degree felony, and first degree in a narrow set of cases.
Vehicular Assault
Not a Texas statute by that name. A crash that hurts someone is charged under a different law, and which one decides the range.
Deadly Conduct
Reckless danger to another person is a Class A misdemeanor. Firing a gun at people or toward a building or vehicle is a third degree felony.
Family Violence
An assault between people in a family, household or dating relationship, with a protective order, firearm limits and a finding that stays on the record.
Injury To A Child, Elderly Or Disabled Person
A felony at every level, graded by the injury and the mental state, and chargeable for a failure to act as well as for an act.
Kidnapping
Unlawful restraint, kidnapping and aggravated kidnapping are three levels of one idea, from a Class A misdemeanor to a first degree felony.
Common Questions
Terroristic Threat Questions People In Beaumont Ask
What is a terroristic threat under Texas law in Beaumont, TX?
Penal Code § 22.07 lists several forms. They include threatening violence to cause a reaction by an emergency agency, threatening imminent bodily injury to place a person in fear, and threatening to interrupt a building, public place or public service. Some forms are tied to a purpose, such as influencing a government agency or placing the public in fear of serious injury.
Is a threat made in anger a terroristic threat in Jefferson County?
Section 22.07(a)(2) covers a threat of violence made with intent to place any person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury. The state must prove that intent. Words spoken in frustration, or understood by everyone present as exaggeration, raise the question of whether intent can be established from the circumstances.
What is the punishment for a terroristic threat in Beaumont, TX?
The level depends on the subsection. A threat to cause an emergency reaction or to place a person in fear is a Class B misdemeanor, raised to a Class A when the target is a family or household member or a public servant. Threats affecting a building or public place are Class A, and threats to public services or the public are third degree felonies.
Does the person threatened have to be hurt or afraid in Jefferson County?
Injury is not an element of the offense. For the fear-based subsection, the state must prove the accused acted with intent to place a person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury, not that the person actually felt fear. Other subsections turn on what the threat was meant to cause or disrupt.
Can a threat posted online be charged in Beaumont, TX?
A threat sent by text, message or post can be charged under § 22.07 if it meets the statute's elements. First Amendment law protects speech that is not a true threat, so the content, the context and the intended audience become part of the analysis. A threat that crosses state lines can also be investigated under federal law.
Can a joke be charged as a terroristic threat in Beaumont, TX?
A remark is charged only if the state claims it was a threat made with a listed intent. Tone, the relationship between the people and what was said before and after all bear on whether the words were a threat or an exaggeration. The state has to prove intent beyond a reasonable doubt.
Mitchell Law Firm, PLLC
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Messages and recordings are the main evidence in a threat case, and they can be deleted or altered. Call early so they can be preserved.
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