Terroristic Threats Lawyer In Orange, TX
Despite the name, most terroristic threat charges in Texas have nothing to do with terrorism, since the statute covers a threat made in an argument at home just as it covers a bomb threat. This page explains the elements, the penalty levels, how threat cases are defended and what happens after an arrest.
What Is A Terroristic Threat In Texas?
A terroristic threat under Texas 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?
Texas Penal Code § 22.07 makes it an offense to threaten to commit any offense involving violence to any person or property, with intent to do one of the following:
- Cause a reaction by an official or volunteer agency organized to deal with emergencies
- Place any person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury
- Prevent or interrupt the occupation or use of a building, room, place of assembly, workplace, aircraft, vehicle or other public place
- Cause impairment or interruption of public communications, public transportation, public water, gas or power supply, or another public service
- Place the public or a substantial group of the public in fear of serious bodily injury
- Influence the conduct or activities of a branch or agency of the federal, state or local government
The intent is the heart of the charge.
The statute does not require that the threat was carried out, or that the person had the means to carry it out. It requires that the threat was made with one of the listed intents. Which intent the state alleges decides which subsection applies, and the subsection decides the level.
A threat made to another person during an argument falls under the second item, fear of imminent serious bodily injury. The word imminent matters. A threat of harm at some future time is not the same as a threat of harm about to happen.
Penalties And Consequences
What Are The Penalties For A Terroristic Threat In Texas?
The same words can be a Class B misdemeanor or a felony. What changes the level is who the threat was aimed at and what it was meant to disrupt. These are statutory limits, not predictions.
Up to a $2,000 fine.
Up to a $4,000 fine.
Fine of up to $10,000.
- Threat to a person, base level
- Class B misdemeanor. Up to 180 days in county jail and a fine of up to $2,000.
- Family or household member, or public servant
- Class A misdemeanor. Up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $4,000.
- Known peace officer or judge
- State jail felony. 180 days to two years in a state jail.
- Emergency response
- Class B misdemeanor.
- Interrupting use of a building or place
- Class A misdemeanor. State jail felony if the owner's loss is $1,500 or more.
- Public services, the public, or government
- Third degree felony. Two to ten years and a fine of up to $10,000.
- Family violence finding
- A threat against a family or household member can carry a family violence finding in the judgment, with the firearm and record consequences described on the family violence page.
The same event can also lead to assault or another charge, each with its own range.
Real Questions
What Do People Ask About Terroristic Threats In Texas?
What is the difference between a threat and a joke?
Can a threat to a school or workplace be charged?
Does the threat have to be heard in person?
What if the person did not believe the threat?
Does a threat charge involve a protective order?
Possible Defenses
How Can A Terroristic Threat Charge Be Defended?
A terroristic threat case is built out of words, so the evidence is the exact words and the setting they were said in. A text thread, a voicemail or a post can be the whole case. An attorney reviews the complete record, not only the excerpt in the report. No result can be promised.
Threat charges travel with other charges.
When a threat against a family or household member comes with physical contact, the state can also file assault, and the case carries the protective order and firearm consequences described on the family violence page.
A threat directed at an officer during an arrest can sit next to an assault charge. A threat that disrupts a school or a public event is charged under the subsections aimed at public places and services.
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 future time?
Intent
Do the words and conduct show a listed intent, or exaggeration and frustration?
True Threat
Is the speech a true threat the First Amendment does not protect, or protected speech?
Authorship
Can the state prove who wrote or sent the message?
Conditional Statements
Was the statement conditional, and does it still meet the statute?
Local Process
What Happens After A Terroristic Threat Arrest In Orange County?
The steps below follow Texas law. Where the case is filed and who prosecutes it are specific to Orange County.
Booking And The Magistrate
After arrest, a person is booked and brought before a magistrate, who sets bond and conditions under article 15.17.
Charging
A misdemeanor proceeds on a complaint and information. A felony goes to a grand jury for indictment.
Evidence And Court
The defense can request the messages, recordings and reports under article 39.14. The case is then set for hearings, negotiation or trial.
- Where it is filed
- Misdemeanors are filed in one of the Orange County Courts at Law. Felonies are heard in one of the county's three district courts: 128th District Court, 163rd District Court, and 260th District Court.
- Who prosecutes
- The Orange County District and County Attorney's Office.
- Who makes the arrest
- Orange Police Department, Orange County Sheriff's Office, Texas DPS Highway Patrol, Vidor Police Department, Bridge City Police Department, Pinehurst Police Department, or West Orange Police Department.
- Where you are booked
- The Orange County Correctional Facility at 205 S Border Street, run by the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
Next Steps
What Should You Do After A Terroristic Threat Charge?
These steps are general information, not advice for any one person.
Do Not Delete Anything
Deleting messages can create new problems. Keep the full thread and tell your attorney.
Do Not Message The Other Person
Contact can violate bond conditions and add evidence.
Save The 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.
Do Not Post About It
Explaining or apologizing online can be used as evidence.
Note Court Dates
A missed setting can create a warrant and a bond problem.
Talk to 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 Orange 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 Orange 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 Orange, TX
A threat charge can stand alone or sit next to an assault or family violence charge from the same event. See the full Assault Crimes defense overview for Orange.
Assault
Three different offenses share one statute, from a fine-only Class C to a felony when the facts or the person involved change.
Aggravated Assault
A second degree felony built on serious bodily injury or a deadly weapon, and a first degree felony in a short list of situations.
Vehicular Assault
Not a Texas statute by that name. A crash that hurts someone is charged under one of four other laws, and which one decides the range.
Deadly Conduct
Reckless conduct that puts someone in danger is a Class A misdemeanor. Firing toward people, a home or a car is a third degree felony.
Family Violence
An assault charge with a family finding attached, which brings protective orders, a firearm ban and limits on sealing the record.
Injury To A Child Or Elderly 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
Restraint, kidnapping and aggravated kidnapping are three steps on one ladder, and the step depends on intent and on what was done.
Common Questions
Terroristic Threat Questions People In Orange Ask
What is a terroristic threat in Orange, TX?
Under Texas Penal Code § 22.07, a person commits a terroristic threat by threatening to commit any offense involving violence to a person or property with one of several listed intents, such as placing someone in fear of imminent serious bodily injury, causing an emergency response, interrupting the use of a building, or disrupting a public service. The intent behind the threat is an element the state has to prove.
Is a terroristic threat a felony in Orange County?
It depends on which subsection is charged. Threatening a person to place them in fear of imminent serious bodily injury is a Class B misdemeanor, a Class A when the person is a family or household member or a public servant, and a state jail felony when the actor knows the person is a peace officer or judge. Threats aimed at public services, the public at large or government conduct are third degree felonies.
Does a terroristic threat require the person to actually carry it out in Orange, TX?
The offense is the threat made with the required intent. The statute does not require that the person carried it out, had the ability to carry it out, or intended to carry it out. What it requires is proof that the threat was made to bring about one of the results listed in § 22.07(a), such as fear of imminent serious bodily injury.
Can a social media post be a terroristic threat in Orange County?
Section 22.07 does not limit the way a threat is communicated, so a threat made by text message, email or social media post can be charged. The First Amendment protects speech that is not a true threat, and the state still has to prove the intent the statute requires. How a post is read in context is a factual question for the judge or jury.
What is the punishment for a Class A terroristic threat in Orange, TX?
A Class A misdemeanor carries up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $4,000, or both. A threat against a family or household member is charged at this level, and a court can also enter a family violence finding in the judgment, which carries consequences of its own.
Can a joke or an angry remark be charged as a terroristic threat in Orange, TX?
A remark is charged only if the state claims it was a threat made with a listed intent. Context, tone, the relationship and what the person 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, and the First Amendment limits what speech can be punished.
Mitchell Law Firm, PLLC
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