STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1923 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 14, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. WEBER, OBERACKER -- 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] such person: 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 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD03498-01-5
S. 1923 2 1 3. Knowing the information reported, conveyed or circulated to be 2 false or baseless and under circumstances in which it is likely public 3 alarm or inconvenience will result, [he or she] such person initiates or 4 circulates a report or warning of an alleged occurrence or an impending 5 occurrence of a fire, an explosion, the use or possession of a deadly 6 weapon or dangerous instrument by an individual or individuals, or the 7 release of a hazardous substance upon any private premises. 8 Falsely reporting an incident in the second degree is a class E felo- 9 ny. 10 § 2. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 240.60-a to read 11 as follows: 12 § 240.60-a Falsely reporting an incident at a school or place of 13 worship. 14 1. A person is guilty of falsely reporting an incident at a school or 15 place of worship when such person, knowing the information reported, 16 conveyed or circulated to be false or baseless and under circumstances 17 in which it is likely public alarm or inconvenience will result, such 18 person initiates or circulates a report or warning of an alleged occur- 19 rence or impending occurrence of a fire, explosion, the use or 20 possession of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument by an individual 21 or individuals in or upon school or a place of worship. 22 2. For the purposes of this section, the term "school" includes any 23 building or grounds, owned or leased, of any educational institutions, 24 colleges and universities, licensed private career schools, school 25 districts, public schools, private schools licensed under article one 26 hundred one of the education law, charter schools, non-public schools, 27 board of cooperative educational services, special act schools, 28 preschool special education programs, private residential or non-resi- 29 dential schools for the education of students with disabilities, and any 30 state-operated or state-supported schools. 31 Falsely reporting an incident at a school or place of worship is a 32 class C felony. 33 § 3. Section 490.20 of the penal law, as added by chapter 300 of the 34 laws of 2001, is amended to read as follows: 35 § 490.20 Making a terroristic threat in the second degree. 36 1. A person is guilty of making a terroristic threat in the second 37 degree when with intent to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, 38 influence the policy of a unit of government by intimidation or coer- 39 cion, or affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder, assassi- 40 nation or kidnapping, [he or she] such person threatens to commit or 41 cause to be committed a specified offense and thereby causes a reason- 42 able expectation or fear of the imminent commission of such offense. 43 2. It shall be no defense to a prosecution pursuant to this section 44 that the defendant did not have the intent or capability of committing 45 the specified offense or that the threat was not made to a person who 46 was a subject thereof. 47 Making a terroristic threat in the second degree is a class D felony. 48 § 4. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 490.22 to read 49 as follows: 50 § 490.22 Making a terroristic threat in the first degree. 51 1. A person is guilty of making a terroristic threat in the first 52 degree when with intent to intimidate, coerce, threaten or alarm a 53 civilian population, such person threatens to commit or cause to be 54 committed a specified offense upon school grounds or a place of worship, 55 and thereby causes a reasonable expectation or fear of the imminent 56 commission of such offense.
S. 1923 3 1 2. For the purposes of this section, the term "school" includes any 2 building or grounds, owned or leased, of any educational institutions, 3 colleges and universities, licensed private career schools, school 4 districts, public schools, private schools licensed under article one 5 hundred one of the education law, charter schools, non-public schools, 6 board of cooperative educational services, special act schools, 7 preschool special education programs, private residential or non-resi- 8 dential schools for the education of students with disabilities, and any 9 state-operated or state-supported schools. 10 3. It shall be no defense to a prosecution pursuant to this section 11 that the defendant did not have the intent or capability of committing 12 the specified offense. 13 Making a terroristic threat in the first degree is a class C felony. 14 § 5. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subdivision 1 of section 70.02 of the 15 penal law, paragraph (b) as amended by chapter 94 of the laws of 2020 16 and paragraph (c) as amended by chapter 23 of the laws of 2024, are 17 amended to read as follows: 18 (b) Class C violent felony offenses: an attempt to commit any of the 19 class B felonies set forth in paragraph (a) of this subdivision; aggra- 20 vated criminally negligent homicide as defined in section 125.11, aggra- 21 vated manslaughter in the second degree as defined in section 125.21, 22 aggravated sexual abuse in the second degree as defined in section 23 130.67, assault on a peace officer, police officer, firefighter or emer- 24 gency medical services professional as defined in section 120.08, 25 assault on a judge as defined in section 120.09, gang assault in the 26 second degree as defined in section 120.06, strangulation in the first 27 degree as defined in section 121.13, aggravated strangulation as defined 28 in section 121.13-a, burglary in the second degree as defined in section 29 140.25, robbery in the second degree as defined in section 160.10, 30 falsely reporting an incident at a school or place of worship as defined 31 in section 240.60-a, criminal possession of a weapon in the second 32 degree as defined in section 265.03, criminal use of a firearm in the 33 second degree as defined in section 265.08, criminal sale of a firearm 34 in the second degree as defined in section 265.12, criminal sale of a 35 firearm with the aid of a minor as defined in section 265.14, aggravated 36 criminal possession of a weapon as defined in section 265.19, soliciting 37 or providing support for an act of terrorism in the first degree as 38 defined in section 490.15, making a terroristic threat in the first 39 degree as defined in section 490.22, hindering prosecution of terrorism 40 in the second degree as defined in section 490.30, and criminal 41 possession of a chemical weapon or biological weapon in the third degree 42 as defined in section 490.37. 43 (c) Class D violent felony offenses: an attempt to commit any of the 44 class C felonies set forth in paragraph (b) of this subdivision; reck- 45 less assault of a child as defined in section 120.02, assault in the 46 second degree as defined in section 120.05, menacing a police officer or 47 peace officer as defined in section 120.18, stalking in the first 48 degree, as defined in subdivision one of section 120.60, strangulation 49 in the second degree as defined in section 121.12, rape in the second 50 degree as defined in section 130.30, a crime formerly defined in section 51 130.45, sexual abuse in the first degree as defined in section 130.65, 52 course of sexual conduct against a child in the second degree as defined 53 in section 130.80, aggravated sexual abuse in the third degree as 54 defined in section 130.66, facilitating a sex offense with a controlled 55 substance as defined in section 130.90, labor trafficking as defined in 56 paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision three of section 135.35, criminal
S. 1923 4 1 possession of a weapon in the third degree as defined in subdivision 2 five, six, seven, eight, nine or ten of section 265.02, criminal sale of 3 a firearm in the third degree as defined in section 265.11, intimidating 4 a victim or witness in the second degree as defined in section 215.16, 5 soliciting or providing support for an act of terrorism in the second 6 degree as defined in section 490.10, and making a terroristic threat in 7 the second degree as defined in section 490.20, falsely reporting an 8 incident in the first degree as defined in section 240.60, placing a 9 false bomb or hazardous substance in the first degree as defined in 10 section 240.62, placing a false bomb or hazardous substance in a sports 11 stadium or arena, mass transportation facility or enclosed shopping mall 12 as defined in section 240.63, aggravated unpermitted use of indoor pyro- 13 technics in the first degree as defined in section 405.18, and criminal 14 manufacture, sale, or transport of an undetectable firearm, rifle or 15 shotgun as defined in section 265.50. 16 § 6. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 17 it shall have become a law.