En Español
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or (TTY) 1-800-787-3224

Legal Statutes: Delaware

UPDATED December 2, 2012

Delaware Statutes


Ask a Question!
Print this page

Back to Delaware overview

Subpart A. Assaults and Related Offenses

back to top§ 621. Terroristic threatening

(a) A person is guilty of terroristic threatening when that person commits any of the following:

(1) The person threatens to commit any crime likely to result in death or in serious injury to person or property;

(2) The person makes a false statement or statements:

a. Knowing that the statement or statements are likely to cause evacuation of a building, place of assembly, or facility of public transportation;

b. Knowing that the statement or statements are likely to cause serious inconvenience; or

c. In reckless disregard of the risk of causing terror or serious inconvenience; or

(3) The person commits an act with intent of causing an individual to believe that the individual has been exposed to a substance that will cause the individual death or serious injury.

(b) Any violation of paragraph (a)(1) of this section shall be a class A misdemeanor except where the victim is a person 62 years of age or older, in which case any violation of paragraph (a)(1) of this section shall be a class G felony. Any violation of paragraph (a)(2) of this section shall be a class G felony unless the place at which the risk of evacuation, serious inconvenience or terror is created is a place that has the purpose, in whole or in part, of acting as a daycare facility, nursery or preschool, kindergarten, elementary, secondary or vocational-technical school, or any long-term care facility in which elderly persons are housed, in which case it shall be a class F felony. Any violation of paragraph (a)(3) of this section shall be a class F felony. Notwithstanding any provision of this subsection to the contrary, a first offense of paragraph (a)(2) of this section by a person 17 years old or younger shall be a class A misdemeanor.

(c) In addition to the penalties otherwise authorized by law, any person convicted of an offense in violation of paragraph (a)(2) of this section shall:

(1) Pay a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $2,500, which fine cannot be suspended; and

(2) Be sentenced to perform a minimum of 100 hours of community service.

(d) In addition to the penalties otherwise authorized by law, any person convicted of an offense in violation of paragraph (a)(3) of this section shall pay a fine of not less than $2,000, which fine cannot be suspended.
58 Laws 1972, ch. 497, § 1; 67 Laws 1989, ch. 130, § 8; 70 Laws 1995, ch. 186, § 1, eff. July 10, 1995; 70 Laws 1995, ch. 330, § 1, eff. May 8, 1996; 73 Laws 2001, ch. 126, § 5, eff. July 9, 2001; 73 Laws 2001, ch. 126, § 6, eff. July 9, 2001; 73 Laws 2002, ch. 255, § 1, eff. May 9, 2002.