INTERFER W/EMERGENCY REQ FOR ASSISTANCE

Texas Penal Code § 42.062 defines interference with an emergency request for assistance. A person commits the offense by knowingly preventing or interfering with another individual's ability to place an emergency call or to request assistance in an emergency — including a request made using an electronic communications device — from a law enforcement agency, medical facility, or other agency or entity whose primary purpose is to provide for the safety of individuals. The statute also reaches recklessly rendering unusable an electronic communications device, such as a telephone, that would otherwise be used to place an emergency call or request assistance. "Emergency" means a condition or circumstance in which an individual is, or is reasonably believed by the person making the request to be, in fear of imminent assault, or in which property is in imminent danger of damage or destruction. It is a Class A misdemeanor.

Ranges are the statutory maximums for the level; enhancements, prior convictions and plea agreements change what is actually imposed.

Across 26,862 Texas bail settings for this charge (85 counties, Apr 2022 – Jun 2025), the median cash or surety bond was $3,000 (middle half: $2,000 – $6,500). 4% of defendants were released on a personal bond, and bail was denied in 360 cases. When this was the only charge at booking (2,677 records), the median was $2,500 and 11% got a personal bond.

Showing the 5 counties with the most records; use the selector for any county with at least 30. Per-charge bond settings on original magistrations, from Texas OCA bail reporting under SB 6. Bail is set case by case — these are statistics, not a prediction.

Of 4,511 INTERFER W/EMERGENCY REQ FOR ASSISTANCE charges filed 2019–2023 across 15 counties (Bastrop, Bell, Brazoria, Collin, Comal, Dallas, Denton, FortBend, Galveston, Harris, Hays, Montgomery, Rockwall, Travis, Williamson), 90% have reached a disposition:

How long it takes: the median INTERFER W/EMERGENCY REQ FOR ASSISTANCE charge took 271 days from filing to disposition (middle half: 139 – 487 days, 4,511 charges).

Outcome is the final disposition recorded on the charge. “Other” (60) covers waived counts, bond forfeitures, transfers and unrecorded outcomes. Bexar County records disposition dates but not outcomes, so it counts toward time-to-disposition only. Tarrant County criminal records are not in this dataset.