(a) Contacting 911 for some purpose other than to report an emergency or an event that the person contacting 911 reasonably believes to be an emergency is a Class C misdemeanor.

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class C misdemeanorup to 30 daysup to $50
class A misdemeanorup to 11 monthsup to $2,500
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 7-86-316

  • CMRS: means commercial mobile radio service under §. See Tennessee Code 7-86-103
  • District: means any emergency communications district created pursuant to this part. See Tennessee Code 7-86-103
  • Non-wireline service: means any service provided by any person, corporation or entity, other than a service supplier as defined in this part, that connects a user dialing or entering the digits 911 to a PSAP, including, but not limited to, commercial mobile radio service and IP-enabled services. See Tennessee Code 7-86-103
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • PSAP: means a facility that has been designated to receive 911 phone calls and route them to emergency services personnel pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 7-86-103
(b)

(1) Aggravated nonemergency contact of 911 is contacting 911 as described in subsection (a) where:

(A) An individual makes nonemergency contact to 911 in an offensively repetitious manner;
(B) The nonemergency contact of 911 creates a delay in the response to an emergency; or
(C) The nonemergency contact of 911 results in harm to person or property.
(2) An aggravated nonemergency contact of 911 is a Class A misdemeanor.
(c)

(1) Harassing noninitialized 911 phone calls are ten (10) or more nonemergency calls within a one-hour period or twenty (20) or more nonemergency calls within a twenty-four-hour period made to 911 from a handset that is not registered for service with any commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) carrier.
(2) A public safety answering point (PSAP) or a district may authorize the emergency communications board to divert harassing noninitialized 911 phone calls, for a period of no more than twelve (12) hours, to an entity designated by the emergency communications board to receive such calls.
(3) Repetitive harassing noninitialized 911 phone calls are phone calls from a handset from which calls have previously been diverted pursuant to subdivision (c)(2).
(4) A PSAP or a district may authorize the emergency communications board to indefinitely divert repetitive harassing noninitialized 911 phone calls to an entity designated by the emergency communications board to receive such calls; provided, that the entity notifies the caller that the caller may contact the PSAP or district to request it rescind its authorization to divert 911 calls from the caller’s handset.
(5) The emergency communications board, CMRS service providers, providers of non-wireline service, and PSAPs, and their employees, vendors, agents, and authorizing government entities, if any, shall have immunity from liability for diverting or not diverting harassing noninitialized 911 phone calls to an entity designated by the emergency communications board to receive such calls.
(6) An entity designated by the emergency communications board to receive diverted harassing noninitialized 911 phone calls shall have immunity from liability for receiving and processing such calls.
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