A. Any person who without just cause therefor calls or summons, by telephone or otherwise, any emergency medical services vehicle or firefighting apparatus, or any person who maliciously activates a manual or automatic fire alarm in any building, regardless of whether an emergency medical services vehicle or fire apparatus responds or not, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Attorney's Note

Under the Virginia Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
Class 1 misdemeanorup to 12 monthsup to $2,500
For details, see Va. Code § 18.2-11

Terms Used In Virginia Code 18.2-212

  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
  • Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.

B. A violation of this section may be prosecuted either in the jurisdiction from which the call or summons was made or in the jurisdiction where the call or summons was received.

Code 1950, § 18.1-412; 1960, c. 358; 1975, cc. 14, 15; 1976, c. 75; 1982, c. 502; 2015, cc. 502, 503; 2017, cc. 98, 519.