Terroristic Threats in Georgia: Penalties, Defenses & Record Clearing

In Georgia, terroristic threats are governed by O.C.G.A. 16-11-37, which makes it a crime to threaten violence, the release of a hazardous substance, or the burning or damaging of property when the statement is made to terrorize someone, force an evacuation, cause serious public inconvenience, or in reckless disregard of causing any of those outcomes.¹ The charge is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 12 months in jail, but it becomes a felony carrying one to five years in prison when the threat suggested the death of the person targeted. No act of violence, and no actual ability to carry the threat out, is required for a conviction.

What the State Has to Prove

A terroristic threat charge has two parts. First, the words themselves must fall within one of three categories: a threat to commit a crime of violence, a threat to release a hazardous substance, or a threat to burn or damage property.¹ Second, the prosecutor must show one of four purposes behind the statement:

An intent to terrorize another person.
An intent to cause the evacuation of a building, public assembly, or transportation facility.
An intent to cause serious public inconvenience.
Reckless disregard of the risk of causing any of the above.

That fourth option catches a lot of people. You do not have to intend harm. If you were aware your words could reasonably be taken as a serious threat and said them anyway, that’s enough. Heated arguments and social media posts often get charged under this theory.

Texts, Posts, and Voicemails

Georgia does not limit terroristic threats to face-to-face encounters. Phone calls, text messages, emails, social media posts, letters, and even gestures all qualify. Electronic threats tend to draw more aggressive prosecution because they leave a permanent record. Screenshots, message logs, tagged posts, and voicemails become direct evidence, and repeated contact or tagging a person in a public post can help the state show the accused deliberately made sure the threat reached its target.

The Reasonable-Fear Standard

Prosecutors do not have to prove the alleged victim was actually frightened. The test is whether an average person in the same situation would view the statement as a genuine threat. Tone, prior incidents, immediacy, and any history between the parties all factor in. A sarcastic comment between friends with no history of conflict likely fails that test. The same words paired with stalking behavior, a weapon, or an escalating pattern of messages almost certainly meet it.

Penalties

The dividing line between misdemeanor and felony is whether the threat suggested death.

Misdemeanor

A terroristic threat that does not suggest death is a misdemeanor. A conviction carries up to 12 months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.² Judges may add probation, community service, or anger management. Even a misdemeanor leaves a permanent record that shows up on background checks for jobs, housing, and licensing.

Felony

When the threat suggested the death of the person targeted, the offense is a felony punishable by one to five years in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.¹ The felony trigger is specifically a threat suggesting death. Threats of serious bodily injury or public panic, without more, keep the case at the misdemeanor level.

Repeat Offenders

Georgia’s recidivist statute applies to felony terroristic threats. A prior felony conviction from any state exposes the defendant to the maximum sentence for a new felony, meaning the full five years. After a fourth felony conviction, the defendant must serve the maximum and is not eligible for parole until that sentence is complete.³ Prosecutors regularly push for enhanced sentencing when a defendant has a history of violence or threats against the same victim.

Terroristic Acts Are a Different Crime

The same statute defines a separate offense called a terroristic act, which covers conduct rather than words: burning a cross or similar symbol with intent to terrorize a household, shooting at or throwing objects at an occupied or moving vehicle while not engaged in a lawful activity, and actually releasing (or appearing to release) a hazardous substance to terrorize others or disrupt public services. Terroristic acts are always felonies, punishable by up to a $5,000 fine and one to five years in prison.¹ If your case involves conduct rather than a spoken or written threat, this is the section that applies.

First Amendment Limits on Prosecution

Not every alarming statement is criminal. The First Amendment protects a wide range of angry, offensive, or politically charged speech. In Watts v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the conviction of a protester who said that if drafted, the first person he wanted in his rifle sights was the president, calling it political hyperbole. In NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co., the Court protected emotionally charged rhetoric that stopped short of inciting lawless action.⁴

In 2023, Counterman v. Colorado tightened what the state must prove. The Court held that a true-threat conviction requires some subjective awareness on the speaker’s part that the statements could be perceived as threatening. A purely objective test asking only how a reasonable listener would read the words is not enough. The minimum standard is recklessness: the speaker consciously disregarded a substantial risk that their words would be viewed as threatening violence.⁵ Georgia’s reckless-disregard language lines up with this floor, but Counterman gives the defense a constitutional argument if the prosecution cannot show the accused was at least reckless about how the words would land.

Common Defenses

The Corroboration Rule

Georgia’s terroristic threat statute contains a built-in protection that many defendants overlook. No conviction can rest on the uncorroborated testimony of the person who received the threat.¹ Something else has to back up the alleged victim’s account: a witness who overheard the statement, a text message, a voicemail, surveillance footage, or other independent evidence. When the state has only one person’s word, the case has a serious weakness.

No Required Mental State

Because the offense requires either a deliberate purpose or reckless disregard, the defense can argue neither existed. A sarcastic remark in casual conversation, a movie quote, or obvious venting in frustration may not carry the mental state the law demands. The context around the words does most of the work here: the relationship between the parties, the tone of the exchange, and whether anything about the situation put the speaker on notice that the words could be taken seriously.

Misinterpretation

Statements pulled out of context can look worse than they were. A heated argument that ends in a regretted comment is different from a calculated, repeated threat. Defense attorneys press for the full conversation, the tone, the history between the parties, and any signs that the alleged victim did not actually treat the words as a real threat at the time. Social media posts are especially vulnerable to this argument because readers cannot hear tone or catch inside references.

Consequences Beyond the Sentence

The statutory penalties are only part of the picture. A conviction reaches into employment, housing, gun rights, and immigration in ways that outlast any jail time.

Jobs and Housing

Background checks routinely flag terroristic threat convictions. Jobs requiring security clearances, professional licenses, or work with vulnerable populations become very hard to land. Landlords screen applicants, and public housing authorities follow federal guidelines that can disqualify applicants with convictions for threats or intimidation.

Guns

A felony conviction for a terroristic threat triggers Georgia’s ban on firearm possession by convicted felons. Under O.C.G.A. 16-11-131, a felon who receives, possesses, or transports a firearm commits a separate felony punishable by one to ten years in prison.⁶ Restoring firearm rights generally requires a pardon. Misdemeanor convictions can also trigger federal firearm restrictions when the offense involves domestic violence.

Immigration

For noncitizens, the stakes are especially high. The Board of Immigration Appeals has treated terroristic threat convictions as crimes involving moral turpitude, which can trigger deportation or block naturalization, finding that the range of conduct covered by these statutes involves reprehensible behavior sufficient to meet the standard.⁷ Two or more such convictions not arising from the same incident can render a person removable under the Immigration and Nationality Act.⁸

Clearing the Record

Georgia uses record restriction rather than expungement. Under O.C.G.A. 35-3-37, restriction limits public access to criminal history information, and whether a terroristic threat case qualifies depends on how it ended.⁹

Dismissed charges and acquittals are the clearest path. A written request goes to the arresting agency, which forwards it to the prosecutor, who has 90 days to review and respond. Silence past that window is treated as no objection.⁹ The fee is capped at $50.

Restricting an actual conviction is harder. Georgia allows restriction of certain misdemeanor convictions only when the court finds that the harm to the individual from the public record clearly outweighs the public interest in keeping it available.⁹ A felony terroristic threat conviction typically has to be vacated or reversed before restriction is available at all. Every part of the sentence, including probation, fines, and court-ordered programs, must be finished before an application can even be filed.

1
Justia. Georgia Code 16-11-37 – Terroristic Threats and Acts
2
Justia. Georgia Code 17-10-3 – Punishment for Misdemeanors
3
Justia. Georgia Code 17-10-7 – Punishment of Repeat Offenders
4
Legal Information Institute (LII) / Cornell Law School. True Threats
5
Supreme Court of the United States. Counterman v. Colorado
6
Justia. Georgia Code 16-11-131 – Possession of Firearms by Convicted Felons
7
Department of Justice. Matter of SALAD, 27 I&N Dec. 733 (BIA 2020)
8
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Cardoso Mercado v. Lynch, No. 14-60539
9
Justia. Georgia Code 35-3-37 – Criminal History Record Information