Harassing Calls and Texts: Malicious Use of Telecommunications in Michigan (MCL 750.540e)

Michigan's law against harassing calls and messages is MCL 750.540e, malicious use of a service provided by a telecommunications service provider. It applies to a person who maliciously uses such a service with intent to terrorize, frighten, intimidate, threaten, harass, molest, or annoy another person, or to disturb the peace and quiet of another person, by doing one of the acts the statute lists.^[1] The offense is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.^[2]

If you are in immediate danger, call 911. The National Domestic Violence Hotline describes its service as free, confidential and available 24/7 at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or text START to 88788.^[5] Michigan's statewide VOICES4 hotline takes calls and texts at 855-864-2374.^[6][7]

In a domestic case the charge can stand alone or be added beside another count. This page sets out what has to be shown, the punishment, and the domestic-relationship subdivision that took effect in 2024.

What has to be proved?

The statute has three parts, and all three have to be present.^[1]

1. Malicious use of a telecommunications service. The person "maliciously uses any service provided by a telecommunications service provider."^[1]
2. A particular intent. The use is "with intent to terrorize, frighten, intimidate, threaten, harass, molest, or annoy another person, or to disturb the peace and quiet of another person."^[1]
3. A listed act. The person does one of the things described in subdivisions (a) through (h).^[1][3]

The intent requirement is what separates this offense from ordinary, even heated, communication. A message that upsets the recipient is not enough by itself; the statute asks what the sender intended.^[1]

Which acts are listed?

Subdivision	Act described in the statute
(a)	Threatening physical harm or damage to any person or property in the course of a conversation or message.[1]
(b)	Falsely and deliberately reporting by message that a person has been injured, has suddenly taken ill, has died, or has been the victim of a crime or an accident.[1]
(c)	Deliberately refusing or failing to disengage a connection.[1]
(d)	Using vulgar, indecent, obscene, or offensive language, or suggesting any lewd or lascivious act, in the course of a conversation or message.[1]
(e)	Repeatedly initiating a telephone call and, without speaking, deliberately hanging up or breaking the connection as or after the call is answered.[1]
(f)	Making an unsolicited commercial telephone call received between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m.[2]
(g)	Deliberately engaging another person's telecommunications service or device in a repetitive manner that interrupts the service or prevents the person from using it.[1]
(h)	Any of the conduct in (a) through (g) when the two people are in a listed domestic relationship.[3]

Two details in the wording are worth noticing. First, subdivisions (a) and (d) speak of "a conversation or message," so texts and other messages are covered along with voice calls.^[1] Second, some subdivisions use the word "repeatedly" or "repetitive" and others do not: the hang-up subdivision and the service-interruption subdivision describe repeated conduct, while the threat subdivision describes threatening harm "in the course of a conversation or message."^[1]

The statute does not make every unwanted call or text a crime. Calls that are frequent but involve none of the listed acts do not fit a subdivision of this section.^[1] They may still count as unconsented contact for a stalking charge, which lists contacting a person by telephone and sending electronic communications among its examples.^[8]

What is the penalty?

A person who violates the section "may be imprisoned for not more than 6 months or fined not more than $1,000.00, or both."^[2] It is not a 93-day misdemeanor; the statute's maximum is 6 months.^[2]

Because the maximum is under one year, the case is tried and sentenced in district court.^[9] For an offense that is not a felony, a term of probation may not exceed 2 years.^[10] Probation terms in domestic cases are discussed in Domestic violence probation conditions.

The domestic version added in 2024

Since February 13, 2024, under 2023 PA 199, MCL 750.540e(1)(h) separately covers any of the listed conduct when the person and the other person are spouses or former spouses, have or have had a dating relationship, have or have had a child in common, or are residents or former residents of the same household.^[3] "Dating relationship" means frequent, intimate associations primarily characterized by the expectation of affectional involvement, and does not include a casual relationship or ordinary fraternization in a business or social context.^[11] Those relationship categories are explained in Who is covered: the domestic relationship.

The penalty did not change. The maximum under subdivision (1)(h) is the same 6 months and $1,000.^[3] What changed is the consequence of the label:

• A conviction under subdivision (1)(h) is a "misdemeanor involving domestic violence" as MCL 750.224f defines that term.^[3][12]
• A person convicted of a misdemeanor involving domestic violence may not possess, use, transport, sell, purchase, carry, ship, receive, or distribute a firearm or ammunition in Michigan until 8 years after the person has paid all fines, served all terms of imprisonment, and successfully completed all conditions of probation for the violation.^[4]
• That firearm provision took effect on the same date, February 13, 2024.^[13]

The same 2023 act created domestic-relationship versions of stalking and of malicious destruction of property, each with unchanged jail and fine and the same firearm consequence.^[14] For the details of the ban, see Michigan's 8-year gun ban.

Which subdivision a person is convicted under therefore matters. Subdivisions (a) through (g) and subdivision (h) carry the same jail and fine, but only (h) is on the list of misdemeanors involving domestic violence.^[12] Concealed pistol licensing has its own rule: a misdemeanor conviction under MCL 750.540e in the 3 years before the application, or a pending charge, bars a license.^[15] Licensing is covered in CPL and pistol purchase after domestic violence.

Where can the case be filed?

An offense is committed under the section "if the communication either originates or terminates in this state and may be prosecuted at the place of origination or termination."^[2] So a message sent from another state that terminates in Michigan is covered, and the case may be brought in the place where the communication originated or the place where it terminated.^[2]

How this charge relates to others

If the facts involve	Other statute to look at
Two or more acts of unwanted contact that would frighten or distress a reasonable person[16][17]	Stalking
Contact in violation of a court order or bond condition as part of stalking[18]	Aggravated stalking
A post that causes other people to contact the victim[19]	Posting a message
Cutting, breaking or disconnecting a phone, or otherwise preventing or delaying a call[20]	Interfering with a communication

If the sender is under a personal protection order or a bond no-contact condition, the same call or text can also be treated as a violation of that order, with its own consequences.^[21][22] Those consequences are covered in Violating a no-contact order and PPO violation penalties.

Whether threatening words amount to a crime outside this statute is discussed in Are threats a crime in Michigan?

Evidence in a calls-and-texts case

These cases are usually built on records: screenshots, call logs, voicemail, and carrier or app records. For someone receiving unwanted contact, the practical steps are to keep the messages rather than delete them, save voicemails, and write down the date and time of each call. For someone accused, the same records can show context, such as who initiated a conversation and what was said on both sides.

A message is only useful in court if it can be tied to its sender. The standards courts use, including the concern about fake or hacked accounts, are explained in Text messages and social media as evidence.^[23]

Deleting messages once an investigation or case is foreseeable carries its own risk. Knowingly and intentionally removing, altering, concealing, destroying, or otherwise tampering with evidence to be offered in a present or future official proceeding is a felony punishable by up to 4 years and $5,000.^[24]

What people get wrong

• "It is only a 93-day charge." The maximum is 6 months and $1,000.^[2]
• "The domestic version has a bigger sentence." It has the same maximum; the difference is the firearm consequence that follows the label.^[3][4]
• "Texts do not count." The listed acts refer to a conversation or message through a telecommunications service or device.^[1]
• "Any annoying call is a crime." The section requires malicious use, one of the listed intents, and one of the listed acts.^[1]