Section 1. Chapter 3, Title 11, Delaware Code, is amended by adding the following section:
Section 760. Malicious obstruction of emergency telephone calls; jurisdiction
(a) Any person who willfully refuses to immediately relinquish a party line when informed that the line is needed for an emergency call to a fire department or police department or for medical aid or ambulance service, or any person who secures the use of a party line by falsely stating that the line is needed for an emergency call, is guilty of the offense of malicious obstruction of emergency telephone calls, and upon conviction thereof shall, for the first offense, be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding fifty dollars ($50), and for the second, or any subsequent offense, be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding three hundred dollars ($300), or to undergo imprisonment not exceeding 30 days, or both.
() "Party line," as used in this section, means a subscriber's line telephone circuit, consisting of two or more main telephone stations connected therewith, each station with a distinctive ring or telephone number. "Emergency," as used in this section, means a situation in which property or human life are in jeopardy and the prompt summoning of aid is essential.
(a) Justices of the Peace shall have jurisdiction of offenses under this section.
Approved February 23, 1966