Title

Penal, Chapter 42 - Disorderly Conduct And Related Offenses

Text

TITLE 9 - OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC ORDER AND DECENCY

CHAPTER 42 - DISORDERLY CONDUCT AND RELATED OFFENSES

Sec.

42.01. Disorderly conduct.

42.02. Riot.

42.03. Obstructing highway or other passageway.

42.04. Defense when conduct consists of speech or other

expression.

42.05. Disrupting meeting or procession.

42.06. False alarm or report.

42.061. Silent or abusive calls to 9-1-1 service.

42.07. Harassment.

42.071. (Repealed.)

42.072. Stalking.

42.08. Abuse of corpse.

42.09. Cruelty to animals.

42.10. Dog fighting.

42.11. Destruction of flag.

42.111. (Renumbered.)

42.12. Discharge of firearm in certain municipalities.

42.13. (Deleted.)

42.14. (Renumbered.)

Section 42.01. Disorderly conduct.

(a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or

knowingly:

(1) uses abusive, indecent, profane, or vulgar language

in a public place, and the language by its very utterance

tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace;

(2) makes an offensive gesture or display in a public

place, and the gesture or display tends to incite an

immediate breach of the peace;

(3) creates, by chemical means, a noxious and

unreasonable odor in a public place;

(4) abuses or threatens a person in a public place in an

obviously offensive manner;

(5) makes unreasonable noise in a public place other

than a sport shooting range, as defined by Section 250.001,

Local Government Code, or in or near a private residence

that he has no right to occupy;

(6) fights with another in a public place;

(7) enters on the property of another and for a lewd or

unlawful purpose looks into a dwelling on the property

through any window or other opening in the dwelling;

(8) while on the premises of a hotel or comparable

establishment, for a lewd or unlawful purpose looks into a

guest room not his own through a window or other opening in

the room;

(9) discharges a firearm in a public place other than a

public road or a sport shooting range, as defined by

Section 250.001, Local Government Code;

(10) displays a firearm or other deadly weapon in a

public place in a manner calculated to alarm;

(11) discharges a firearm on or across a public road; or

(12) exposes his anus or genitals in a public place and

is reckless about whether another may be present who will

be offended or alarmed by his act.

(b) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection

(a)(4) that the actor had significant provocation for his

abusive or threatening conduct.

(c) For purposes of this section:

(1) an act is deemed to occur in a public place or near

a private residence if it produces its offensive or

proscribed consequences in the public place or near a

private residence; and

(2) a noise is presumed to be unreasonable if the noise

exceeds a decibel level of 85 after the person making the

noise receives notice from a magistrate or peace officer

that the noise is a public nuisance.

(d) An offense under this section is a Class C

misdemeanor unless committed under Subsection (a)(9) or

(a)(10), in which event it is a Class B misdemeanor.

(Chgd. by L.1991, chap. 145(2); L.1993, chap. 900(1.01);

L.1995, chap. 318(14), eff. 9/1/95.)

Section 42.02. Riot.

(a) For the purpose of this section, "riot" means the

assemblage of seven or more persons resulting in conduct

which:

(1) creates an immediate danger of damage to property or

injury to persons;

(2) substantially obstructs law enforcement or other

governmental functions or services; or

(3) by force, threat of force, or physical action

deprives any person of a legal right or disturbs any person

in the enjoyment of a legal right.

(b) A person commits an offense if he knowingly

participates in a riot.

(c) It is a defense to prosecution under this section

that the assembly was at first lawful and when one of those

assembled manifested an intent to engage in conduct

enumerated in Subsection (a), the actor retired from the

assembly.

(d) It is no defense to prosecution under this section

that another who was a party to the riot has been

acquitted, has not been arrested, prosecuted, or convicted,

has been convicted of a different offense or of a different

type or class of offense, or is immune from prosecution.

(e) Except as provided in Subsection (f), an offense

under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.

(f) An offense under this section is an offense of the

same classification as any offense of a higher grade

committed by anyone engaged in the riot if the offense was:

(1) in the furtherance of the purpose of the assembly;

or

(2) an offense which should have been anticipated as a

result of the assembly.

(Chgd. by L.1993, chap. 900(1.01), eff. 9/1/94.)

Section 42.03. Obstructing highway or other passageway.

(a) A person commits an offense if, without legal

privilege or authority, he intentionally, knowingly, or

recklessly:

(1) obstructs a highway, street, sidewalk, railway,

waterway, elevator, aisle, hallway, entrance, or exit to

which the public or a substantial group of the public has

access, or any other place used for the passage of persons,

vehicles, or conveyances, regardless of the means of

creating the obstruction and whether the obstruction arises

from his acts alone or from his acts and the acts of

others; or

(2) disobeys a reasonable request or order to move

issued by a person the actor knows to be or is informed is

a peace officer, a fireman, or a person with authority to

control the use of the premises:

(A) to prevent obstruction of a highway or any of those

areas mentioned in Subdivision (1); or

(B) to maintain public safety by dispersing those

gathered in dangerous proximity to a fire, riot, or other

hazard.

(b) For purposes of this section, "obstruct" means to

render impassable or to render passage unreasonably

inconvenient or hazardous.

(c) An offense under this section is a Class B

misdemeanor.

(Chgd. by L.1993, chap. 900(1.01), eff. 9/1/94.)

Section 42.04. Defense when conduct consists of speech or

other expression.

(a) If conduct that would otherwise violate Section

42.01(a)(5) (Unreasonable Noise) or 42.03 (Obstructing

Passageway) consists of speech or other communication, of

gathering with others to hear or observe such speech or

communication, or of gathering with others to picket or

otherwise express in a nonviolent manner a position on

social, economic, political, or religious questions, the

actor must be ordered to move, disperse, or otherwise

remedy the violation prior to his arrest if he has not yet

intentionally harmed the interests of others which those

sections seek to protect.

(b) The order required by this section may be given by a

peace officer, a fireman, a person with authority to

control the use of the premises, or any person directly

affected by the violation.

(c) It is a defense to prosecution under Section

42.01(a)(5) or 42.03:

(1) that in circumstances in which this section requires

an order no order was given;

(2) that an order, if given, was manifestly unreasonable

in scope; or

(3) that an order, if given, was promptly obeyed.

(Chgd. by L.1993, chap. 900(1.01), eff. 9/1/94.)

Section 42.05. Disrupting meeting or procession.

(a) A person commits an offense if, with intent to

prevent or disrupt a lawful meeting, procession, or

gathering, he obstructs or interferes with the meeting,

procession, or gathering by physical action or verbal

utterance.

(b) An offense under this section is a Class B

misdemeanor.

(Chgd. by L.1993, chap. 900(1.01), eff. 9/1/94.)

Section 42.06. False alarm or report.

(a) A person commits an offense if he knowingly

initiates, communicates or circulates a report of a

present, past, or future bombing, fire, offense, or other

emergency that he knows is false or baseless and that would

ordinarily:

(1) cause action by an official or volunteer agency

organized to deal with emergencies;

(2) place a person in fear of imminent serious bodily

injury; or

(3) prevent or interrupt the occupation of a building,

room, place of assembly, place to which the public has

access, or aircraft, automobile, or other mode of

conveyance.

(b) An offense under this section is a Class A

misdemeanor unless the false report is of an emergency

involving a public primary or secondary school, public

communications, public transportation, public water, gas,

or power supply or other public service, in which event the

offense is a state jail felony.

(Chgd. by L.1993, chap. 900(1.01), eff. 9/1/94.)

Section 42.061. Silent or abusive calls to 9-1-1 service.

(a) In this section "9-1-1 service" and "public safety

answering point" or "PSAP" have the meanings assigned by

Section 772.001, Health and Safety Code.

(b) A person commits an offense if the person makes a

telephone call to 9-1-1 when there is not an emergency and

knowingly or intentionally:

(1) remains silent; or

(2) makes abusive or harassing statements to a PSAP

employee.

(c) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly

permits a telephone under the person's control to be used

by another person in a manner described in Subsection (b).

(d) An offense under this section is a Class B

misdemeanor.

(Added by L.1989, chap. 582(1); chgd. by L.1991, chap.

14(284)(2); L.1993, chap. 900(1.01), eff. 9/1/94.)

Section 42.07. Harassment.

(a) A person commits an offense if, with intent to

harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass another,

he:

(1) initiates communication by telephone or in writing

and in the course of the communication makes a comment,

request, suggestion, or proposal that is obscene;

(2) threatens, by telephone or in writing, in a manner

reasonably likely to alarm the person receiving the threat,

to inflict bodily injury on the person or to commit a

felony against the person, a member of his family, or his

property;

(3) conveys, in a manner reasonably likely to alarm the

person receiving the report, a false report, which is known

by the conveyor to be false, that another person has

suffered death or serious bodily injury;

(4) causes the telephone of another to ring repeatedly

or makes repeated telephone communications anonymously or

in a manner reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm,

abuse, torment, embarrass, or offend another;

(5) makes a telephone call and intentionally fails to

hang up or disengage the connection; or

(6) knowingly permits a telephone under his control to

be used by a person to commit an offense under this

section.

(b) For purposes of Subsection (a)(1), "obscene" means

containing a patently offensive description of or a

solicitation to commit an ultimate sex act, including

sexual intercourse, masturbation, cunnilingus, fellatio, or

anilingus, or a description of an excretory function. In

this section, "family" has the meaning assigned by Section

71.01, Family Code.

(c) An offense under this section is a Class B

misdemeanor.

(Chgd. by L.1993, chap. 900(1.01); L.1995, chap. 657(1),

eff. 6/14/95.)

Section 42.071. (Repealed by L.1997, chap. 1(10), eff.

1/28/97.)

Section 42.072. Stalking.

(a) A person commits an offense if the person, on more

than one occasion and pursuant to the same scheme or course

of conduct that is directed specifically at another person,

knowingly engages in conduct, including following the other

person, that:

(1) the actor knows or reasonably believes the other

person will regard as threatening:

(A) bodily injury or death for the other person;

(B) bodily injury or death for a member of the other

person's family or household; or

(C) that an offense will be committed against the other

person's property;

(2) causes the other person or a member of the other

person's family or household to be placed in fear of bodily

injury or death or fear that an offense will be committed

against the other person's property; and

(3) would cause a reasonable person to fear:

(A) bodily injury or death for himself or herself;

(B) bodily injury or death for a member of the person's

family or household; or

(C) that an offense will be committed against the

person's property.

(b) An offense under this section is a Class A

misdemeanor, except that the offense is a felony of the

third degree if the actor has previously been convicted

under this section.

(c) In this section, "family," "household," and "member

of a household" have the meanings assigned by Section

71.01, Family Code.

(Added by L.1997, chap. 1(1), eff. 1/28/97.)

Section 42.08. Abuse of corpse.

(a) A person commits an offense if, not authorized by

law, he intentionally or knowingly:

(1) disinters, disturbs, removes, dissects, in whole or

in part, carries away, or treats in a seriously offensive

manner a human corpse;

(2) conceals a human corpse knowing it to be illegally

disinterred;

(3) sells or buys a human corpse or in any way traffics

in a human corpse; or

(4) transmits or conveys, or procures to be transmitted

or conveyed, a human corpse to a place outside the state.

(b) An offense under this section is a Class A

misdemeanor.

(Deleted by amendment and renum. from section 42.10 by

L.1993, chap. 900(1.01), eff. 9/1/94.)

Section 42.09. Cruelty to animals.

(a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or

knowingly:

(1) tortures or seriously overworks an animal;

(2) fails unreasonably to provide necessary food, care,

or shelter for an animal in his custody;

(3) abandons unreasonably an animal in his custody;

(4) transports or confines an animal in a cruel manner;

(5) kills, injures, or administers poison to an animal,

other than cattle, horses, sheep, swine, or goats,

belonging to another without legal authority or the owner's

effective consent;

(6) causes one animal to fight with another;

(7) uses a live animal as a lure in dog race training or

in dog coursing on a racetrack; or

(8) trips a horse.

(b) It is a defense to prosecution under this section

that the actor was engaged in bona fide experimentation for

scientific research.

(c) For purposes of this section:

(1) "Animal" means a domesticated living creature and

wild living creature previously captured. "Animal" does not

include an uncaptured wild creature or a wild creature

whose capture was accomplished by conduct at issue under

this section.

(2) "Trip" means to use an object to cause a horse to

fall or lose its balance.

(d) An offense under this section is a Class A

misdemeanor, except that the offense is a state jail felony

if the person has previously been convicted two times under

this section.

(e) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection

(a)(5) that the animal was discovered on the person's

property in the act of or immediately after injuring or

killing the person's goats, sheep, cattle, horses, swine,

or poultry and that person killed or injured the animal at

the time of this discovery.

(f) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection

(a)(8) that the actor tripped the horse for the purpose of

identifying the ownership of the horse or giving veterinary

care to the horse.

(Chgd. by L.1991, chap. 78(1); deleted by amendment and

renum. from section 42.11 and chgd. by L.1993, chap.

900(1.01); chgd. by L.1995, chap. 318(15); L.1997, chap.

1283(1), eff. 9/1/97.)

Section 42.10. Dog fighting.

(a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or

knowingly:

(1) causes a dog to fight with another dog;

(2) for a pecuniary benefit causes a dog to fight with

another dog;

(3) participates in the earnings of or operates a

facility used for dog fighting;

(4) uses or permits another to use any real estate,

building, room, tent, arena, or other property for dog

fighting;

(5) owns or trains a dog with the intent that the dog be

used in an exhibition of dog fighting; or

(6) attends as a spectator an exhibition of dog

fighting.

(b) In this section, "dog fighting" means any situation

in which one dog attacks or fights with another dog.

(c) A conviction under Subdivision (2), (3), or (4) of

Subsection (a) may be had upon the uncorroborated testimony

of a party to the offense.

(d) It is a defense to prosecution under Subdivision (1)

or (2) of Subsection (a) that the actor caused a dog to

fight with another dog to protect livestock, other

property, or a person from the other dog, and for no other

purpose.

(e) An offense under Subdivision (1) or (5) of

Subsection (a) is a Class A misdemeanor. An offense under

Subdivision (2), (3), or (4) of Subsection (a) is a state

jail felony. An offense under Subdivision (6) of Subsection

(a) is a Class C misdemeanor.

(Renumbered from section 42.111 and chgd. by L.1993,

chap. 900(1.01), eff. 9/1/94.)

Section 42.11. Destruction of flag.

(a) A person commits an offense if the person

intentionally or knowingly damages, defaces, mutilates, or

burns the flag of the United States or the State of Texas.

(b) In this section, "flag" means an emblem, banner, or

other standard or a copy of an emblem, standard, or banner

that is an official or commonly recognized depiction of the

flag of the United States or of this state and is capable

of being flown from a staff of any character or size. The

term does not include a representation of a flag on a

written or printed document, a periodical, stationery, a

painting or photograph, or an article of clothing or

jewelry.

(c) It is an exception to the application of this

section that the act that would otherwise constitute an

offense is done in conformity with statutes of the United

States or of this state relating to the proper disposal of

damaged flags.

(d) An offense under this section is a Class A

misdemeanor.

(Added by L.1989, 1st C.S., chap. 27(1); renum. from

section 42.14 by L.1993, chap. 900(1.01), eff. 9/1/94.)

Section 42.111. (Renumbered to section 42.10 by L.1993,

chap. 900(1.01), eff. 9/1/94.)

Section 42.12. Discharge of firearm in certain

municipalities.

(a) A person commits an offense if the person recklessly

discharges a firearm inside the corporate limits of a

municipality having a population of 100,000 or more.

(b) An offense under this section is a Class A

misdemeanor.

(c) If conduct constituting an offense under this

section also constitutes an offense under another section

of this code, the person may be prosecuted under either

section.

(d) Subsection (a) does not affect the authority of a

municipality to enact an ordinance which prohibits the

discharge of a firearm.

(Added by L.1995, chap. 663(1), eff. 9/1/95.)

Section 42.13. (Deleted by amendment by L.1993, chap.

900(1.01), eff. 9/1/94.)