Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 85.003 · Chapter 85. LIABILITY FOR STALKING
PROOF.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) A claimant proves stalking against a defendant by showing:
(1) on more than one occasion the defendant engaged in harassing behavior;
(2) as a result of the harassing behavior, the claimant reasonably feared for the claimant's safety or the safety of a member of the claimant's family; and
(3) the defendant violated a restraining order prohibiting harassing behavior or:
(A) the defendant, while engaged in harassing behavior, by acts or words threatened to inflict bodily injury on the claimant or to commit an offense against the claimant, a member of the claimant's family, or the claimant's property;
(B) the defendant had the apparent ability to carry out the threat;
(C) the defendant's apparent ability to carry out the threat caused the claimant to reasonably fear for the claimant's safety or the safety of a family member;
(D) the claimant at least once clearly demanded that the defendant stop the defendant's harassing behavior;
(E) after the demand to stop by the claimant, the defendant continued the harassing behavior; and
(F) the harassing behavior has been reported to the police as a stalking offense.
(b) The claimant must, as part of the proof of the behavior described by Subsection (a)(1), submit evidence other than evidence based on the claimant's own perceptions and beliefs.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 662, Sec. 1, eff. June 14, 1995. Renumbered from Civil Practice and Remedies Code Sec. 83.003 by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 31.01(7), eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.85.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 016de5bd6b816f0c7f16dba0689225367853607133033136f11babdf2262fabd
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.