Tex. Penal Code § 12.501 · Subchapter D. EXCEPTIONAL SENTENCES
PENALTY FOR CERTAIN OFFENSES COMMITTED IN RETALIATION FOR OR ON ACCOUNT OF PERSON'S SERVICE OR STATUS AS PUBLIC SERVANT.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) In this section, "public servant" has the meaning assigned by Section 36.06.
(b) Subject to Subsection (d), the punishment for an offense described by Subsection (c) is increased to the punishment prescribed for the next higher category of offense if it is shown on the trial of the offense that:
(1) the offense:
(A) was committed against a person the actor knows is a public servant or a member of a public servant's family or household; or
(B) involves property that the actor knows belongs to, is under the control of, or is lawfully possessed by a public servant; and
(2) the offense was committed in retaliation for or on account of the service or status of the person as a public servant.
(c) The increase in punishment authorized by this section applies only to:
(1) an offense under Section 21.16, 21.18, 21.19, 22.011, 28.02, 28.03, 30.05, 33.02, 42.07, or 42.072; or
(2) an offense under Section 32.51, other than an offense punishable under Subsection (c-1) of that section.
(d) If an offense described by Subsection (c) is punishable as a Class A misdemeanor, the minimum term of confinement for the offense is increased to 180 days. If an offense described by Subsection (c) is punishable as a felony of the first degree, the punishment for that offense may not be increased under this section.
(e) For purposes of this section, "member of a public servant's family" means a person related to the public servant within the second degree of consanguinity.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 791 (H.B. 624), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2021.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PE/htm/PE.12.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 1e6741994bf2ed2b9e2f58a56e145d8312f3d92f07827fcd0008e89f0d4b60a0
- 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
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Penal Code
- Tex. Penal Code § 21.16UNLAWFUL DISCLOSURE OR PROMOTION OF INTIMATE VISUAL MATERIAL.Printed as Section 21.16, 21.18, 21.19, 22.011, 28.02, 28.03, 30.05, 33.02, 42.07, or 42.072
- Tex. Penal Code § 21.18SEXUAL COERCION.Printed as Section 21.16, 21.18, 21.19, 22.011, 28.02, 28.03, 30.05, 33.02, 42.07, or 42.072
- Tex. Penal Code § 21.19UNLAWFUL ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION OF SEXUALLY EXPLICIT VISUAL MATERIAL.Printed as Section 21.16, 21.18, 21.19, 22.011, 28.02, 28.03, 30.05, 33.02, 42.07, or 42.072
- Tex. Penal Code § 22.011SEXUAL ASSAULT.Printed as Section 21.16, 21.18, 21.19, 22.011, 28.02, 28.03, 30.05, 33.02, 42.07, or 42.072
- Tex. Penal Code § 28.02ARSON.Printed as Section 21.16, 21.18, 21.19, 22.011, 28.02, 28.03, 30.05, 33.02, 42.07, or 42.072
- Tex. Penal Code § 28.03CRIMINAL MISCHIEF.Printed as Section 21.16, 21.18, 21.19, 22.011, 28.02, 28.03, 30.05, 33.02, 42.07, or 42.072
- Tex. Penal Code § 30.05CRIMINAL TRESPASS.Printed as Section 21.16, 21.18, 21.19, 22.011, 28.02, 28.03, 30.05, 33.02, 42.07, or 42.072
- Tex. Penal Code § 32.51FRAUDULENT USE OR POSSESSION OF IDENTIFYING INFORMATION.Printed as Section 32.51
- Tex. Penal Code § 33.02BREACH OF COMPUTER SECURITY.Printed as Section 21.16, 21.18, 21.19, 22.011, 28.02, 28.03, 30.05, 33.02, 42.07, or 42.072
- Tex. Penal Code § 36.06OBSTRUCTION OR RETALIATION.Printed as Section 36.06
- Tex. Penal Code § 42.07HARASSMENT.Printed as Section 21.16, 21.18, 21.19, 22.011, 28.02, 28.03, 30.05, 33.02, 42.07, or 42.072
- Tex. Penal Code § 42.072STALKING.Printed as Section 21.16, 21.18, 21.19, 22.011, 28.02, 28.03, 30.05, 33.02, 42.07, or 42.072
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.