Tex. Penal Code § 19.03 · Chapter 19. CRIMINAL HOMICIDE
CAPITAL MURDER.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) A person commits an offense if the person commits murder as defined under Section 19.02(b)(1) and:
(1) the person murders a peace officer or fireman who is acting in the lawful discharge of an official duty and who the person knows is a peace officer or fireman;
(2) the person intentionally commits the murder in the course of committing or attempting to commit kidnapping, burglary, robbery, aggravated sexual assault, arson, obstruction or retaliation, or terroristic threat under Section 22.07(a)(1), (3), (4), (5), or (6);
(3) the person commits the murder for remuneration or the promise of remuneration or employs another to commit the murder for remuneration or the promise of remuneration;
(4) the person commits the murder while escaping or attempting to escape from a penal institution;
(5) the person, while incarcerated in a penal institution, murders another:
(A) who is employed in the operation of the penal institution; or
(B) with the intent to establish, maintain, or participate in a combination or in the profits of a combination;
(6) the person:
(A) while incarcerated for an offense under this section or Section 19.02, murders another; or
(B) while serving a sentence of life imprisonment or a term of 99 years for an offense under Section 20.04, 22.021, or 29.03, murders another;
(7) the person murders more than one person:
(A) during the same criminal transaction; or
(B) during different criminal transactions but the murders are committed pursuant to the same scheme or course of conduct;
(8) the person murders an individual under 10 years of age;
(9) the person murders an individual 10 years of age or older but younger than 15 years of age; or
(10) the person murders another person in retaliation for or on account of the service or status of the other person as a judge or justice of the supreme court, the court of criminal appeals, a court of appeals, a district court, a criminal district court, a constitutional county court, a statutory county court, a justice court, or a municipal court.
(b) An offense under this section is a capital felony.
(c) If the jury or, when authorized by law, the judge does not find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of an offense under this section, he may be convicted of murder or of any other lesser included offense.
(d) For purposes of Subsection (a)(1), the actor is presumed to have known the person murdered was a peace officer or fireman if the person was wearing a distinctive uniform or badge indicating the person's employment as a peace officer or fireman.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., p. 1123, ch. 426, art. 2, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1974. Amended by Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 5317, ch. 977, Sec. 6, eff. Sept. 1, 1983; Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 44, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 652, Sec. 13, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 715, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 887, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, Sec. 1.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1994; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 428 (S.B. 1791), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2005.
Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1209 (S.B. 377), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2011.
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1214 (S.B. 719), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2019.
Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1057 (S.B. 386), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2023.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PE/htm/PE.19.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 70182cd94756a914455c28c6255d9643835a35618252ce0b87ac7b55dfbc1995
- 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 § 19.02MURDER.Printed as Section 19.02 | Section 19.02(b)(1)
- Tex. Penal Code § 20.04AGGRAVATED KIDNAPPING.Printed as Section 20.04, 22.021, or 29.03
- Tex. Penal Code § 22.021AGGRAVATED SEXUAL ASSAULT.Printed as Section 20.04, 22.021, or 29.03
- Tex. Penal Code § 22.07TERRORISTIC THREAT.Printed as Section 22.07(a)(1)
- Tex. Penal Code § 29.03AGGRAVATED ROBBERY.Printed as Section 20.04, 22.021, or 29.03
Cited by 18 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Tex. Penal Code § 19.03. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Civil Practice and Remedies Code
Code of Criminal Procedure
- Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 37.071PROCEDURE IN CAPITAL CASEPrinted as Section 19.03(a)(9), Penal Code
- Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 37.0711PROCEDURE IN CAPITAL CASE FOR OFFENSE COMMITTED BEFORE SEPTEMBER 1, 1991Printed as Section 19.03(a)(7), Penal Code
- Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 42A.054LIMITATION ON JUDGE-ORDERED COMMUNITY SUPERVISION.Printed as Section 19.03, Penal Code
- Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 44.29EFFECT OF REVERSAL.Printed as Section 19.03, Penal Code
- Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 104.004EXTRAORDINARY COSTS OF PROSECUTION.Printed as Section 19.03, Penal Code
Education Code
Family Code
- Tex. Fam. Code § 53.01PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION AND DETERMINATIONS; NOTICE TO PARENTS.Printed as Section 19.03, Penal Code
- Tex. Fam. Code § 53.045OFFENSES ELIGIBLE FOR DETERMINATE SENTENCE.Printed as Section 19.03, Penal Code
- Tex. Fam. Code § 161.001INVOLUNTARY TERMINATION OF PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP.Printed as Section 19.02 or 19.03, Penal Code
Government Code
- Tex. Gov't Code § 23.101PRIMARY PRIORITIES.Printed as Section 19.02, 19.03, 21.02, or 21.11, Penal Code
- Tex. Gov't Code § 411.074REQUIRED CONDITIONS FOR RECEIVING AN ORDER OF NONDISCLOSURE.Printed as Section 19.02, 19.03, 20A.02, 20A.03, 22.04, 22.041, 25.07, 25.072, or 42.072, Penal Code
- Tex. Gov't Code § 508.145ELIGIBILITY FOR RELEASE ON PAROLE; COMPUTATION OF PAROLE ELIGIBILITY DATE.Printed as Section 19.03, Penal Code
- Tex. Gov't Code § 508.149INMATES INELIGIBLE FOR MANDATORY SUPERVISION.Printed as Section 19.03, Penal Code
Health and Safety Code
Occupations Code
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