Tex. Penal Code § 21.17 · Chapter 21. SEXUAL OFFENSES
VOYEURISM.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) A person commits an offense if the person, with the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of the actor, observes, including remotely through the use of electronic means, another person without the other person's consent while the other person is in a dwelling or structure in which the other person has a reasonable expectation of privacy.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c) or (d), an offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
(c) An offense under this section is a state jail felony if it is shown on the trial of the offense that:
(1) the actor has previously been convicted of an offense under this section;
(2) the victim was a child younger than 18 years of age at the time of the offense; or
(3) the offense was committed in a location that was on the premises of a postsecondary educational institution.
(d) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that:
(1) the victim was a child younger than 18 years of age at the time of the offense; and
(2) the actor has previously been convicted of an offense punishable under Subsection (c)(2).
(e) If conduct that constitutes an offense under this section also constitutes an offense under any other law, the actor may be prosecuted under this section, the other law, or both.
(f) In this section, "postsecondary educational institution" and "premises" have the meanings assigned by Section 12.502.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 676 (H.B. 207), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2015.
Redesignated from Penal Code, Section 21.16 by Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 324 (S.B. 1488), Sec. 24.001(35), eff. September 1, 2017.
Amended by:
Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 326 (H.B. 2306), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2023.
Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 557 (H.B. 1422), Sec. 19, eff. September 1, 2025.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PE/htm/PE.21.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 43bb82bb03271f6c878966c5e840b1bec3c914b8e28799440068e06ba1f8ed82
- 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
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