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Tex. Penal Code § 22.11

HARASSMENT BY PERSONS IN CERTAIN FACILITIES; HARASSMENT OF PUBLIC SERVANT

Applied in 10 court decisions — leading case United States v. Rodriguez (2013)

Most recently applied in United States v. Grzywinski (January 2023)

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 335, Sec. 1, eff

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Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(a) A person commits an offense if, with the intent to assault, harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass the person:

(1) while imprisoned or confined in a correctional or detention facility, causes another person to contact the blood, seminal fluid, vaginal fluid, saliva, urine, or feces of the actor, any other person, or an animal, or any other fluid or liquid;

(2) while committed to a civil commitment facility, causes:

(A) an officer or employee of the Texas Civil Commitment Office to contact the blood, seminal fluid, vaginal fluid, saliva, urine, or feces of the actor, any other person, or an animal, or any other fluid or liquid:

(i) while the officer or employee is lawfully discharging an official duty at a civil commitment facility; or

(ii) in retaliation for or on account of an exercise of official power or performance of an official duty by the officer or employee; or

(B) a person who contracts with the state to perform a service in the facility or an employee of that person to contact the blood, seminal fluid, vaginal fluid, saliva, urine, or feces of the actor, any other person, or an animal, or any other fluid or liquid:

(i) while the person or employee is engaged in performing a service within the scope of the contract, if the actor knows the person or employee is authorized by the state to provide the service; or

(ii) in retaliation for or on account of the person's or employee's performance of a service within the scope of the contract; or

(3) causes another person the actor knows to be a public servant to contact the blood, seminal fluid, vaginal fluid, saliva, urine, or feces of the actor, any other person, or an animal, or any other fluid or liquid, while the public servant is lawfully discharging an official duty or in retaliation or on account of an exercise of the public servant's official power or performance of an official duty.

(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree.

(c) If conduct constituting an offense under this section also constitutes an offense under another section of this code, the actor may be prosecuted under either section.

(d) In this section, "correctional or detention facility" means:

(1) a secure correctional facility; or

(2) a "secure correctional facility" or a "secure detention facility" as defined by Section 51.02, Family Code, operated by or under contract with a juvenile board or the Texas Juvenile Justice Department or any other facility operated by or under contract with that department.

(e) For purposes of Subsection (a)(3), the actor is presumed to have known the person was a public servant if the person was wearing a distinctive uniform or badge indicating the person's employment as a public servant.

(f) For purposes of Subsection (a)(2), the actor is presumed to have known the person was an officer or employee of the Texas Civil Commitment Office or a person who contracts with the state to perform a service in a civil commitment facility or an employee of that person, as applicable, if the person was wearing a distinctive uniform or badge indicating the person's status as an officer or employee of the Texas Civil Commitment Office or a contractor or employee of a contractor performing a service in a civil commitment facility.

(g) It is not a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a) that the actor warned any person that the actor intended to violate Subsection (a).

Official source: Texas Constitution and Statutes. Reproduced from public-domain Texas statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.