Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

Tex. Penal Code § 38.02

FAILURE TO IDENTIFY

Applied in 50 court decisions — leading case Brown v. Texas (1979)

Most recently applied in Sauceda v. City of San Benito (August 2023)

Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., p. 883, ch. 399, Sec. 1, eff

How often courts cite this section

19791990200020102020202340
citing decisions per year

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 he intentionally refuses to give his name, residence address, or date of birth to a peace officer who has lawfully arrested the person and requested the information.

(b) A person commits an offense if he intentionally gives a false or fictitious name, residence address, or date of birth to a peace officer who has:

(1) lawfully arrested the person;

(2) lawfully detained the person; or

(3) requested the information from a person that the peace officer has good cause to believe is a witness to a criminal offense.

(b-1) A person commits an offense if the person:

(1) is an operator of a motor vehicle, as defined by Section 32.34, who is lawfully detained by a peace officer for an alleged violation of a law;

(2) fails to provide or display the person's driver's license on the officer's request for the license; and

(3) intentionally refuses to give the person's name, driver's license number, residence address, or date of birth to the peace officer on the officer's request for that information.

(b-2) For purposes of Subsection (b-1)(3), giving a peace officer a residence address that is different from the address associated with the person's driver's license does not constitute a refusal to give the person's residence address in violation of that provision if the address given to the officer is the person's actual residence address.

(c) Except as provided by Subsections (d) and (d-1), an offense under this section is:

(1) a Class C misdemeanor if the offense is committed under Subsection (a) or (b-1); or

(2) a Class B misdemeanor if the offense is committed under Subsection (b).

(d) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this section that the defendant was a fugitive from justice at the time of the offense, the offense is:

(1) a Class B misdemeanor if the offense is committed under Subsection (a); or

(2) a Class A misdemeanor if the offense is committed under Subsection (b).

(d-1) An offense under Subsection (b-1) is a Class B misdemeanor if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the actor gave a false or fictitious name to the peace officer during the commission of the offense.

(e) If conduct that constitutes an offense under this section also constitutes an offense under Section 106.07, Alcoholic Beverage Code, the actor may be prosecuted only under Section 106.07.

(f) Subject to Subsection (e), if conduct that constitutes an offense under Subsection (b-1) also constitutes an offense under any other law, the actor may be prosecuted under that subsection, the other law, or both.

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