Every offense in the Texas Penal Code — DWI, assault, theft, murder — is written in a vocabulary defined in Chapter 1. Before a defense lawyer argues about what a statute means, they check how Chapter 1 says it should be read. Brian Foley walks through the whole chapter in this video.
§ 1.02 — Objectives of the Code
The Code announces its own purpose: to establish a system of prohibitions, penalties, and correctional measures that deal with conduct that unjustifiably and inexcusably causes or threatens harm; to give fair warning of what is prohibited; to prescribe penalties proportionate to the seriousness of the offense; to safeguard conduct that is without guilt; and to define the scope of state interest in law enforcement. Defense lawyers cite § 1.02 when arguing that a statute is being stretched beyond what the Legislature intended.
§ 1.03 — Effect of the Code
Conduct does not constitute an offense unless it is defined as an offense by statute, municipal ordinance, order of a county commissioners court, or rule authorized by statute. There are no common-law crimes in Texas.
§ 1.04 — Territorial jurisdiction
Texas has jurisdiction over an offense if either the conduct or a result that is an element of the offense occurs inside the state. This matters in interstate fraud, online offenses, and cases where a crime began in another state. See § 1.04.
§ 1.05 — Construction
The rule of lenity — that criminal statutes are strictly construed against the State — does not apply in Texas. Section 1.05(a) directs that the Code be construed according to the fair import of its terms to promote justice and effect the objectives in § 1.02. Courts still apply the ordinary meaning of words and resolve real ambiguity in the defendant's favor, but the statute takes the strict-construction argument off the table. See § 1.05.
§ 1.06 — Computation of age
A person attains a specified age on the day of the anniversary of their birth. Small rule, big consequences in offenses that turn on the age of the actor or the victim.
§ 1.07 — Definitions
The heart of the chapter. Section 1.07 defines the terms that appear across the Code: "bodily injury" (physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical condition), "serious bodily injury," "deadly weapon," "effective consent," "family," "household," "individual," "possession" (actual care, custody, control, or management), "public place," "reasonable belief," and dozens more. When a prosecutor argues that a car was a deadly weapon or that a parking lot was a public place, the argument begins and ends with § 1.07. See § 1.07.
§§ 1.08–1.10
The remaining sections address preemption of local ordinances that conflict with the Code, concurrent jurisdiction with federal law, and the enforcement of certain federal firearm laws.
Explore each section in our Texas Penal Code library, or call or text (713) 703-1718 to speak with former prosecutors Brian Foley and Luis Baez.