The Texas Penal Code is the principal
criminal code of the U.S. state of
Texas. It was originally enacted in 1856 and underwent substantial revision in 1973, with the passage of the Revised Penal Code, in large part based on the
American Law Institute's
Model Penal Code.[1][2]
History
The first codification of Texas criminal law was the Texas Penal Code of 1856. Prior to 1856, criminal law in Texas was governed by the
common law, with the exception of a few penal statutes.[3] In 1854, the fifth Legislature passed an act requiring the Governor to appoint a commission to codify the civil and criminal laws of Texas. Only the Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure, both authored by
James Willie, were passed by the sixth Legislature and were effective as of February 1, 1857. These came to be referred to as the "Old Codes."[3][4]
The code underwent a major reorganization and reconciliation of existing criminal laws with the adoption of the Texas Penal Code of 1974.[5]
According to the Texas Legislative Counsel, the main objectives of the Revised Penal Code were to (1) consolidate, simplify, and clarify the substantive law of crimes; (2) modernize a Penal Code designed for the preindustrialized, rural, and underpopulated Texas society of a century ago; (3) identify and proscribe, with as much precision as possible, all significantly harmful criminal conduct; (4) rationally grade offenses, according to the harm they cause or threaten, and sensibly apportion the sentencing authority between the judiciary and correctional system; (5)
codify the general principles of the penal law; and (6) collect in a single code all significant penal law, transferring to more appropriate locations in the statutes regulatory and similar laws that merely employed a penal sanction.[1]
Sec. 1.02 states the objectives of the penal code: "to establish a system of prohibitions, penalties, and correctional measures to deal with conduct that unjustifiably and inexcusably causes or threatens harm to those individual or public interests for which state protection is appropriate" through deterrence, rehabilitation, and punishment of convicted persons; by giving fair warning of prohibited conduct and consequences of violation; to prescribe penalties proportionate with the seriousness of offenses and take rehabilitation potential into consideration; "to safeguard conduct that is without guilt from condemnation as criminal"; to guide and limit law enforcement; and "to define the scope of state interest in law enforcement against specific offenses and to systematize the exercise of state criminal jurisdiction."
Sec. 1.03 provides that conduct not prohibited by law is not a criminal offense.
Sec. 1.04 through Sec. 1.09 cover: construction of the code (according to fair import of terms), computation of age, definitions, preemption (prohibiting political subdivisions from enacting or enforcing laws criminalizing same conduct as criminalized in Penal Code), and concurrent jurisdiction for offenses involving state property (granting Attorney General concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute if local prosecutor consents).
Chapter 2. Burden of Proof
Sec. 2.01 provides that all persons are presumed innocent unless each element of the offense alleged is proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
Sec. 2.02 provides that the prosecutor must negate the existence of an exception where an exception is specifically stated in the statute.
Sec. 2.03 provides that it is not the prosecutor's duty to disprove a defense and that the jury will not be instructed regarding any defense unless evidence is admitted to support the defense, and that if the defense is submitted to a jury, then the jury will be instructed "that a reasonable doubt on the issue requires that the defendant be acquitted."
Sec. 2.04 provides the standard for affirmative defenses, which is essentially the same as for non-affirmative defenses except that the jury is instructed "that the defendant must prove the affirmative defense by a preponderance of evidence."
Sec. 2.05 covers presumptions and requires that "if there is sufficient evidence of facts that give rise to the presumption, the issue of the existence of the presumed fact must be submitted to the jury, unless the court is satisfied that the evidence as a whole clearly precludes a finding beyond a reasonable doubt of the presumed fact."
Prescribes available punishment according to classification of the offense (Class A misdemeanor, Class B misdemeanor, Class C misdemeanor, capital felony, first-degree felony, second-degree felony, state jail felony) along with aggravating circumstances (
repeat and
habitual offenders,
hate crimes,
elder abuse,
narcotics, and crimes committed in a disaster or evacuated area [e.g.,
looting]).
^
abKeeton, W. Page; Searcy, Seth S. III (22 Dec 1970).
"A New Penal Code for Texas". Texas Bar Journal. 33 (11): 980–992. Archived from
the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 9 Dec 2017.
Alt URL