Texas Disorderly Conduct Laws: Penalties, Trespass and Purple Paint

Texas makes disorderly conduct a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $500, in most of its forms under section 42.01 of the Penal Code. The two firearm forms, discharging a firearm in a public place other than a public road or sport shooting range and displaying a firearm or other deadly weapon in a manner calculated to alarm, are Class B misdemeanors carrying up to 180 days in jail, and a separate section, 42.12, makes reckless discharge of a firearm inside a city of 100,000 or more a Class A misdemeanor.

Criminal trespass is one section, Penal Code 30.05. It is a Class B misdemeanor by default, a Class C misdemeanor on agricultural land within 100 feet of its boundary, and a Class A misdemeanor in a habitation and several other listed places; section 30.05 itself makes it a felony only when committed in the course of smuggling of persons, and section 12.50 raises the punishment in declared disaster and evacuation areas. Texas also counts purple paint marks on trees or posts as notice that entry is forbidden. For other states, see our guide to disorderly conduct and trespass laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-18. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Texas state criminal statutes on disorderly conduct (Penal Code 42.01), related public-order offenses in Penal Code chapters 42, 48 and 49 and Government Code 418.173, and criminal trespass (Penal Code 30.05 to 30.07, with related Education Code, Parks and Wildlife Code and Penal Code sections). It does not cover local noise ordinances and quiet hours (see Texas noise laws), the civil procedure for removing squatters (see Texas squatters' rights), use of force against a trespasser (see Texas self-defense laws), local ordinances or civil trespass lawsuits. Federal law separately governs conduct on federal property and at the U.S. Capitol; our disorderly conduct and trespass laws hub covers that layer.

What is disorderly conduct in Texas?

Disorderly conduct is a list of eleven acts in Penal Code 42.01(a). Each is an offense only if the person does it "intentionally or knowingly." In plain words, the eleven forms are:

• Fighting words: using "abusive, indecent, profane, or vulgar language in a public place, and the language by its very utterance tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace" (42.01(a)(1)).
• Offensive gestures: making "an offensive gesture or display in a public place, and the gesture or display tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace" (42.01(a)(2)).
• Odor: creating, by chemical means, a noxious and unreasonable odor in a public place (42.01(a)(3)).
• Abuse or threats: abusing or threatening a person in a public place "in an obviously offensive manner" (42.01(a)(4)).
• Noise: making unreasonable noise in a public place other than a sport shooting range, or in or near a private residence the person has no right to occupy (42.01(a)(5)). Our Texas noise ordinance laws page covers this clause, its 85-decibel presumption and local quiet hours in depth.
• Fighting: fighting with another in a public place (42.01(a)(6)).
• Firing a gun in public: discharging a firearm in a public place other than a public road or a sport shooting range (42.01(a)(7)).
• Displaying a weapon: displaying a firearm or other deadly weapon in a public place "in a manner calculated to alarm" (42.01(a)(8)).
• Firing across a road: discharging a firearm on or across a public road (42.01(a)(9)).
• Exposure: exposing the anus or genitals in a public place while reckless about whether another person may be present who will be offended or alarmed (42.01(a)(10)).
• Peeping: for a lewd or unlawful purpose, entering another's property and looking into a dwelling through a window or other opening; looking into another person's hotel guest room; or, on the premises of a public place, looking into an area such as a restroom, shower stall or changing room designed to provide privacy (42.01(a)(11)).

Where fighting turns into an injury or a threat of one, the assault statutes may also apply; see Texas assault and battery laws.

What counts as a "public place"

The Penal Code's general definition, section 1.07(a)(40), reads:

"'Public place' means any place to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access and includes, but is not limited to, streets, highways, and the common areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses, office buildings, transport facilities, and shops."

Since September 1, 2023, section 42.01(a-1) adds that, for the disorderly conduct statute, "public place" includes "a public school campus or the school grounds on which a public school is located." Section 42.01(c)(1) also provides that an act is deemed to occur in a public place or near a private residence if it produces its offensive or proscribed consequences there.

Exceptions written into section 42.01

The statute itself carves out several situations:

• It is a defense to the abuse-or-threat form, (a)(4), "that the actor had significant provocation for his abusive or threatening conduct" (42.01(b)).
• It is a defense to the two discharge forms, (a)(7) and (a)(9), that the person had a reasonable fear of bodily injury to themselves or another from a dangerous wild animal as defined in Health and Safety Code 822.101 (42.01(e)).
• Subdivision (a)(9) does not apply to a Parks and Wildlife Department employee acting within the scope of authority under Parks and Wildlife Code 12.013(c) (42.01(e-1)).
• The language, gesture, odor, noise and fighting forms do not apply to a student younger than 12 when the conduct occurred at a public school campus during regular school hours (42.01(f)).
• Lawfully conducted space flight noise is not "unreasonable noise" (42.01(g)).

Is disorderly conduct a misdemeanor in Texas?

Yes. Section 42.01(d) provides: "An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor unless committed under Subsection (a)(7) or (a)(8), in which event it is a Class B misdemeanor." The two grades carry these ranges:

• Class C misdemeanor (every form except (a)(7) and (a)(8)): "a fine not to exceed $500" (Penal Code 12.23). The statute sets a fine and no jail term.
• Class B misdemeanor (firing a gun in a public place, or displaying a weapon in a manner calculated to alarm): a fine of up to $2,000, jail for up to 180 days, or both (Penal Code 12.22).

Firing a gun on or across a public road, (a)(9), stays a Class C misdemeanor under 42.01(d).

A separate section, 42.12, makes it a Class A misdemeanor (up to one year, a fine of up to $4,000, or both) to recklessly discharge a firearm inside the corporate limits of a municipality with a population of 100,000 or more. It is not limited to a public place, and conduct that is also an offense under another section of the Penal Code may be prosecuted under either section (42.12(c)).

Repeat offenses: three priors within 24 months

Penal Code 12.43(c) raises the punishment for repeat Class C disorderly conduct and public intoxication. If it is shown at trial that the defendant has been convicted under 42.01 or 49.02 (public intoxication) three times, in any combination, "and each prior offense was committed in the 24 months preceding the date of commission of the instant offense," the punishment is a fine of up to $2,000, jail for up to 180 days, or both.

A separate rule, 12.43(b), applies to any Class B misdemeanor, including the two firearm forms: if the defendant has a prior conviction for a Class A or Class B misdemeanor or any felony, the punishment is a fine of up to $2,000, jail for not less than 30 days and not more than 180 days, or both. Section 12.43(a) does the same for a Class A misdemeanor, such as trespass in a habitation: with a prior Class A misdemeanor or felony conviction, the punishment is a fine of up to $4,000, jail for not less than 90 days and not more than one year, or both.

Can you get disorderly conduct for swearing or a gesture in Texas?

The language and gesture forms are narrower than they first look. Both (a)(1) and (a)(2) require more than offensive words or gestures: the words must "by [their] very utterance" tend "to incite an immediate breach of the peace," and the gesture or display must tend "to incite an immediate breach of the peace." Both subdivisions require that tendency in addition to the offensive words or gesture.

In Estes v. State, 660 S.W.2d 873 (Tex. App.-Fort Worth 1983), a court of appeals said that "Section 42.01(a)(1) and (2) proscribe 'fighting words' or acts in a public place." The court said the generally accepted definition of breach of the peace, used in the jury charge in that case, includes the admonition that "[a]ctual or threatened violence is an essential element of a breach of the peace," quoting Woods v. State (Tex. Crim. App. 1948). Applying that to the case before it, the court held that an obscene finger gesture made to a principal at a graduation "could have constituted 'fighting words'" under all of the circumstances, and affirmed the conviction under (a)(2). Estes is an intermediate appellate decision about one gesture and one jury charge; it did not hold any part of the statute unconstitutional.

A 1988 Texas Attorney General opinion, JM-900, states the same jury-instruction rule: a conviction under a statute with breach of the peace as an element "must be based on jury instructions including an admonition that proof of 'actual or threatened violence is essential.'" An Attorney General opinion is persuasive only; it is not a court decision.

Speech, picketing and the order-to-move rule (section 42.04)

Section 42.04 adds a procedural rule for three offenses: unreasonable noise under 42.01(a)(5), obstructing a passageway under 42.03, and funeral picketing under 42.055. When the conduct "consists of speech or other communication," or of gathering with others to hear it or "to picket or otherwise express in a nonviolent manner a position on social, economic, political, or religious questions," the statute provides that "the actor must be ordered to move, disperse, or otherwise remedy the violation prior to his arrest if he has not yet intentionally harmed the interests of others which those sections seek to protect."

The order may come from a peace officer, a fireman, a person with authority to control the premises, or "any person directly affected by the violation" (42.04(b)). Under 42.04(c), it is a defense to prosecution under those three sections that no order was given when one was required, that an order "was manifestly unreasonable in scope," or that an order "was promptly obeyed."

Related public-order offenses in Texas

Chapter 42 of the Penal Code holds disorderly conduct's neighbors, among them riot, obstructing passageways, disrupting meetings and funerals, false alarms and reports, and firearm discharge in large cities; it also holds offenses such as harassment (42.07) and stalking (42.072) that this page does not cover. Public intoxication is in Chapter 49 and public camping in Chapter 48.

Riot (section 42.02)

A riot is "the assemblage of seven or more persons" resulting in conduct that creates an immediate danger of damage to property or injury to persons, substantially obstructs law enforcement or other government functions, or by force, threat of force or physical action deprives a person of a legal right or disturbs the enjoyment of one (42.02(a)). Knowingly participating in a riot is a Class B misdemeanor (42.02(b), (e)).

The grade rises with what happens in the riot. Under 42.02(f), the offense takes "the same classification as any offense of a higher grade committed by anyone engaged in the riot" if that offense was in furtherance of the assembly's purpose or "should have been anticipated as a result of the assembly." Section 42.02(c) provides that it is a defense that the assembly was at first lawful and the person "retired from the assembly" when someone manifested an intent to engage in the listed conduct.

Obstructing a passageway and refusing an order to move (section 42.03)

Section 42.03 makes it an offense, without legal privilege or authority, to intentionally, knowingly or recklessly obstruct a highway, street, sidewalk, railway, waterway, elevator, aisle, hallway, entrance or exit open to the public, or any other place used for passage. "Obstruct" means "to render impassable or to render passage unreasonably inconvenient or hazardous" (42.03(b)).

It is also an offense to disobey a reasonable request or order to move from a person the actor knows to be, or is informed is, a peace officer, a fireman or a person with authority to control the premises, given to prevent obstruction or to disperse people "gathered in dangerous proximity to a fire, riot, or other hazard" (42.03(a)(2)). This is the closest thing Texas has to a failure-to-disperse offense.

The offense is a Class B misdemeanor, except as subsections (c-1), (d) and (e) provide (42.03(c)). Under 42.03(c-1), it is a state jail felony if the person knowingly prevents the passage of an authorized emergency vehicle operating its emergency signals, or obstructs access to a licensed hospital or other health care facility that provides emergency medical care. Under 42.03(d) and (e), obstruction committed while operating a motor vehicle in a "reckless driving exhibition" (on a street, in front of two or more people gathered to watch, intentionally breaking the rear tires' traction, spinning them and steering to rotate the vehicle) is a Class A misdemeanor, and a state jail felony with a prior (d) conviction, while intoxicated, or if someone suffers bodily injury. A state jail felony carries 180 days to 2 years in a state jail and a fine of up to $10,000 (Penal Code 12.35).

Disrupting a meeting or procession (section 42.05)

It is a Class B misdemeanor, "with intent to prevent or disrupt a lawful meeting, procession, or gathering, whether in person or virtual," to obstruct or interfere with it by physical action, verbal utterance, or "electronic disturbance, including hacking, of any virtual component" (42.05). The virtual-meeting and hacking language took effect September 1, 2025, under H.B. 5238, and applies only to offenses committed on or after that date.

Funeral picketing (section 42.055)

Section 42.055 makes picketing within 1,000 feet of a facility or cemetery being used for a funeral service a Class B misdemeanor during the window "beginning three hours before the service begins and ending three hours after the service is completed." "Picketing" means displaying or carrying a banner, placard or sign while standing, sitting, walking, riding or driving; "loud singing, chanting, whistling, or yelling," with or without amplification; or blocking access to the facility or cemetery. A "facility" includes a funeral parlor, mortuary, private home or established place of worship where any part of the service takes place, and a "funeral service" includes a wake, viewing, procession or memorial service held in connection with a burial or cremation. The order-to-move rule in 42.04 applies to this section.

False alarms and false emergency reports (sections 42.06 and 42.0601)

Section 42.06 makes it an offense to knowingly initiate, communicate or circulate a report of a present, past or future bombing, fire, offense or other emergency that the person knows is false or baseless and that would ordinarily cause action by an emergency agency, place a person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury, or prevent or interrupt the occupation of a building, place of assembly or vehicle. It is a Class A misdemeanor, and a state jail felony when the false report is of an emergency involving a college or university, a public primary or secondary school, public communications, public transportation, a public water, gas or power supply or another public service (42.06(b)).

Section 42.0601 covers knowingly making a false report of a crime or emergency to police, 9-1-1 or another authorized recipient that causes an emergency response, while reckless about whether the response may directly result in bodily injury to another person. It is a Class A misdemeanor; a state jail felony with two or more prior convictions under the section; and a third-degree felony if the false report was of a criminal offense and a person suffered serious bodily injury or death as a direct result of lawful conduct arising out of the response (42.0601(b)).

Public intoxication (section 49.02)

A person commits public intoxication by appearing "in a public place while intoxicated to the degree that the person may endanger the person or another" (49.02(a)). A premises licensed or permitted under the Alcoholic Beverage Code counts as a public place (49.02(a-1)). The offense is a Class C misdemeanor, fine up to $500 (49.02(c)), and the 12.43(c) repeat rule above applies to it. A person younger than 21 is punished as for an offense under Alcoholic Beverage Code 106.071 (49.02(e)). Section 49.02(b) provides a defense when the alcohol or other substance was administered for therapeutic purposes as part of professional medical treatment by a licensed physician.

Prohibited camping (section 48.05)

Section 48.05, added in 2021, makes it a Class C misdemeanor to intentionally or knowingly camp in a public place without the effective consent of the officer or agency with authority to manage it. To "camp" is "to reside temporarily in a place, with shelter," such as a tent, tarpaulin, sleeping bag or blankets. Consent from an officer or agency of a political subdivision counts only for the purposes listed in 48.05(d), such as recreation or emergency shelter during a declared disaster. Before or at the time of a citation, the officer "must make a reasonable effort" to tell the person of an alternative place to camp lawfully and, where reasonable and appropriate, to contact a local official or nonprofit for services, unless an imminent threat to health or safety makes that impracticable (48.05(g), (h)).

Emergency orders and curfews

Penal Code chapters 30, 42, 48 and 49 contain no statewide curfew offense. Instead, Government Code 418.173 lets a state, local or interjurisdictional emergency management plan make it an offense to fail to comply with the plan or with "a rule, order, or ordinance adopted under the plan." The plan sets the punishment, but it "may not prescribe a fine that exceeds $1,000 or confinement in jail for a term that exceeds 180 days." Since September 1, 2023, Local Government Code 370.008 bars cities, counties and other political subdivisions from adopting or enforcing a curfew for people younger than 18, except a curfew implemented under Government Code chapter 418 for emergency management.

Offenses Chapter 42 does not contain

Chapter 42 of the Penal Code has no separate breach of the peace, disturbing the peace, affray or unlawful assembly offense; the closest analogues are disorderly conduct (42.01), riot (42.02) and refusing an order to move or disperse (42.03(a)(2)). Chapters 30, 42, 48 and 49 also contain no general loitering or prowling offense, and intoxication in public is charged under 49.02 alone, with no separate drunk and disorderly offense.

What is criminal trespass in Texas?

Criminal trespass is entering or remaining on someone else's property without consent after being told, one way or another, to stay out or to leave. Penal Code 30.05(a) reads:

"A person commits an offense if the person enters or remains on or in property of another, including residential land, agricultural land, a recreational vehicle park, a building, a general residential operation operating as a residential treatment center, or an aircraft or other vehicle, without effective consent and the person: (1) had notice that the entry was forbidden; or (2) received notice to depart but failed to do so."

Texas does not divide trespass into numbered degrees. It is one offense, graded by where it happens and how, from a Class C misdemeanor to a third-degree felony. "Entry" means "the intrusion of the entire body" (30.05(b)(1)).

What counts as notice

Notice is the heart of the offense. Section 30.05(b)(2) gives five forms of notice:

1. Oral or written communication by the owner or someone with apparent authority to act for the owner.
2. "Fencing or other enclosure obviously designed to exclude intruders or to contain livestock."
3. "A sign or signs posted on the property or at the entrance to the building, reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders, indicating that entry is forbidden."
4. Purple paint marks meeting the rules below.
5. "The visible presence on the property of a crop grown for human consumption that is under cultivation, in the process of being harvested, or marketable if harvested at the time of entry."

Subdivision (b)(2)(C) sets no sign size, wording or spacing; the test is that the sign is reasonably likely to come to an intruder's attention and indicates entry is forbidden.

Does Texas have a purple paint law?

Yes. Under 30.05(b)(2)(D), "identifying purple paint marks on trees or posts on the property" are notice, provided that the marks are:

• vertical lines of not less than eight inches in length and not less than one inch in width;
• placed so that the bottom of the mark is not less than three feet and not more than five feet from the ground; and
• placed at locations that are readily visible to any person approaching the property and no more than 100 feet apart on forest land, or 1,000 feet apart on land other than forest land.

"Forest land" means "land on which the trees are potentially valuable for timber products" (30.05(b)(4)). Marks that do not meet all three conditions do not qualify as purple paint notice under (b)(2)(D).

When an owner, store or school tells you to leave

Section 30.05(a)(2) covers a person who "received notice to depart but failed to do so." Oral or written communication from the owner or "someone with apparent authority to act for the owner" is notice under (b)(2)(A). This branch reaches a person who entered lawfully: the offense is remaining without effective consent after receiving notice to depart.

The definition of notice in 30.05(b)(2) does not say how long a written or oral notice, such as a store's trespass warning, stays in effect.

Public schools have their own rule. Under Education Code 37.105, a school administrator, school resource officer or school district peace officer may refuse entry to, or eject, a person who refuses to leave peaceably on request and either poses a substantial risk of harm to any person, or behaves in a manner inappropriate for a school setting and persists after a verbal warning that the behavior may lead to refusal of entry or ejection. A refusal or ejection "may not exceed two years" (37.105(f)), and the commissioner of education must adopt rules that include an appeal to the school board (37.105(h)).

Firearm signs are a separate track, covered in the weapon-only and license holder sections below.

Key definitions

• Habitation: "a structure or vehicle that is adapted for the overnight accommodation of persons," including each separately secured or occupied portion and each structure appurtenant to or connected with it (30.01(1)).
• Building: "any enclosed structure intended for use or occupation as a habitation or for some purpose of trade, manufacture, ornament, or use" (30.01(2)).
• Critical infrastructure facility: one of a listed set of facilities, but only "if completely enclosed by a fence or other physical barrier that is obviously designed to exclude intruders" (30.05(b)(7)). The list includes refineries, chemical plants, power plants and substations, water and wastewater plants, natural gas transmission compressor stations, LNG terminals, telecommunications switching offices, ports, rail yards and freight terminals, gas processing plants and broadcast transmitters.

Penalties for criminal trespass

Section 30.05(d) sets the grade, subject to the weapon-only rule in (d-3):

• Class C misdemeanor (fine up to $500) if committed on agricultural land within 100 feet of the land's boundary, or on residential land within 100 feet of a protected freshwater area (30.05(d)(2)).
• Class B misdemeanor (up to 180 days, a fine of up to $2,000, or both) in every other case not listed below (30.05(d)(1)).
• Class A misdemeanor (up to one year, a fine of up to $4,000, or both, under Penal Code 12.21) if the trespass is in a habitation or a shelter center, on a Superfund site, or on or in a critical infrastructure facility; on property of an institution of higher education by a person with a prior campus trespass conviction under 30.05 or Education Code 51.204(b)(1); while carrying a deadly weapon; or on the property of or within a general residential operation operating as a residential treatment center (30.05(d)(3)).
• Third-degree felony (2 to 10 years and a fine of up to $10,000, under Penal Code 12.34) only if "it is shown on the trial of the offense that the defendant committed the offense in the course of committing an offense under Section 20.05(a)(2)," the smuggling of persons statute (30.05(d)(4)). Penal Code 12.50, described below, can raise these punishments one category in disaster and evacuation areas.

Two punishment-stage rules can remove a Class A increase. For the critical infrastructure increase, the defendant may raise whether the entry was "part of a peaceful or lawful assembly, including an attempt to exercise rights guaranteed by state or federal labor laws"; proved by a preponderance of the evidence, the increase does not apply (30.05(h)). For the repeat campus trespass increase, the defendant may raise whether the defendant was engaging in speech or expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment at the time of the current or previous offense, with the same effect if proved (30.05(d-2)).

Weapon-only notices (section 30.05(c) and (d-3))

An owner may give notice that firearms are prohibited by posting a sign at each entrance with language identical or substantially similar to "Pursuant to Section 30.05, Penal Code (criminal trespass), a person may not enter this property with a firearm," in both English and Spanish, "in contrasting colors with block letters at least one inch in height," and "displayed in a conspicuous manner clearly visible to the public" (30.05(c)).

When the only reason entry was forbidden was entry with a firearm or other weapon, trespass is a Class C misdemeanor "punishable by a fine not to exceed $200" (30.05(d-3)). It becomes a Class A misdemeanor if, after entering with the weapon, the person personally received notice from the owner or someone with apparent authority that entry with a weapon was forbidden "and subsequently failed to depart."

Section 30.05 also provides defenses and an exclusion for weapon-only notices. Section 30.05(f) provides that it is a defense that entry was forbidden because entry with a handgun was forbidden and the person was carrying a license to carry a handgun issued under Government Code chapter 411, subchapter H, and a handgun in a concealed manner or in a holster. Subsections (f-1) to (f-4) provide defenses, where entry with a firearm or firearm ammunition was what was forbidden, for condominium owners and their tenants and guests, residential tenants under Property Code chapter 92 and their guests, manufactured-home lot tenants and their guests, and hotel guests who carry or store a firearm or ammunition in the unit, home or room or in their vehicle in the provided parking area (for hotels, on the hotel property), or carry it directly en route to or from either; the first three defenses also require that the person is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing a firearm or ammunition. Under 30.05(i), the section does not apply to a peace officer or a special investigator under Code of Criminal Procedure article 2A.002 when the basis for forbidding entry was entry with a handgun or other weapon.

Handgun license holders (sections 30.06 and 30.07)

Section 30.06 is the trespass offense for a license holder who carries a concealed handgun on another's property without effective consent after oral or written notice that entry with a concealed handgun is forbidden; written notice must use the statute's exact wording on a card, or on a bilingual sign in block letters at least one inch high (30.06(c)(3)). It is a Class C misdemeanor "punishable by a fine not to exceed $200," or a Class A misdemeanor if the license holder was personally given oral notice after entering and "subsequently failed to depart" (30.06(d)). Section 30.07 is the parallel offense for openly carried handguns, with the same grades (30.07(d)). Both sections provide an exception for property owned or leased by a governmental entity that is not a place where section 46.03 bars carrying the handgun (30.06(e), 30.07(e)), and a defense for a license holder who was personally given oral notice and promptly departed (30.06(g), 30.07(h)).

Defenses written into section 30.05

Section 30.05(e) provides that it is a defense to prosecution that the person, at the time of the offense, was:

• a firefighter or emergency medical services personnel "acting in the lawful discharge of an official duty under exigent circumstances";
• an employee or agent of a utility, telecommunications, cable or pipeline provider performing a duty within that employment or agency; or
• an employee or agent of an entity that had, or that the person reasonably believed had, effective consent or legal authorization to enter, performing a duty within that employment or agency.

Section 30.05(g) adds a defense for a person who entered a railroad switching yard as an employee or a representative of employees "exercising a right under the Railway Labor Act." The weapon-only defenses in 30.05(f) to (f-4) and the peace officer exclusion in 30.05(i) are described above. Use of force against a trespasser is a separate subject covered on our Texas self-defense laws page.

Trespass in a disaster or evacuation area (section 12.50)

Penal Code 12.50 raises the punishment for criminal trespass, burglary and several other listed offenses "to the punishment prescribed for the next higher category of offense" if the offense was committed in an area that was, at the time, under a disaster declaration by the president, the governor or the presiding officer of a political subdivision, or under an emergency evacuation order (12.50(a), (b)). If the listed offense is punishable as a Class A misdemeanor, the minimum jail term rises to 180 days (12.50(c)). The increase is subject to 12.50(c) and (d).

Schools and college campuses

• Public school grounds: "An unauthorized person who trespasses on the grounds of any school district of this state commits an offense," a Class C misdemeanor (Education Code 37.107). The ejection and two-year refusal rules in 37.105 are described above. For disorderly conduct, a public school campus is a public place under Penal Code 42.01(a-1).
• School disruption: intentionally engaging in disruptive activity listed in Education Code 37.123, such as blocking a building exit or entrance or seizing a building, on the campus or property of a public or private school is a Class B misdemeanor. Intentionally disrupting classes or other school activities on school property or on public property within 500 feet of it, by a person other than a primary or secondary student enrolled in the school, is a Class C misdemeanor (37.124).
• Colleges and universities: Education Code 51.204(b)(1) makes it unlawful "to trespass on the grounds of an institution of higher education or of a private or independent institution of higher education." The penalty for 51.204 is not set out in subsection (b). A prior campus trespass conviction raises a later trespass on higher-education property to a Class A misdemeanor under Penal Code 30.05(d)(3)(B).

Hunting on someone else's land

• Hunting without consent (Parks and Wildlife Code 61.022): no person may hunt, catch or possess a wildlife resource "at any place covered by this chapter unless the owner of the land, submerged land, or water, or the owner's agent, consents." Section 61.003 applies the chapter to every county, place and wildlife resource in the state, except as the code otherwise provides. A first violation is a Class A Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor, a fine of $500 to $4,000, up to one year in jail, or both (section 12.404); it is a state jail felony if the first violation is killing a desert bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, mule deer or white-tailed deer. A second violation is one category higher or a Parks and Wildlife Code felony, whichever is lesser, and a third is a Parks and Wildlife Code felony. Each violation can also bring revocation or suspension of hunting and fishing licenses and permits under section 12.5015.
• Posted submerged land (section 62.0061): hunting on or over privately owned land that is seasonally or occasionally submerged under public fresh water, or under public salt water above the Gulf's mean high tide line, is barred when the land is conspicuously marked by a sign "substantially similar to the following: POSTED. PRIVATE PROPERTY. NO HUNTING." The rule does not apply to fishing, to the landowner or to a person with the landowner's consent. Violations of that subchapter are Class C Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanors, a fine of $25 to $500, unless 62.013(b) or (c) provides otherwise (sections 62.013(a), 12.406).

Squatting, fake leases and fraudulent rentals

Occupying someone else's home without consent after notice can be criminal trespass under 30.05, and a habitation raises it to a Class A misdemeanor. S.B. 1333, effective September 1, 2025, added two offenses aimed at squatting schemes:

• Section 32.56 (the version added by S.B. 1333; several 2025 sections carry that number): knowingly presenting to another person "a false, fraudulent, or fictitious document purporting to be a lease agreement, deed, or other instrument conveying real property or an interest in real property," with intent to enter or remain on real property, is a Class A misdemeanor.
• Section 32.57: knowingly listing or advertising residential real property for sale, rent or lease while knowing the person offering it lacks legal title or authority, or actually selling, renting or leasing such property, is a first-degree felony.

S.B. 1333 also amended the criminal mischief statute. Section 28.03(b)(6)(B) now makes criminal mischief a second-degree felony (2 to 20 years and a fine of up to $10,000, under Penal Code 12.33) when the loss is $1,000 or more but less than $300,000, the property damaged or destroyed is a habitation, and the person committed the offense in the course of a criminal trespass under 30.05. The amendment applies only to offenses committed on or after September 1, 2025. For the civil process of removing unauthorized occupants, see Texas squatters' rights.

Trespass versus burglary

Burglary (Penal Code 30.02) is entering a habitation, or a building not then open to the public, without the owner's effective consent "with intent to commit a felony, theft, or an assault," or remaining concealed with that intent, or entering and committing or attempting one of those crimes. Except as 30.02 otherwise provides, it is a state jail felony in a building other than a habitation and a second-degree felony in a habitation. Criminal trespass has no such intent element.

Texas disorderly conduct and trespass penalties at a glance

The ranges come from the class-sentencing sections of Penal Code Chapter 12: 12.21 (Class A misdemeanor), 12.22 (Class B), 12.23 (Class C), 12.32 (first-degree felony), 12.33 (second-degree felony), 12.34 (third-degree felony) and 12.35 (state jail felony). Parks and Wildlife Code offenses use that code's own classes in sections 12.404 to 12.406. For the full Texas class table, see Texas felony and misdemeanor classes.

Recent changes to Texas disorderly conduct and trespass laws

• Disrupting meetings, September 1, 2025: H.B. 5238 (Acts 2025, ch. 253) amended 42.05(a) to cover virtual meetings and electronic disturbance, including hacking. The change applies only to offenses committed on or after September 1, 2025.
• Squatting offenses, September 1, 2025: S.B. 1333 (Acts 2025, ch. 817) added Penal Code 32.56 (false lease or deed, Class A misdemeanor) and 32.57 (fraudulent sale, rental or lease of residential property, first-degree felony), and amended 28.03; the 28.03 change applies only to offenses committed on or after September 1, 2025.
• Other 2025 changes, September 1, 2025: H.B. 4995 added a tactical medical professional defense to 30.06 and 30.07, and S.B. 482 added section 38.15 to the 12.50 disaster-area list.
• School ejections, May 27, 2025: S.B. 2929 (Acts 2025, ch. 201) added Education Code 37.105(a-1), letting a referee, judge or other official of a school-sponsored or University Interscholastic League athletic event eject a spectator without the verbal warning and persistence steps. It applies beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.
• School-area trespass bill vetoed: H.B. 353 (2025), "relating to creating the criminal offense of trespass on or near school or day-care center property," was vetoed by the governor on May 24, 2025, so it did not become law.
• Earlier changes: H.B. 3065 (2023) added 42.01(a-1), making public school campuses a public place for disorderly conduct, effective September 1, 2023; it is the last amendment to 42.01. Section 30.05 was last amended by S.B. 4 (2023, 3rd called session, effective February 6, 2024) and H.B. 4504 (2023, effective January 1, 2025). The camping offense, 48.05, was added by H.B. 1925, effective September 1, 2021.

Related Texas and state-by-state guides

• Disorderly conduct and trespass laws by state
• Texas noise ordinance laws
• Texas felony and misdemeanor classes
• Texas squatters' rights
• Texas self-defense laws
• Texas assault and battery laws
• How to charge someone with trespassing

This article provides general legal information about Texas disorderly conduct, public-order and criminal trespass statutes as of 2026-10-18. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Texas.

Last updated: 2026-10-18.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is disorderly conduct in Texas?

Penal Code 42.01 lists eleven acts done intentionally or knowingly, such as fighting words or gestures that tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace, abusing or threatening someone in an obviously offensive manner, unreasonable noise, fighting in public, firing a gun in public, exposure and peeping.

Is disorderly conduct a misdemeanor in Texas?

Yes. Under 42.01(d) it is a Class C misdemeanor, a fine of up to $500, except that discharging a firearm in a public place or displaying a weapon in a manner calculated to alarm is a Class B misdemeanor, up to 180 days and a $2,000 fine. Under 12.43(c), three prior 42.01 or 49.02 convictions, each for an offense committed in the 24 months before, raise a new Class C offense to up to 180 days and a $2,000 fine. Reckless discharge of a firearm inside a city of 100,000 or more is a separate Class A misdemeanor under 42.12.

Can you get disorderly conduct for cussing in Texas?

Section 42.01(a)(1) covers abusive, indecent, profane or vulgar language in a public place only when the language by its very utterance tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace. The Fort Worth Court of Appeals in Estes v. State (1983) said that clause and the gesture clause proscribe fighting words.

Is flipping someone off disorderly conduct in Texas?

An offensive gesture is covered by 42.01(a)(2) only if it tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace. In Estes v. State (1983), a court of appeals held that an obscene finger gesture to a principal at a graduation could have constituted fighting words under the circumstances and affirmed the conviction.

Is public intoxication a crime in Texas?

Yes. Penal Code 49.02 makes it a Class C misdemeanor to appear in a public place while intoxicated to the degree that the person may endanger themselves or another. A premises licensed or permitted under the Alcoholic Beverage Code counts as a public place.

Is criminal trespass a felony in Texas?

Usually not. Section 30.05 makes trespass a Class C, B or A misdemeanor depending on the place, and a third-degree felony only when committed in the course of smuggling of persons. Penal Code 12.50 separately raises the punishment one category in a declared disaster or evacuation area, and burglary (30.02), which requires intent to commit a felony, theft or assault, is a separate felony.

Does Texas have a purple paint law?

Yes. Under 30.05(b)(2)(D), purple paint marks on trees or posts are notice that entry is forbidden if they are vertical lines at least 8 inches long and 1 inch wide, the bottom 3 to 5 feet off the ground, readily visible and no more than 100 feet apart on forest land or 1,000 feet apart on other land.

Do I need a No Trespassing sign in Texas?

A sign is one of five forms of notice in 30.05(b)(2). The others are oral or written communication from the owner or someone with apparent authority, a fence designed to exclude intruders or contain livestock, compliant purple paint marks, and a visible crop grown for human consumption.

What happens if a store tells you to leave in Texas?

Under 30.05(a)(2), remaining on property without effective consent after receiving notice to depart from the owner or someone with apparent authority to act for the owner, and failing to depart, is criminal trespass, a Class B misdemeanor in its default form. The notice definition in 30.05(b)(2) does not say how long such a notice lasts.

Is squatting a crime in Texas?

Remaining in someone else's home without consent after notice can be criminal trespass, a Class A misdemeanor in a habitation under 30.05(d)(3). Since September 1, 2025, presenting a fake lease or deed to enter or remain on property is a Class A misdemeanor (32.56), and renting or selling a home without title or authority is a first-degree felony (32.57).