You can be arrested and charged with stalking, if it’s alleged that you, on more than one occasion, knowingly engaged in threatening behavior toward another person. In addition, to be charged with stalking, it most further be alleged that you believed the other person would regard your behavior as threatening bodily injury or death, or that a criminal offense would be committed against their property.
Stalking is third-degree felony, punishable by 2 to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000. However, if you’ve previously been convicted of stalking, or a similar charge in a jurisdiction other than Texas, stalking is a second-degree felony, with a penalty range of 2 to 20 years in the state penitentiary and up to a $10,000 fine. If you’ve been charged with stalking, you need serious legal help.
Dallas Stalking Attorneys – Free Consultation
Call the criminal defense lawyers at Berlof & Newton, P.C. at 214.827.2800, or contact one of our Dallas stalking attorneys directly using our “Get Legal Help Now!” form in the left margin of this web page. Free consultation. Our attorneys each have over 15 years of experience in the practice of criminal law. Se habla español.
Texas Penal Code Section 42.072 Stalking
(a) A person commits an offense if the person, on more than one occasion and pursuant to the same scheme or course of conduct that is directed specifically at another person, knowingly engages in conduct that: (1) the actor knows or reasonably believes the other person will regard as threatening: (A) bodily injury or death for the other person; (B) bodily injury or death for a member of the other person’s family or household or for an individual with whom the other person has a dating relationship; or (C) that an offense will be committed against the other person’s property;
(2) causes the other person, a member of the other person’s family or household, or an individual with whom the other person has a dating relationship to be placed in fear of bodily injury or death or fear that an offense will be committed against the other person’s property; and (3) would cause a reasonable person to fear: (A) bodily injury or death for himself or herself; (B) bodily injury or death for a member of the person’s family or household or for an individual with whom the person has a dating relationship; or (C) that an offense will be committed against the person’s property.
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree, except that the offense is a felony of the second degree if the actor has previously been convicted of an offense under this section or of an offense under any of the following laws that contains elements that are substantially similar to the elements of an offense under this section: (1) the laws of another state; (2) the laws of a federally recognized Indian tribe; (3) the laws of a territory of the United States; or (4) federal law.
(c) For purposes of this section, a trier of fact may find that different types of conduct described by Subsection (a), if engaged in on more than one occasion, constitute conduct that is engaged in pursuant to the same scheme or course of conduct.
(d) In this section, “dating relationship,” “family,” “household,” and “member of a household” have the meanings assigned by Chapter 71, Family Code. Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 28, 1997. Amended by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 62, Sec. 15.02(e), eff. Sept. 1, 1999; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1222, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2001. Amended by: Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 591, Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2011.
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