Texas Codes

Tex. Hum. Res. Code § 121.002 (2026)

Definitions

✓ current as of May 2026

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Sec. 121.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) "Assistance animal" and "service animal" mean a canine that is specially trained or equipped to help a person with a disability and that is used by a person with a disability.

(2) "Harass" means any conduct that:

(A) is directed at an assistance animal that impedes or interferes with, or is intended to impede or interfere with, the animal's performance of its duties; or

(B) places a person with a disability who is using an assistance animal, or a trainer who is training an assistance animal, in danger of injury.

(3) "Housing accommodations" means all or part of real property that is used or occupied or is intended, arranged, or designed to be used or occupied as the home, residence, or sleeping place of one or more human beings, except a single-family residence whose occupants rent, lease, or furnish for compensation only one room.

(4) "Person with a disability" means a person who has:

(A) a mental or physical disability;

(B) an intellectual or developmental disability;

(D) deafness;

(E) a speech impairment;

(F) a visual impairment;

(G) post-traumatic stress disorder; or

(H) any health impairment that requires special ambulatory devices or services.

(5) "Public facility" includes a street, highway, sidewalk, walkway, common carrier, airplane, motor vehicle, railroad train, motor bus, streetcar, boat, or any other public conveyance or mode of transportation; a hotel, motel, or other place of lodging; a public building maintained by any unit or subdivision of government; a retail business, commercial establishment, or office building to which the general public is invited; a college dormitory or other educational facility; a restaurant or other place where food is offered for sale to the public; and any other place of public accommodation, amusement, convenience, or resort to which the general public or any classification of persons from the general public is regularly, normally, or customarily invited.

(6) "White cane" means a cane or walking stick that is metallic or white in color, or white tipped with a contrasting color, and that is carried by a blind person to assist the blind person in traveling from place to place.

Acts 1979, 66th Leg., p. 2425, ch. 842, art. 1, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1979. Amended by Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 3310, ch. 865, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 31, 1981; Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 278, Sec. 1, eff. June 5, 1985; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 890, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 649, Sec. 3, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Amended by:

Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 838 (H.B. 489), Sec. 2, eff. January 1, 2014.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases, 2000–2019 · leading case: Mark Silguero & Amy Wolfe v. Csl Plasma, Inc., 579 S.W.3d 53 (Tex. 2019).

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Mark Silguero & Amy Wolfe v. Csl Plasma, Inc., 579 S.W.3d 53 (Tex. 2019). · cites it 11× “If so, would Texas law allow the plasma collection center to reject a "person with a disability," see TEX. HUM. RES. CODE § 121.002(4), based on the center's concerns for the individual's health that stem from the disability? What standard would apply to determining whether the…”

Laura Beeman & Janet Lock v. Brad Livingston, in His Off. Capacity as Exec. Dir. of the Texas Dep't of Crim. Just., 468 S.W.3d 534 (Tex. 2015). · cites it 4× “Based on the context of these phrases, we agree with the court of appeals that the Legislature used the term “public” to indicate a status of openness and accessibility, and not a public use. Nothing in the definition of “public facility” indicates that the phrases using public…”

Brad Livingston, in His Off. Capacity as the Exec. Dir. of the Texas Dep't of Crim. Just. v. Laura Beeman & Janet Lock, 408 S.W.3d 566 (Tex. App. 2013). · cites it 4× “Prisons and “public facilities” When concluding that “TDCJ prisons are ‘public facilities’ as defined by Chapter 121 of Texas Human Resources Code,” the district court cited as support, “Tex. Hum. Res.Code § 121.002(5),” which is chapter 121’s definition of “public facilities.”

Pulcino v. Fed. Express Corp., 9 P.3d 787 (Wash. 2000). “” Tex. Hum. Res. Code Ann. § 121.002 (4) (West 1990 & Supp.”

Gilkerson v. Chasewood Bank, 1 F. Supp. 3d 570 (S.D. Tex. 2014). “§ 12181 (7)(F), and a public facility under Tex. Hum. Res. Code Ann. § 121.002 (5); it offers banking services through its ATMs.”

Pulcino v. Fed. Express Corp., 9 P.3d 787 (Wash. 2000). “" TEXAS HUM. RES.CODE ANN. § 121.002(4) (West 1990 & Supp.”

— Tex. Hum. Res. Code § 121.002(4) — 2 cases

Mark Silguero & Amy Wolfe v. Csl Plasma, Inc., 579 S.W.3d 53 (Tex. 2019). “If so, would Texas law allow the plasma collection center to reject a "person with a disability," see TEX. HUM. RES. CODE § 121.002(4), based on the center's concerns for the individual's health that stem from the disability? What standard would apply to determining whether the…”

Pulcino v. Fed. Express Corp., 9 P.3d 787 (Wash. 2000). “" TEXAS HUM. RES.CODE ANN. § 121.002(4) (West 1990 & Supp.”

— Tex. Hum. Res. Code § 121.002(5) — 3 cases

Laura Beeman & Janet Lock v. Brad Livingston, in His Off. Capacity as Exec. Dir. of the Texas Dep't of Crim. Just., 468 S.W.3d 534 (Tex. 2015). “Based on the context of these phrases, we agree with the court of appeals that the Legislature used the term “public” to indicate a status of openness and accessibility, and not a public use. Nothing in the definition of “public facility” indicates that the phrases using public…”

Brad Livingston, in His Off. Capacity as the Exec. Dir. of the Texas Dep't of Crim. Just. v. Laura Beeman & Janet Lock, 408 S.W.3d 566 (Tex. App. 2013). “Prisons and “public facilities” When concluding that “TDCJ prisons are ‘public facilities’ as defined by Chapter 121 of Texas Human Resources Code,” the district court cited as support, “Tex. Hum. Res.Code § 121.002(5),” which is chapter 121’s definition of “public facilities.”

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