Texas Codes

Tex. Penal Code § 25.06 (2026)

Harboring Runaway Child

✓ current as of May 2026

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Sec. 25.06. HARBORING RUNAWAY CHILD. (a) A person commits an offense if he knowingly harbors a child and he is criminally negligent about whether the child:

(1) is younger than 18 years; and

(2) has escaped from the custody of a peace officer, a probation officer, the Texas Youth Council, or a detention facility for children, or is voluntarily absent from the child's home without the consent of the child's parent or guardian for a substantial length of time or without the intent to return.

(b) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that the actor was related to the child within the second degree by consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code.

(1) the person or agency from which the child escaped or a law enforcement agency of the presence of the child within 24 hours after discovering that the child had escaped from custody; or

(2) a law enforcement agency or a person at the child's home of the presence of the child within 24 hours after discovering that the child was voluntarily absent from home without the consent of the child's parent or guardian.

(d) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.

(e) On the receipt of a report from a peace officer, probation officer, the Texas Youth Council, a foster home, or a detention facility for children that a child has escaped its custody or upon receipt of a report from a parent, guardian, conservator, or legal custodian that a child is missing, a law enforcement agency shall immediately enter a record of the child into the National Crime Information Center.

Added by Acts 1979, 66th Leg., p. 1155, ch. 558, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1979. Amended by Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 4750, ch. 831, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1983; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 561, Sec. 40, eff. Aug. 26, 1991. Renumbered from Sec. 25.07 by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, Sec. 1.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1994. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 5.95(27), eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 8 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1983–2024 · leading case: Urbanski v. State, 993 S.W.2d 789 (Tex. App. 1999).

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Urbanski v. State, 993 S.W.2d 789 (Tex. App. 1999). · cites it 4× “See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 25.06 (a) (Vernon 1994).”

Kingsley v. State, 744 S.W.2d 191 (Tex. App. 1987). · cites it 2× “” TEX.PENAL CODE ANN. § 25.06 (Vernon Supp.”

Barrow v. State, 973 S.W.2d 764 (Tex. App. 1998). “Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 25.06 (Vernon 1994).”

Summers v. State, 845 S.W.2d 440 (Tex. App. 1992). “Appellant argues that, had the complainant been under the age of fourteen, an offense might have been committed under TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 25.06 (Vernon 1989), solicitation of a child.”

Botello v. State, 720 S.W.2d 838 (Tex. App. 1986). “TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 25.06 (Vernon Supp.”

Gonzalez v. State, 648 S.W.2d 740 (Tex. App. 1983). “1982-83) — contributing to delinquency of child or acting in conjunction with child — is a lesser included offense of solicitation of a child under Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 25.06 (Vernon Supp.”

Kendrick Charles Davis v. the State of Texas (Tex. App. 2022). · cites it 2× “See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 25.06. An element of that crime is that the actor “harbors a child” who “has escaped from the custody” of named law enforcement agencies.”

Joseph Samuel McCreary, III v. Laura McCreary (Tex. App. 2024). “See Tex. Penal Code § 25.06. 3 After vacating the home, Laura and their son lived in a rental apartment for the pendency of the divorce.”

— Tex. Penal Code § 25.06(a)(2) — 1 case

Kendrick Charles Davis v. the State of Texas (Tex. App. 2022). “See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 25.06. An element of that crime is that the actor “harbors a child” who “has escaped from the custody” of named law enforcement agencies.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.