Sec. 42.08. ABUSE OF CORPSE. (a) A person commits an offense if the person, without legal authority, knowingly:
(1) disinters, disturbs, damages, dissects, in whole or in part, carries away, or treats in an offensive manner a human corpse;
(2) conceals a human corpse knowing it to be illegally disinterred;
(3) sells or buys a human corpse or in any way traffics in a human corpse;
(4) transmits or conveys, or procures to be transmitted or conveyed, a human corpse to a place outside the state; or
(5) vandalizes, damages, or treats in an offensive manner the space in which a human corpse has been interred or otherwise permanently laid to rest.
(b) An offense under this section is a state jail felony, except that an offense under Subsection (a)(5) is a Class A misdemeanor.
(c) In this section, "human corpse" includes:
(1) any portion of a human corpse;
(2) the cremated remains of a human corpse; or
(3) any portion of the cremated remains of a human corpse.
(d) If conduct constituting an offense under this section also constitutes an offense under another section of this code, the actor may be prosecuted under either section or both sections.
(e) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that the actor:
(1) as a member or agent of a cemetery organization, removed or damaged anything that had been placed in or on any portion of the organization's cemetery in violation of the rules of the organization; or
(2) removed anything:
(A) placed in the cemetery in violation of the rules of the cemetery organization; or
(B) placed in the cemetery by or with the cemetery organization's consent but that, in the organization's judgment, had become wrecked, unsightly, or dilapidated.
(f) In this section, "cemetery" and "cemetery organization" have the meanings assigned by Section 711.001, Health and Safety Code.
Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., p. 883, ch. 399, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1974. Renumbered from Penal Code Sec. 42.10 by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, Sec. 1.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1994.
Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 1025 (H.B. 1012), Sec. 1, eff. June 18, 2005.
Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 299 (S.B. 524), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2017.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
48
cases (
4 in the last 5 years), 1978–2026 · leading case:
Banda v. State, 890 S.W.2d 42 (Tex. Crim. App. 1994).
Banda v. State, 890 S.W.2d 42 (Tex. Crim. App. 1994).
· cites it 6× “I cannot agree that a yard of a private residence is a "public place" as contemplated by the Legislature when Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 42.08(a) was enacted.”
Babb v. Dorman, 33 F.3d 472 (5th Cir. 1994).
· cites it 4× “BACKGROUND This ease arose out of the circumstances surrounding Babb’s arrest and prosecution for public intoxication, in violation of Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 42.08 . According to the facts alleged in his amended complaint, 1 Babb and an intoxicated female passenger were…”
Autran v. State, 887 S.W.2d 31 (Tex. Crim. App. 1994).
· cites it 2× “6701d, § 60(a), and appellant's son for public intoxication, Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 42.08. Following the established policy of the Orange County Sheriff's Department, Bailey and other officers began to inventory the vehicle.”
Robert Dean Raley v. Thomas Fraser & Gary Trupe, 747 F.2d 287 (5th Cir. 1984).
· cites it 3× “Under Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 42.08(a) (Vernon 1974), “[a]n individual commits an offense [namely, public intoxication] if he appears in a public place under the influence of alcohol or any other substance, to the degree that he may endanger himself or another.”
Smith v. Sewell, 858 S.W.2d 350 (Tex. 1993).
· cites it 2× “[3] TEX.PENAL CODE ANN. § 42.08(a) provides, in pertinent part: An individual commits an offense if the individual appears in a public place under the influence of alcohol .”
Simpson v. State, 886 S.W.2d 449 (Tex. App. 1995).
· cites it 2× “” Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 42.08(a) (Vernon 1989).”
United States v. Izeal Rideau, Jr., 969 F.2d 1572 (5th Cir. 1992).
“Since public intoxication is a criminal offense under Texas law, see Tex. Penal Code § 42.08 (Vernon’s 1991), the officers had adequate grounds for a stop.”
Alexander v. State, 630 S.W.2d 355 (Tex. App. 1982).
· cites it 2× “By his third ground of error, appellant objects to the trial court’s failure to suppress the evidence found incident to appellant’s arrest for the reason that the public intoxication statute, Tex.Penal Code § 42.08 (Vernon 1974), is “unconstitutionally vague and overbroad,”…”
Segura v. State, 826 S.W.2d 178 (Tex. App. 1992).
“See Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 42.08(a) (Vernon 1989).”
United States v. Melvin Wayne Hall, 565 F.2d 917 (5th Cir. 1978).
“Since both men appeared highly intoxicated, they were placed under arrest for public intoxication, in violation of Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 42.08(a) (Vernon). Officer McGinnis then searched the front seat area of the car, including the open glove compartment.”
Freeman v. Harris Cnty., 183 S.W.3d 885 (Tex. App. 2006).
“See Tex. Pen.Code Ann. § 42.08(a)(1) (Vernon 2003) (providing that a person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly disinters, disturbs, removes, dissects, in whole or in part, carries away, or treats in a seriously offensive manner a human corpse).”
— Tex. Penal Code § 42.08(a) — 23 cases
Banda v. State, 890 S.W.2d 42 (Tex. Crim. App. 1994).
“I cannot agree that a yard of a private residence is a "public place" as contemplated by the Legislature when Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 42.08(a) was enacted.”
Robert Dean Raley v. Thomas Fraser & Gary Trupe, 747 F.2d 287 (5th Cir. 1984).
“Under Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 42.08(a) (Vernon 1974), “[a]n individual commits an offense [namely, public intoxication] if he appears in a public place under the influence of alcohol or any other substance, to the degree that he may endanger himself or another.”
Smith v. Sewell, 858 S.W.2d 350 (Tex. 1993).
“[3] TEX.PENAL CODE ANN. § 42.08(a) provides, in pertinent part: An individual commits an offense if the individual appears in a public place under the influence of alcohol .”
Simpson v. State, 886 S.W.2d 449 (Tex. App. 1995).
“” Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 42.08(a) (Vernon 1989).”
Segura v. State, 826 S.W.2d 178 (Tex. App. 1992).
“See Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 42.08(a) (Vernon 1989).”
— Tex. Penal Code § 42.08(a)(1) — 3 cases
Freeman v. Harris Cnty., 183 S.W.3d 885 (Tex. App. 2006).
“See Tex. Pen.Code Ann. § 42.08(a)(1) (Vernon 2003) (providing that a person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly disinters, disturbs, removes, dissects, in whole or in part, carries away, or treats in a seriously offensive manner a human corpse).”
— Tex. Penal Code § 42.08(e) — 1 case
— Tex. Penal Code § 42.08(h) — 2 cases
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.