Tampering with evidence under Texas Penal Code § 37.09 carries penalties that usually land in third-degree felony range: two to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.1State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Chapter 37 – Perjury and Other Falsification The punishment level moves up or down based on what the evidence was, how serious the underlying offense was, and whether you have a prior felony on your record. Add in charge stacking with the original crime, and a tampering allegation can quickly become the most serious exposure in the case.
The Three Punishment Levels
Section 37.09 sets three distinct penalty tiers depending on the facts.
Third-degree felony. This is the default level for tampering. It applies when you alter, destroy, or conceal a record, document, or thing to impair its availability as evidence, or when you create or present a falsified item to influence an investigation or proceeding. The range is two to ten years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and a fine of up to $10,000.1State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Chapter 37 – Perjury and Other Falsification
Second-degree felony. If the evidence is a human corpse, the offense is elevated one level. Punishment runs from two to twenty years in prison, with a fine of up to $10,000.2State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 12.33 – Second Degree Felony Punishment
Class A misdemeanor. If the evidence relates only to an offense punishable as a misdemeanor, the tampering charge drops to a Class A misdemeanor. That carries up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $4,000.1State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Chapter 37 – Perjury and Other Falsification
Failure to Report a Human Corpse
Section 37.09 also creates a standalone offense for failing to report a human corpse. If you observe one under circumstances suggesting a crime occurred and you know or should know that law enforcement isn’t aware of it, staying silent is itself a Class A misdemeanor.1State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Chapter 37 – Perjury and Other Falsification
Repeat Offender Enhancements
A prior felony conviction pushes tampering penalties up a level. A standard third-degree tampering charge is enhanced to second-degree felony punishment when the state proves a prior felony, meaning two to twenty years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines. A second-degree tampering charge involving a corpse becomes first-degree felony punishment, which runs from five to ninety-nine years or life.3State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 12.42 – Penalties for Repeat and Habitual Felony Offenders
The enhancement kicks in automatically once the prosecution proves the prior. Nothing additional about the tampering conduct is required.
Charge Stacking on Top of the Underlying Crime
Tampering is charged separately from whatever offense triggered the investigation. That produces two convictions, two sentences, and two entries on your record when the state can prove both.
The effect is most dramatic when the underlying offense is minor. Possession of a small amount of marijuana might be a misdemeanor on its own. Destroying that marijuana during a police encounter turns the incident into a third-degree felony tampering case. The cover-up outweighs the original crime, and prosecutors know it. This dynamic is one of the most common ways a routine encounter with law enforcement escalates into serious prison exposure.
What the State Has to Prove Before Any Penalty Attaches
Tampering is not a strict-liability offense. Before any of these penalties apply, prosecutors have to prove you acted knowingly and with a specific intent to impair the evidence. Discarding something that later turns out to be relevant, without knowing it mattered, is not a crime.4Justia Law. Arthur Lee Williams v. The State of Texas
Under subsection (a), the state must show you knew an investigation or proceeding was pending or in progress. Under subsection (d), it must show you knew an offense had already been committed and acted to impair evidence related to any future investigation. In both, purpose matters: it isn’t enough that the evidence ended up impaired. The state has to tie your conduct to an intent to make it harder to find, use, or trust.1State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Chapter 37 – Perjury and Other Falsification
Confessions are rare, so prosecutors build intent circumstantially: the timing of the destruction relative to police contact, incriminating statements, unusual disposal methods, and how plausible your explanation looks. Throwing a bag out a car window during a routine drive reads differently from throwing it during a police chase.
Collateral Consequences of a Felony Conviction
The prison time and fine are only the direct penalty. A felony tampering conviction carries a longer shadow.
Federal law permanently prohibits anyone convicted of a felony from possessing firearms. Texas law adds its own restriction but allows firearm possession at your home five years after you complete your sentence. Voting rights are suspended while you are incarcerated, on parole, or on community supervision, and restored only after you fully discharge the sentence.5Texas State Law Library. Can a Person Convicted of a Felony Vote in Texas?
Professional licensing boards evaluate felony convictions against the duties of the licensed occupation. Because tampering involves dishonesty by its nature, a conviction creates real obstacles for anyone licensed in law, medicine, accounting, or similar fields. Felony convictions also routinely disqualify applicants from government employment, military service, and some housing programs.
When Federal Penalties Apply Instead or Alongside
If the investigation touches a federal agency, federal tampering statutes come into play, and the ceilings are far higher than Texas law. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1519, destroying or falsifying records to obstruct any federal investigation or bankruptcy case carries up to twenty years in prison.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1519 – Destruction, Alteration, or Falsification of Records in Federal Investigations and Bankruptcy
Under 18 U.S.C. § 1512, corruptly tampering with evidence intended for an official proceeding also carries up to twenty years. When physical force or threats are used to make someone else destroy evidence, the maximum climbs to thirty years.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1512 – Tampering With a Witness, Victim, or an Informant
Like Texas law, neither federal statute requires a proceeding to be pending at the moment of the offense. Acting in anticipation of a future investigation is enough. Conduct that crosses both state and federal lines can produce charges in both systems.
Civil Spoliation Sanctions Run Separately
Section 37.09 governs criminal penalties. It does not reach the parallel consequences that destroying evidence can trigger in civil litigation. Once a lawsuit is reasonably anticipated, a duty to preserve relevant materials attaches, and courts have wide discretion to punish spoliation through adverse inference instructions, monetary sanctions, reopened discovery, excluded testimony, stricken pleadings, or default judgment.
Those civil sanctions are on top of anything the criminal system does. Destroying documents relevant to both a lawsuit and a criminal investigation exposes you to punishment in both places at once.