Texas Penal Code 42.07: Harassment Charges, Penalties, and Defenses

Texas Penal Code 42.07 makes harassment a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in county jail and a $2,000 fine, and it covers ten specific types of conduct ranging from threatening phone calls to secretly tracking someone’s vehicle. The charge rises to a Class A misdemeanor, carrying up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine, when the accused has a prior harassment conviction, targeted a child with electronic messages intended to cause self-harm, or violated a cyberbullying injunction. Every version of the offense requires proof that the accused acted with intent to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass.

Intent Is the Element That Decides the Case

A harassment charge cannot rest on the conduct alone. The prosecution must prove the accused acted with the purpose of harassing, annoying, alarming, abusing, tormenting, or embarrassing another person.¹ That element is what separates criminal harassment from an awkward exchange or a heated dispute. The focus is on what the sender was trying to accomplish, not simply on how the recipient felt.

This distinction matters in daily life. Repeated texts from a former spouse about custody logistics may be unwelcome and irritating, but they serve a practical purpose. Without proof that the goal was to harass rather than to coordinate, the intent element fails. The same logic applies to debt collectors, landlords trying to reach tenants, and coworkers following up on obligations. Context and purpose sit at the center of every case.

The Ten Prohibited Behaviors

Section 42.07 lists ten specific behaviors that qualify as harassment when done with the required intent. The statute reaches well beyond phone calls and text messages.

Starting a conversation and making an obscene comment, request, suggestion, or proposal. The statute defines “obscene” as containing a patently offensive description of or solicitation to commit a sexual act, or a description of an excretory function.¹
Threatening to inflict bodily injury on someone or to commit a felony against the person, the person’s family or household, or the person’s property, in a manner reasonably likely to alarm the recipient.
Conveying a false report that another person has died or suffered serious bodily injury, when the sender knows the report is false.
Causing someone’s phone to ring repeatedly, or making repeated anonymous calls likely to harass or offend.
Calling someone and intentionally failing to hang up.²
Knowingly allowing a telephone under your control to be used by another person to commit any offense under this section.
Sending repeated emails, texts, or other electronic messages in a manner reasonably likely to harass, alarm, or offend.
Publishing repeated electronic communications on a website or social media platform in a manner likely to cause emotional distress, unless the posts concern a matter of public concern.
Tracking another person’s property or vehicle without consent, whether through a tracking app, a GPS device, or physical surveillance.
Making obscene, intimidating, or threatening calls or electronic messages from a temporary or disposable phone number provided by an app or other technology.

The threats category reaches further than many people expect. It covers not just threats of physical violence but threats to commit any felony against the victim, the victim’s family, or the victim’s property. A threat to burn down a car or burglarize a home qualifies, even without any mention of bodily harm.¹

The social media provision contains an important carve-out. Communications about a matter of public concern are not covered. Repeated posts about a politician, a business practice, or a community issue fall outside the statute even when the tone is harsh.¹

Penalties and How Charges Get Enhanced

The base offense is a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in county jail and a fine of up to $2,000, or both.³ That is the starting point for a first offense with no aggravating circumstances.

The charge rises to a Class A misdemeanor, with a maximum of one year in county jail and a $4,000 fine, in three situations.⁴

The accused has a prior conviction under Section 42.07. This enhancement applies no matter which type of harassment was involved.
The offense involved repeated electronic communications or social media posts directed at a child under 18, and the accused intended the child to commit suicide or engage in conduct causing serious bodily injury to themselves.²
The offense involved repeated electronic communications or social media posts, and the accused had previously violated a temporary restraining order or injunction issued under Chapter 129A of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code (the state’s cyberbullying injunction statute).¹

One detail is easy to miss. The second and third enhancements apply only to electronic offenses under subsections (a)(7) and (a)(8). They do not reach phone-based harassment, verbal threats, or the other categories. The prior-conviction enhancement is the only one that applies across the board.

Harassment of a Public Servant

A separate provision raises the stakes when harassment is committed in retaliation for someone’s service as a public servant. Under Section 12.501, if the charge is already a Class A misdemeanor, the minimum jail term becomes 180 days.⁴ That converts a sentencing range of zero to 365 days into a mandatory floor of six months, which sharply limits a judge’s discretion.

When Repeated Harassment Becomes Felony Stalking

Harassment that follows a pattern can escalate into a stalking charge under Section 42.072, a felony. The distinguishing feature is a course of conduct rather than a single incident. A person commits stalking when, on more than one occasion and as part of the same scheme directed at a specific person, they engage in behavior that would constitute harassment under Section 42.07 and that behavior causes the target to fear for their safety or the safety of family members, or would cause a reasonable person to feel that way.⁵

Stalking is a third-degree felony carrying two to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. A second stalking conviction, or an offense against someone the defendant has previously been convicted of stalking, is a second-degree felony with a range of two to twenty years. That is a large leap from misdemeanor penalties, and it is why prosecutors examine harassment cases for signs of a broader pattern.

Free Speech Limits on Prosecution

Not every offensive or frightening statement qualifies as criminal harassment. The First Amendment protects a wide range of speech, including language most people would find rude or upsetting. In Counterman v. Colorado (2023), the U.S. Supreme Court held that true threats are not protected but that the government must show the defendant had some subjective understanding that the statements were threatening. A purely objective “reasonable person” standard is not enough.⁶

The Court set recklessness as the constitutional minimum: the prosecution must show the speaker consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the words would be perceived as threatening. Texas’s harassment statute already requires intent, a higher bar than recklessness, which gives it solid constitutional footing but also gives prosecutors a demanding element to prove.

Common Defenses

The intent requirement creates the strongest ground for defense. Because the prosecution must prove the accused specifically meant to harass, any evidence that the messages served a legitimate purpose can defeat the charge. Communications about custody schedules, work obligations, or money owed may be unwelcome, but they are not criminal if the sender’s aim was practical.

First Amendment defenses come up often in electronic communication cases. Speech that is merely offensive or critical, without crossing into a true threat or one of the other specific categories, cannot support a conviction. The social media carve-out in subsection (a)(8) reinforces this: repeated posts about a matter of public concern fall outside the statute by its own terms.

Other useful defense angles include challenging the “repeated” element (a single message will not satisfy subsections requiring repetition), disputing whether the communication was “reasonably likely” to cause alarm under the statute’s objective standard, and questioning the identity of the sender when electronic messages are involved. Spoofed numbers, shared devices, and hacked accounts can all create reasonable doubt.

Consequences Beyond Jail and Fines

Firearm Restrictions

A standard harassment conviction does not automatically trigger the federal firearms ban. Federal law prohibits gun possession by anyone convicted of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence,” and a general harassment conviction does not fit that definition unless the offense involved a domestic relationship and the use or attempted use of physical force.⁷ If the charge involved a spouse, former spouse, cohabitant, or co-parent and the underlying conduct included a threat of physical force, the conviction may qualify and trigger the ban. The result turns on the specific facts, not the statute of conviction alone.

Criminal Record and Sealing

A harassment conviction, whether Class B or Class A, creates a permanent criminal record. Texas does not allow expunction of misdemeanor convictions; expunction is available only where the case did not end in a final conviction, such as a dismissal, acquittal, or charge that was never filed. If the case ended in deferred adjudication and community supervision was completed successfully, an order of nondisclosure (record sealing) may be available, though Chapter 42 offenses carry a two-year waiting period after the sentence is completed before a petition can be filed. Cases involving family violence are generally ineligible for nondisclosure.

Workplace Harassment Is a Separate Legal Framework

Criminal harassment under Section 42.07 is often confused with workplace harassment claims. These are different areas of law. Workplace harassment is a form of employment discrimination governed by federal statutes such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. It is enforced through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and civil litigation, not criminal prosecution.⁸

Workplace harassment also requires that the conduct be based on a protected characteristic like race, sex, religion, national origin, age, or disability, and that it be severe or pervasive enough to create a hostile work environment. Section 42.07 requires no such connection to a protected class; it focuses on the type of conduct and the intent behind it. The same behavior can violate one statute, the other, or both.

1
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 42.07 – Harassment
2
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Chapter 42 – Disorderly Conduct and Related Offenses
3
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 12.22 – Class B Misdemeanor
4
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Chapter 12 – Punishments
5
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 42.072 – Stalking
6
Supreme Court of the United States. Counterman v. Colorado (06/27/2023)
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
8
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Harassment