Under Texas truancy laws, skipping school is a civil matter for the student, not a crime. Since House Bill 2398 took effect in 2015, a child cannot be charged criminally or carry a criminal record for missing class. Truancy cases go to a dedicated truancy court under Title 3A of the Texas Family Code, where judges order remedies like tutoring, counseling, and community service. Parents are a separate story: they can still be prosecuted and fined for failing to make their child attend.
What Counts as Truant Conduct
A student engages in truant conduct when they rack up 10 or more unexcused absences within a six-month period during the same school year. Partial-day absences count the same as full-day absences, so missing one class period adds to the total just as much as skipping the whole day.1Texas Justice Court Training Center. Truant Conduct FY25 New Judges 3 HO Excused absences do not count. If the school has documentation of a valid reason, that day stays off the tally.
Only students between 12 and 18 can be referred to truancy court. Children under 12 who miss too much school still violate compulsory attendance rules, but their cases are handled by the district and, where appropriate, through charges against the parent, not through a proceeding against the child.
What the School Must Do Before Filing in Court
A district cannot go straight to court. Texas Education Code Section 25.0915 requires the school to apply truancy prevention measures once a student misses three or more days (or parts of days) without excuse within any four-week period.2State of Texas. Texas Education Code 25.0915 – Truancy Prevention Measures
The district must take at least one of these steps:
- Put the student on a written behavior improvement plan signed by a school employee, describing the specific conduct expected, a time period of up to 45 school days, and the consequences for more absences. The school must make a good-faith effort to get the student and parent to sign too.
- Assign school-based community service.
- Refer the student to counseling, mediation, mentoring, a teen court program, or other community-based services aimed at the root cause of the absences. Parents can be brought into these services when appropriate.
Every court referral must include a written statement from the school certifying that these prevention measures were applied and failed to meaningfully improve attendance, and noting whether the student receives special education services. Without that certification, the case should not move forward.
When the School Cannot Refer at All
Some circumstances take truancy court off the table entirely. A district may not refer a student to court if it determines the absences result from any of the following:
- Pregnancy
- Being in the state foster care system
- Homelessness
- A severe or life-threatening illness or related medical treatment
- Being the principal income earner for the student’s family
When one of these applies, the school must offer additional counseling instead of pursuing a referral.2State of Texas. Texas Education Code 25.0915 – Truancy Prevention Measures If one of these fits your child and the school has filed or is threatening a referral, raise it early. It can stop the case before it starts.
How a Truancy Case Moves Through Court
Once prevention measures fail, the district or a designated attendance officer sends a referral to the local truancy court. A truant conduct prosecutor reviews it and decides whether to file a formal petition asking the court to adjudicate the student. The prosecutor can decline; both the court and the district are notified either way.3State of Texas. Texas Family Code 65.053 – Review by Prosecutor
There is a hard deadline. The petition cannot be filed more than 45 days after the student’s last unexcused absence that triggered the allegation.4State of Texas. Texas Family Code Chapter 65 – Truancy Court Proceedings If the school or prosecutor waits too long, the court should dismiss. Once a petition is filed, the court issues a summons to both the student and the parent or guardian to appear at a hearing.
Students have procedural protections even though the case is civil. A child may be represented by an attorney at any stage. The court is not required to appoint one, but the judge can appoint counsel if it is in the child’s best interest, and can order the parent to pay for it if the parent can afford it.5State of Texas. Texas Family Code 65.059 – Representation by Attorney Truancy records are confidential by default and not open to the public. The adjudication hearing can be before a judge or a jury. If the court or jury finds truant conduct, the judge enters a remedial order. If the evidence falls short, the case is dismissed.
What a Truancy Judge Can Order
A finding of truant conduct does not bring criminal penalties. The judge enters a remedial order tailored to the student. Options include:
- Regular school attendance with no further unexcused absences.
- Enrollment in a GED preparatory class if the student is unlikely to succeed in a traditional classroom because of age, and the exam itself for students who are at least 16.
- A nonprofit community-based program addressing substance abuse, counseling, self-improvement, job skills, violence avoidance, or rehabilitation.
- Up to 50 hours of community service, capped at 16 hours per week.
- A tutorial program in the student’s enrolled academic subjects, provided by the school.
- Suspension or denial of a driver’s license or learner’s permit.
What the judge cannot do matters just as much. A truancy court may not send a student to a juvenile justice alternative education program, a boot camp, or any for-profit truancy class.6State of Texas. Texas Family Code 65.103 – Remedial Order
The driver’s license remedy tends to get a teenager’s attention fastest. The court can order the Department of Public Safety to suspend an existing license or permit, or to deny any future application until the remedial order ends. The suspension or denial cannot last longer than the maximum duration of the remedial order itself.
What Happens if the Student Ignores the Order
If a student fails to follow the remedial order or is in direct contempt of the court, the judge can hold a contempt hearing and impose a fine of up to $100, a driver’s license suspension or denial that lasts until the student fully complies, or both.
After two or more contempt findings, the court can escalate by referring the student to the juvenile probation department for truancy intervention. That option is off the table if the student was 17 or older at the time of the contempt. The one thing the court absolutely cannot do is jail a child for violating a remedial order. The statute is explicit.7State of Texas. Texas Family Code 65.251
Parents face their own contempt exposure. A parent who fails to comply with the court’s orders, including paying for a court-appointed attorney or court costs, can be fined up to $100. Direct contempt by a parent or other adult in the courtroom can bring a fine of up to $100, up to three days in jail, or up to 40 hours of community service.
Criminal Charges Against Parents
While truancy is civil for the student, the parent side stays criminal. Under Texas Education Code Section 25.093, a parent commits the offense of Parent Contributing to Nonattendance when three things line up: the school issued the warning required by law, the parent with criminal negligence failed to require the child to attend, and the child accumulated 10 or more unexcused absences within six months.8State of Texas. Texas Education Code 25.093 – Parent Contributing to Nonattendance
The offense is a misdemeanor punishable by fine only, on a graduated scale:
- First offense: up to $100
- Second offense: up to $200
- Third offense: up to $300
- Fourth offense: up to $400
- Fifth or subsequent offense: up to $500
Each day the child stays out of school can be charged as a separate offense, and multiple offenses can be consolidated into a single prosecution. The child’s attendance records can be introduced at trial by any authorized school employee.
A court that convicts, grants deferred adjudication, or grants deferred disposition can also order the parent into a program designed to help identify and resolve the problems behind the child’s absences. Participation is mandatory once ordered.
Clearing the Record Later
Truancy records are confidential by default. They are not part of the public record the way adult criminal cases are, and no special order is needed for that baseline.
Sealing is a further step. Once a student turns 18, they can petition the truancy court to seal the records if they complied with all court-ordered remedies. Sealing requires the court, prosecutor, and school district to delete index references to the case within 30 days. After that, the official response to any inquiry is that no record exists, and the person is not required to disclose the case on employment applications, licensing forms, or in any legal proceeding.9Office of Court Administration, State of Texas. Step-by-Step Commentary Accompanying Flowchart for Truancy Court Procedures
On or after the person’s 21st birthday, the court can order the sealed records destroyed entirely, provided the person has not been convicted of a felony. The former student can request destruction, or the court can order it on its own motion.