Resisting And Evading
Penal Code 38.03 and 38.04 — force against an arrest, and fleeing
Resisting arrest, search or transportation is intentionally preventing or obstructing a person known to be a peace officer, or someone acting at the officer's direction, from arresting, searching or transporting anyone, by using force against the officer or another. It is a Class A misdemeanor, and a felony of the third degree where a deadly weapon is used to resist.
That the arrest or search was unlawful is no defense to resisting it. The section says so in terms: it is no defense to a prosecution for resisting that the arrest or search was unlawful. Whether an arrest or search was lawful is a question for the court in the case about it.
Evading arrest or detention is intentionally fleeing from a person known to be a peace officer or federal special investigator who is attempting lawfully to arrest or detain the person. It is a Class A misdemeanor, and a state jail felony for someone previously convicted under the section.
The penalty for fleeing in a vehicle exists in two versions, and they differ. The penalty subsection was amended by separate 2011 acts and the Legislature's text prints both. One makes fleeing in a vehicle or watercraft a state jail felony without a prior conviction, and a felony of the third degree with one. The other makes using a vehicle while in flight a felony of the third degree. Both make it a felony of the second degree where another person dies as a result of the pursuit.
Sources for this section (2)
- Penal Code 38.03 — Resisting arrest, search, or transportation
- Penal Code 38.04 — Evading arrest or detention
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Texas attorney.