Texas Penal Code 38.01 – Definitions
Terms Used In Texas Penal Code 38.01
- Agency: includes authority, board, bureau, commission, committee, council, department, district, division, and office. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Another: means a person other than the actor. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Benefit: means anything reasonably regarded as economic gain or advantage, including benefit to any other person in whose welfare the beneficiary is interested. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Correctional facility: means a place designated by law for the confinement of a person arrested for, charged with, or convicted of a criminal offense. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Government: means :
(A) the state;
(B) a county, municipality, or political subdivision of the state; or
(C) any branch or agency of the state, a county, municipality, or political subdivision. See Texas Penal Code 1.07 - Law: means the constitution or a statute of this state or of the United States, a written opinion of a court of record, a municipal ordinance, an order of a county commissioners court, or a rule authorized by and lawfully adopted under a statute. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Peace officer: means a person elected, employed, or appointed as a peace officer under Article Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Person: means an individual or a corporation, association, limited liability company, or other entity or organization governed by the Business Organizations Code. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Public servant: means a person elected, selected, appointed, employed, or otherwise designated as one of the following, even if he has not yet qualified for office or assumed his duties:
(A) an officer, employee, or agent of government;
(B) a juror or grand juror; or
(C) an arbitrator, referee, or other person who is authorized by law or private written agreement to hear or determine a cause or controversy; or
(D) an attorney at law or notary public when participating in the performance of a governmental function; or
(E) a candidate for nomination or election to public office; or
(F) a person who is performing a governmental function under a claim of right although he is not legally qualified to do so. See Texas Penal Code 1.07 - United States: includes a department, bureau, or other agency of the United States of America. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
In this chapter:
(1) “Custody” means:
(A) under arrest by a peace officer or under restraint by a public servant pursuant to an order of a court of this state or another state of the United States; or
(B) under restraint by an agent or employee of a facility that is operated by or under contract with the United States and that confines persons arrested for, charged with, or convicted of criminal offenses.
(2) “Escape” means unauthorized departure from custody or failure to return to custody following temporary leave for a specific purpose or limited period or leave that is part of an intermittent sentence, but does not include a violation of conditions of community supervision or parole other than conditions that impose a period of confinement in a secure correctional facility.
(3) “Economic benefit” means anything reasonably regarded as an economic gain or advantage, including accepting or offering to accept employment for a fee, accepting or offering to accept a fee, entering into a fee contract, or accepting or agreeing to accept money or anything of value.
(4) “Finance” means to provide funds or capital or to furnish with necessary funds.
(5) “Fugitive from justice” means a person for whom a valid arrest warrant has been issued.
(6) “Governmental function” includes any activity that a public servant is lawfully authorized to undertake on behalf of government.
(7) “Invest funds” means to commit money to earn a financial return.
(8) “Member of the family” means anyone related within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code.
(9) “Qualified nonprofit organization” means a nonprofit organization that meets the following conditions:
(A) the primary purposes of the organization do not include the rendition of legal services or education regarding legal services;
(B) the recommending, furnishing, paying for, or educating persons regarding legal services is incidental and reasonably related to the primary purposes of the organization;
(C) the organization does not derive a financial benefit from the rendition of legal services by a lawyer; and
(D) the person for whom the legal services are rendered, and not the organization, is recognized as the client of a lawyer.
(10) “Public media” means a telephone directory or legal directory, newspaper or other periodical, billboard or other sign, radio or television broadcast, recorded message the public may access by dialing a telephone number, or a written communication not prohibited by § 38.12(d).
(11) “Solicit employment” means to communicate in person or by telephone with a prospective client or a member of the prospective client’s family concerning professional employment within the scope of a professional’s license, registration, or certification arising out of a particular occurrence or event, or series of occurrences or events, or concerning an existing problem of the prospective client within the scope of the professional’s license, registration, or certification, for the purpose of providing professional services to the prospective client, when neither the person receiving the communication nor anyone acting on that person’s behalf has requested the communication. The term does not include a communication initiated by a family member of the person receiving a communication, a communication by a professional who has a prior or existing professional-client relationship with the person receiving the communication, or communication by an attorney for a qualified nonprofit organization with the organization’s members for the purpose of educating the organization’s members to understand the law, to recognize legal problems, to make intelligent selection of legal counsel, or to use available legal services. The term does not include an advertisement by a professional through public media.
(12) “Professional” means an attorney, chiropractor, physician, surgeon, private investigator, or any other person licensed, certified, or registered by a state agency that regulates a health care profession.