Burglary in Texas doesn’t require breaking anything — walking through an open door without permission, with the right intent, is enough. And whether the building was a home or a business changes your potential sentence by decades. A Houston burglary lawyer can walk you through exactly what’s at stake.
What the State Has to Prove
- Entry without consent: Entering a building or habitation that wasn’t open to the public, without the owner’s effective consent.
- Intent to commit a crime: You entered intending to commit a felony, theft, or assault inside — or committed or attempted one once inside.
How Texas Punishes It
- State jail felony: 6 months to 2 years — burglary of a building that isn’t a habitation.
- Second-degree felony: 2 to 20 years — burglary of a habitation.
- First-degree felony: 5 years to life — burglary of a habitation with intent to commit a felony other than theft.
Where These Cases Are Fought
Whether you actually had the intent to commit a crime at the moment of entry — as opposed to forming that intent later, or not at all — is often the deciding issue. Consent, mistaken identity, and whether the space even qualifies as a “habitation” under the statute are also frequently in play.
The elements the State actually has to prove, including how entry and intent are defined, come from Texas Penal Code Section 30.02, the Texas burglary statute.
Charged With Burglary? Contact Blass Law Now
Contact Blass Law for a confidential case evaluation or call (713)-664-4000 — the difference between the punishment tiers here is enormous.
Related Charges
- Theft
- Criminal Mischief
- Disorderly Conduct
- Possession of a Fake ID
- All Criminal Defense Practice Areas
Reviewed by Jay Blass Cohen, founder of Blass Law PLLC — ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist, certified Drug Recognition Expert, and SFST instructor, serving Houston since 2009. This article is general information, not legal advice for your situation. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.