If you are holding a charging instrument, a bond paper, or a printout from the Harris County District Clerk, the string of numbers next to the offense name is a section of the Texas Penal Code. That number tells you what the State says you did. A second piece of information (the offense grade, written as something like Class B misdemeanor or third degree felony) tells you what the punishment range is. This section explains both, one statute at a time, in plain language and with the punishment range spelled out.
How do you read a Texas charge code?
A citation like Penal Code Sec. 49.04(b) has three parts. The chapter number, 49, groups related offenses; Chapter 49 is intoxication offenses, Chapter 22 is assaultive offenses, Chapter 31 is theft. The section number, 49.04, is the specific offense (here, driving while intoxicated). The lettered subsection, (b), is usually where the offense grade lives, and it is the part that determines what you are actually facing.
What the grade means is almost never written on the charging instrument. Section 22.01 does not tell you what a Class A misdemeanor carries; it just says the offense is one. The numbers live in Chapter 12 of the Penal Code, in a separate place entirely. That split is the single most common reason people misread their own paperwork.
What do the offense grades mean in Texas?
| Offense grade | Punishment range | Chapter 12 section |
|---|---|---|
| Class C misdemeanor | Fine up to $500. No confinement is available as punishment. | Sec. 12.23 |
| Class B misdemeanor | Up to 180 days in county jail, a fine up to $2,000, or both. | Sec. 12.22 |
| Class A misdemeanor | Up to one year in county jail, a fine up to $4,000, or both. | Sec. 12.21 |
| State jail felony | 180 days to 2 years in a state jail, plus a fine up to $10,000. | Sec. 12.35 |
| Third degree felony | 2 to 10 years in TDCJ, plus a fine up to $10,000. | Sec. 12.34 |
| Second degree felony | 2 to 20 years in TDCJ, plus a fine up to $10,000. | Sec. 12.33 |
| First degree felony | Life, or 5 to 99 years in TDCJ, plus a fine up to $10,000. | Sec. 12.32 |
Two of these grades come with wrinkles worth knowing. A state jail felony is punished as a third degree felony under Section 12.35(c) if a deadly weapon was used or exhibited, or on certain prior convictions. And a Class C misdemeanor carries no jail time at all as punishment, which is why a Class C is not the same kind of problem as a Class B even though both are misdemeanors. We cover the two most common grades in more detail on our pages explaining what a Class A misdemeanor is in Texas and what a Class B misdemeanor is in Texas.
Texas intoxication offenses: Penal Code Chapter 49
| Section | Offense |
|---|---|
| 49.02 | Public Intoxication |
| 49.031 | Open Container in a Motor Vehicle |
| 49.06 | Boating While Intoxicated |
The driving offenses in Chapter 49, including 49.04, 49.045, 49.07, 49.08 and the 49.09 enhancements, are covered together with their punishment ranges on our Texas DWI laws and penalties page.
Assault, theft, property and weapons offenses
| Section | Offense |
|---|---|
| 22.01 | Assault |
| 22.02 | Aggravated Assault |
| 30.02 | Burglary |
| 31.03 | Theft |
| 38.04 | Evading Arrest or Detention |
| 46.02 | Unlawful Carrying Weapons |
Where does this information come from?
Every page in this section is written from the current text of the statute as published by the Texas Legislature at statutes.capitol.texas.gov, not from secondary sources. Where a statute has been amended recently, or where the official code prints conflicting versions of the same subsection (which is the case for the evading arrest punishment provision), we say so on the page rather than picking one quietly.
Facing a charge in Harris County?
Knowing the statute and the punishment range is a starting point, not an answer. What matters in an individual case is what the State can actually prove, what the offense report says, and what the paperwork behind the stop or the search looks like. Call Blass Law at (713) 664-4000 or request a case evaluation, and we will go through the charging instrument with you line by line.
Related: Houston criminal defense lawyer and Houston DWI lawyer.
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.