Official oppression is the Texas offense for abuse of public authority. It is charged against police officers, jailers, and other public servants, and it is defined by two demanding elements: acting under color of office, and acting with knowledge that the conduct was unlawful.
What the Statute Says
A public servant acting under color of his office or employment commits an offense if he:
- intentionally subjects another to mistreatment or to arrest, detention, search, seizure, dispossession, assessment, or lien that he knows is unlawful;
- intentionally denies or impedes another in the exercise or enjoyment of any right, privilege, power, or immunity, knowing his conduct is unlawful; or
- intentionally subjects another to sexual harassment.
Subsection (b) provides that a public servant acts under color of his office or employment if he acts or purports to act in an official capacity, or takes advantage of such actual or purported capacity.
Subsection (c) defines sexual harassment as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, submission to which is made a term or condition of a person's exercise or enjoyment of any right, privilege, power, or immunity, either explicitly or implicitly.
Penalty
Official oppression is a Class A misdemeanor — up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $4,000. Certain conduct involving the improper handling or disclosure of information obtained in an official capacity is punished at a higher level under the statute.
The Knowledge Element
The statute does not criminalize being wrong. It criminalizes acting knowing the conduct was unlawful. This is the element on which most of these prosecutions turn:
- An arrest later held to lack probable cause is not official oppression if the officer believed in good faith that probable cause existed.
- A search later suppressed is not official oppression if the officer relied on a warrant, on consent he believed was valid, or on a reasonable view of an unsettled area of law.
- Negligence, poor training, and mistaken legal judgment are not enough.
Proving a public servant's subjective knowledge of illegality usually requires statements, prior warnings, express policy violations, or a pattern — and the absence of that proof is the ordinary defense.
Related Offenses
Conduct charged as official oppression frequently overlaps with Section 39.02 — Abuse of Official Capacity, Section 39.04 (civil rights of a person in custody), and with federal civil rights prosecutions under 18 U.S.C. 242. A person facing a state official oppression charge should assume a parallel federal review is possible — see our federal criminal defense page.
Related
Charged in Harris County?
Brian Foley is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and a former Harris County Felony Chief Prosecutor; Luis Baez is a former Trial Bureau Chief. Call or text (713) 703-1718 for a free, confidential consultation.