Sec. 37.12. FALSE IDENTIFICATION AS PEACE OFFICER; MISREPRESENTATION OF PROPERTY. (a) A person commits an offense if:

(1) the person makes, provides to another person, or possesses a card, document, badge, insignia, shoulder emblem, or other item, including a vehicle, bearing an insignia of a law enforcement agency that identifies a person as a peace officer or a reserve law enforcement officer; and

(2) the person who makes, provides, or possesses the item bearing the insignia knows that the person so identified by the item is not commissioned as a peace officer or reserve law enforcement officer as indicated on the item.

(b) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that:

(1) the card, document, badge, insignia, shoulder emblem, or other item bearing an insignia of a law enforcement agency clearly identifies the person as an honorary or junior peace officer or reserve law enforcement officer, or as a member of a junior posse; or

(2) the person identified as a peace officer or reserve law enforcement officer by the item bearing the insignia was commissioned in that capacity when the item was made.

(b-1) It is an exception to the application of this section that the item was used or intended for use exclusively for decorative purposes or in an artistic or dramatic presentation.

(c) In this section, "reserve law enforcement officer" has the same meaning as is given that term in Section 1701.001, Occupations Code.

(c-1) For purposes of this section, an item bearing an insignia of a law enforcement agency includes an item that contains the word "police," "sheriff," "constable," or "trooper."

(d) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally or knowingly misrepresents an object, including a vehicle, as property belonging to a law enforcement agency. For purposes of this subsection, intentionally or knowingly misrepresenting an object as property belonging to a law enforcement agency includes intentionally or knowingly displaying an item bearing an insignia of a law enforcement agency in a manner that would lead a reasonable person to interpret the item as property belonging to a law enforcement agency.

(e) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.

Added by Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 5672, ch. 1075, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1983. Amended by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 514, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, Sec. 1.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1994; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420, Sec. 14.831, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.

Amended by:

Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 982 (H.B. 683), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2017.