Failure to Report Child Abuse or Neglect: Texas Family Code §261.109

The Texas Failure to Report Child Abuse or Neglect law gives police the right to arrest you if they believe you had a duty to report child abuse or neglect and knowingly failed to make the required report.

The Texas legislature codified the reporting duty and the criminal offense in the Family Code. The statute distinguishes between the general duty that applies to everyone and a separate, heightened duty for certain licensed professionals. Each duty carries its own failure-to-report offense with different penalty rules.

Texas imposes a general duty on everyone to report suspected child abuse or neglect, and a separate professional duty for licensed workers who have direct contact with children. Members of the public must report immediately. Professionals must report within 48 hours.

The legislature did not amend this law in 2025, but it did increase the limitations period for this offense.

The Family Code classifies the Texas Failure to Report Child Abuse or Neglect law under Title 5 “The Parent-Child Relationship and the Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship,” Chapter 261 “Investigation of Report of Child Abuse or Neglect.” Chapter 261 governs the reporting and investigation of child abuse or neglect. Learn more about the Texas offense of Failure to Report Child Abuse or Neglect below.

What is the current Texas law about Failure to Report Child Abuse or Neglect?

AV Preeminent Texas lawyer Paul Saputo provides the current law defining Failure to Report Child Abuse or Neglect in Family Code Section §261.109, as follows:^[1]

(a) A person commits an offense if the person is required to make a report under Section 261.101(a) and knowingly fails to make a report as provided in this chapter.

(a-1) A person who is a professional as defined by Section 261.101(b) commits an offense if the person is required to make a report under Section 261.101(b) and knowingly fails to make a report as provided in this chapter.

(b) An offense under Subsection (a) is a Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense is a state jail felony if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the child was a person with an intellectual disability who resided in a state supported living center, the ICF-IID component of the Rio Grande State Center, or a facility licensed under Chapter 252, Health and Safety Code, and the actor knew that the child had suffered serious bodily injury as a result of the abuse or neglect.

The statute creates two ways to commit the offense. First, subsection (a) applies to any person required to make a report under Section 261.101(a), which applies to anyone who has “reasonable cause to believe that a child’s physical or mental health or welfare has been adversely affected by abuse or neglect.”^[2]

Second, subsection (a-1) applies to a professional as defined by Section 261.101(b), which provides that a professional “means an individual who is licensed or certified by the state or who is an employee of a facility licensed, certified, or operated by the state and who, in the normal course of official duties or duties for which a license or certification is required, has direct contact with children.”^[3] Professionals, according to the statutory definition, include teachers, nurses, doctors, day-care employees, employees of a clinic or health care facility that provides reproductive services, juvenile probation officers, and juvenile detention or correctional officers.^[4]

What is the penalty for a Texas Failure to Report Child Abuse or Neglect offense?

The punishment for Failure to Report Child Abuse or Neglect depends on the circumstances of the case:

• Baseline penalty for subsection §261.109(a) and §261.109(a-1) prosecutions — Knowingly failing to report when you have a duty to report under this law is a Class A misdemeanor,^[5] punishable by up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $4,000, except when one of the state jail felony enhancements (described below) applies.
• Enhanced penalty for subsection §261.109(a) prosecutions — For prosecutions under subsection (a), where the state charges that you had reasonable cause to believe that a child’s physical or mental health or welfare has been adversely affected by abuse or neglect and you failed to report, the state can obtain a state jail felony enhancement if the child is a person with an intellectual disability, residing in a state supported living center, the ICF-IID component of the Rio Grande State Center, or a facility licensed under Health & Safety Code Chapter 252, and you knew the child suffered serious bodily injury from the abuse or neglect.^[6] State jail felonies are punishable by 180 days–2 years in a state jail facility and up to a $10,000 fine.
• Enhanced penalty for subsection §261.109(a-1) prosecutions — If a professional (as defined in §261.101(b)) knowingly fails to report with the intent to conceal the abuse or neglect, the offense is a state jail felony with the same punishment range noted above.^[7]

How does this offense compare to Failure to Stop or Report a Sexual or Assaultive Offense Against a Child and Injury to a Child by Omission?

Texas law imposes three distinct duties related to child abuse that carry criminal penalties for a failure to act. The duty related to the Family Code offense, Failure to Report Child Abuse or Neglect, is a reporting obligation that applies to everyone who has reasonable cause to believe a child has been harmed by abuse or neglect, and it adds a heightened duty for certain licensed professionals who work with children. This offense turns on whether a legal reporting duty applied and whether the actor knowingly failed to make the required report.

The Chapter 38 Penal Code offense, Failure to Stop or Report a Sexual or Assaultive Offense Against a Child, is observation-based and applies when someone actually witnesses conduct or attempted conduct that a reasonable person would view as sexual or assaultive against a child and then, despite being able to do so safely, fails to assist or immediately report.^[8] The Chapter 38 duty is triggered by personal observation of qualifying conduct.

The separate omission pathway in the Penal Code, Injury to a Child by Omission, imposes liability when harm results from a failure to act by someone who had a legal or statutory duty to act or who had assumed care, custody, or control of the child, with punishment determined by the culpable mental state and the degree of harm.^[9]

How can I be charged with a Failure to Report Child Abuse or Neglect offense in Texas?

You can be charged with Failure to Report Child Abuse or Neglect in Texas if the state’s attorneys believe that each of the elements of §261.109(a) or (a-1), as described in the section above, have been met.

What is the statute of limitations for Failure to Report Child Abuse or Neglect in Texas?

The statute of limitations for Failure to Report Child Abuse or Neglect depends on both the charging level and when the alleged conduct occurred. For conduct on or after September 1, 2025, prosecutions punishable under Family Code §261.109(c), the penalty that applies to professionals, use discovery-based windows: Class A misdemeanor cases have three years from the date the offense was discovered,^[10] and state jail felony cases have four years from the date the offense was discovered.^[11] By contrast, the non-professional pathway in §261.109(a) continues to follow the default deadlines for post-September 1, 2025 conduct: two years for Class A misdemeanors^[12] and three years for state jail felonies measured from the date of the offense.^[13]

For conduct before September 1, 2025, all versions of the offense—including charges under §261.109(c)—were governed by the pre-amendment defaults: two years for Class A misdemeanors and three years for state jail felonies, calculated from the date of the offense.^[14] The 2025 legislation does not revive prosecutions that were already time-barred before its effective date, so any case punishable under §261.109(c) that became barred before September 1, 2025 remains barred as if the Act had not taken effect.^[15]

Can you get probation for Failure to Report Child Abuse or Neglect in Texas?

The Texas Code of Criminal Procedure allows both judges and juries to grant probation for Failure to Report Child Abuse or Neglect, and judges are also allowed to accept deferred adjudication plea deals.^[16]

What level of crime is Failure to Report Child Abuse or Neglect in Texas?

The Family Code classifies the punishment for Failure to Report Child Abuse or Neglect as a Class A misdemeanor, with specific circumstances that raise it to a state jail felony.

Learn more about the penalty range for this offense in the section above.

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Legal References:

^1. Texas Family Code §261.109. This law is current as of 2025.^2. Texas Family Code §261.109(a), cross-referencing Texas Family Code §261.101(a)^3. Texas Family Code §261.109(a-1), cross-referencing Texas Family Code §261.101(b)^4. Texas Family Code §261.109(a-1), cross-referencing Texas Family Code §261.101(b)^5. Texas Family Code §261.109(b) and (c)^6. Texas Family Code §261.109(b)^7. Texas Family Code §261.109(c)^8. Texas Penal Code §38.17^9. Texas Penal Code §22.04^10. Code of Criminal Procedure art. 12.02(c), as amended by SB 127, 89th Legislature (RS), Section 2^11. Code of Criminal Procedure art. 12.01(9), as amended by SB 127, 89th Legislature (RS), Section 1^12. Code of Criminal Procedure art. 12.02(a)^13. Code of Criminal Procedure art. 12.01(11)^14. See SB 127, 89th Legislature (RS), Sections 1-3^15. SB 127, 89th Legislature (RS), Section 3^16. See Chapter 42A, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Art. 42A.054, Art. 42A.056, Art. 42A.102