The Texas Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device law is a criminal offense that is intended to prevent people from monitoring the movements of an automobile without the owner’s consent.
FAQs about the
Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device law in Texas
- What is the current Texas law about Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device?
- What is the penalty for a Texas Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device offense?
- What exactly is an “electronic or mechanical tracking device”?
- What are the affirmative defenses to the offense?
- How can I get “effective consent” from the owner or lessee?
- I didn’t know that what I was putting on the car qualified as a tracking device. Can I still be charged?
- What is the statute of limitations for Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device in Texas?
- Can you get probation for Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device in Texas?
- What level of crime is Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device in Texas?
However, the statute reaches more broadly than actual monitoring: it makes it a criminal offense to knowingly install an electronic or mechanical tracking device on a motor vehicle owned or leased by another person. The statute then provides several affirmative defenses, including one based on the effective consent of the vehicle’s owner or lessee.
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If you do not have the owner’s consent to install a tracking device on someone’s car, then you must obtain a court order or court authorization to install the tracking device if you are not a police officer “who installed the device in the course of a criminal investigation.”
The law says that this offense does not apply to a peace officer who installed the device in the course of a criminal investigation. According to Texas criminal defense attorney Paul Saputo, however, that exclusion from criminal liability under §16.06 answers a different question from whether the officer lawfully installed or used the tracking device. Texas law separately provides a procedure for an authorized peace officer to obtain a court order for the installation and use of a mobile tracking device, including a sworn application establishing probable cause. In addition, the United States Supreme Court has held that the government’s physical installation of a GPS tracking device on a vehicle, combined with its use of that device to monitor the vehicle, constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment. Therefore, the fact that §16.06 does not apply to a peace officer acting in the course of a criminal investigation does not by itself establish that the officer complied with the applicable constitutional and statutory search-and-seizure requirements.
The Texas Legislature codified this criminal offense in Texas Penal Code Section 16.06. The Legislature did not update this law in 2025. In fact, this law has not been amended since 2009.
The Penal Code classifies the Texas Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device law under Title 4 “Inchoate Offenses,” Chapter 16 “Criminal Instruments, Interception of Wire or Oral Communication, and Installation of Tracking Device.” Learn more about the Texas offense of Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device below.
What is the current Texas law about Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device?
Texas Penal Code §16.06 currently defines Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device as follows:[1]
(b) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly installs an electronic or mechanical tracking device on a motor vehicle owned or leased by another person.
In short, it is a crime to put a tracking device (such as GPS) on a car that belongs to someone else. Section 16.06(a)(2) says that “motor vehicle” has the meaning assigned by Section 501.002, Transportation Code.[2]
What is the penalty for a Texas Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device offense?
Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device is punishable as a Class A misdemeanor.[3] A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by time in county jail for up to one year, and a fine of no more than $4,000. However, note that just because this is the maximum punishment does not mean that this is the most likely punishment that you will receive.
What exactly is an “electronic or mechanical tracking device”?
An electronic or mechanical tracking device is any device that can emit an electronic frequency or signal that can be used to monitor, identify or record someone’s location.[4] The most common example would be a GPS device that tracks the location of a vehicle, such as a battery-powered GPS tracker attached to a vehicle that transmits information allowing the vehicle’s location to be monitored. The statutory definition can also reach other tracking technologies if the device emits an electronic frequency or other signal that can be used to identify, monitor, or record the location of a person or object.
What are the affirmative defenses to the offense?
There are three affirmative defenses to the offense of Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device:[5]
- 1. You obtained the effective consent of the owner or lessee of the motor vehicle before the device was installed. For example, if your husband or wife asks you to install a GPS tracker on their car, you have their consent.
- 2. You assisted another whom you reasonably believed to be a peace officer authorized to install the device in the course of a criminal investigation or pursuant to a court order to gather information for a law enforcement agency. If someone deceives you by pretending to be a peace officer (or a person is a peace officer but does not have the proper authorization to install a tracking device), and you have a reasonable basis to believe that person, your criminal lawyer may be able to argue this affirmative defense and win your case.
- 3. You were a licensed private investigator who installed the device either (a) with the written consent (meaning a document that grants permission) of the owner or lessee of the motor vehicle and, if entry onto private residential property was necessary to install it, the written consent of the owner or lessee of that property; or (b) pursuant to an order or other authorization from a court to gather information.
Because the statute labels these exceptions as affirmative defenses, they operate differently from elements that the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt. According to Texas criminal defense attorney Paul Saputo, a defendant who relies on one of these affirmative defenses must first introduce evidence supporting it. If the evidence raises the affirmative defense and the issue is submitted to the jury, Texas law requires the defendant to prove the affirmative defense by a preponderance of the evidence.[6]
How can I get “effective consent” from the owner or lessee?
Texas law defines “effective consent” to include consent given by a person legally authorized to act for the owner. However, consent is not effective if it was induced by deception or coercion, given by someone the actor knows is not legally authorized to act for the owner, or given under certain circumstances in which the person lacks the ability to make reasonable decisions concerning the property.[7]
For example, if the owner or lessee of a vehicle directly asks you to install a GPS tracker on the vehicle, that request may provide evidence of effective consent. However, according to Texas criminal defense attorney Paul Saputo, whether consent was actually effective can depend on who gave it, that person’s authority over the vehicle, and the circumstances under which the consent was obtained.
Effective Consent can mean explicit consent or implied consent. Effective consent can mean that you were directly informed either verbally or in writing that you have their full permission to install a tracking device. For example, if you sign an agreement with your car insurance company that allows them to monitor your vehicle, you have given them your express consent.
Alternately, effective consent can be implied even in the absence of explicit permission. For example, if you take a car into a mechanic and ask them to install a GPS device, you have given them your implied consent.
I didn’t know that what I was putting on the car qualified as a tracking device. Can I still be charged?
Under Texas law, the state must prove that you knowingly installed the tracking device on the vehicle. According to Texas criminal defense attorney Paul Saputo, the knowledge requirement should apply to the circumstances that make the installation an offense. That means that you must know that the device is a tracking device, you must know that you’re installing it, and you must know that the motor vehicle is owned or leased by someone else. Therefore, if you genuinely believed that the vehicle belonged to you, Saputo’s reading is that this does not meet the element of knowledge concerning ownership or lease by another person. Similarly, if someone misled you about the nature of the device and you genuinely did not know that it was a tracking device, that fact could undermine the state’s ability to prove the required mental state. However, it is not a defense that you simply did not know that it was a crime.
What is the statute of limitations for Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device in Texas?
As a misdemeanor, Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device charges have a two-year limitations period.[8]
Can you get probation for Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device in Texas?
The Texas Code of Criminal Procedure allows both judges and juries to grant probation for Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device, and judges are also allowed to accept deferred adjudication plea deals.[9]
What level of crime is Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device in Texas?
The Penal Code classifies the punishment for Unlawful Installation of Tracking Device as a Class A misdemeanor.
Learn more about the penalty range for this offense in the section above.
Legal References compiled by attorney Paul Saputo:
(A) any motor driven or propelled vehicle required to be registered under the laws of this state;
(B) a trailer or semitrailer, other than manufactured housing, that has a gross vehicle weight that exceeds 4,000 pounds;
(C) a travel trailer;
(D) an all-terrain vehicle or a recreational off-highway vehicle, as those terms are defined by Section 502.001, designed by the manufacturer for off-highway use that is not required to be registered under the laws of this state; or
(E) a motorcycle, motor-driven cycle, or moped that is not required to be registered under the laws of this state.
^3. Texas Penal Code §16.06(c)^4. Texas Penal Code §16.06(a)(1) – ‘”Electronic or mechanical tracking device” means a device capable of emitting an electronic frequency or other signal that may be used by a person to identify, monitor, or record the location of another person or object.’
^5. Texas Penal Code §16.06(d) –
(d) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that the person:
(1) obtained the effective consent of the owner or lessee of the motor vehicle before the electronic or mechanical tracking device was installed;
(2) assisted another whom the person reasonably believed to be a peace officer authorized to install the device in the course of a criminal investigation or pursuant to an order of a court to gather information for a law enforcement agency; or
(3) was a private investigator licensed under Chapter 1702, Occupations Code, who installed the device:
(A) with written consent:
(i) to install the device given by the owner or lessee of the motor vehicle; and
(ii) to enter private residential property, if that entry was necessary to install the device, given by the owner or lessee of the property; or
(B) pursuant to an order of or other authorization from a court to gather information.
^6. Texas Penal Code §2.04^7. Texas Penal Code §1.07(a)(19)^8. See Code of Criminal Procedure 12.02(a)^9. See Chapter 42A, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Art. 42A.054, Art. 42A.056, Art. 42A.102
