Offense Report Manual (2023-2025)

The Offense Report Manual, written by former Colorado County Attorney Ken Sparks, is intended primarily for patrol officers. The book includes the most common criminal offenses normally encountered by patrol officers, listed in alphabetical order. For each offense, the book lists the basic elements of the offense, necessary details to include in the report, and legal considerations relating to that offense. An appendix includes numerous helpful forms, including:

sworn witness statements and confessions;
medical release form for the victim, which allows a peace officer to obtain the victim’s medical records;
business records affidavit for a records custodian to sign when the medical records are obtained;
black box consent form and order;
bond conditions;
SFST scoring sheet in English and Spanish;
DWI interview with warnings;
DWI search warrant for blood;
legal warnings in English and Spanish for videotaped interviews;
list of crimes for reporting an arrest to a school; and
trespass warning.

$30.00

2024 Penal Code Changes

In its 3^rd Special Session of 2023, the 88^th Legislature passed SB 4, “relating to the punishment for certain criminal conduct involving the smuggling of persons or the operation of a stash house; increasing criminal penalties,” which amended 10 statutes in the Texas Penal Code and enacted one new statute, effective 2/6/24. The changes to those 11 statutes are included in the PDF posted here. The changes will also be incorporated into the next edition of TDCAA’s code books in summer 2025, along with any other changes made in the 89^th Session.

Stays granted on SB 4 (4^th Special Session):

In its 4^th Special Session of 2023, the 88^th Legislature passed another version of SB 4, “relating to prohibitions on the illegal entry into or illegal presence in this state by a person who is an alien, the enforcement of those prohibitions and certain related orders, including immunity from liability and indemnification for enforcement actions, and authorizing or requiring under certain circumstances the removal of persons who violate those prohibitions; creating criminal offenses.” This bill enacted a new chapter of the Texas Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure and amended other statutes in the Code of Criminal Procedure and Government Code, effective 3/5/24.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether these new immigration laws can be enforced. Although those laws were set to take effect on March 5, 2024, a federal district judge granted a preliminary injunction against enforcing the provisions of SB 4. The 5^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals then set aside the federal district court’s ruling, and an order issued by Justice Samuel Alito on March 4 has put the laws on hold until 5pm March 13 when the full Supreme Court is expected to weigh in.

Appellate Rules & Parole Laws

Because of the continued growth of codes amended by the legislature, the 2021 code books will omit the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure and parole laws (Gov’t Code ch. 508). We will post PDF versions of both, available to download for free here.