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2025 Texas Statutes
Penal Code
Title 2 - General Principles of Criminal Responsibility
Chapter 9 - Justification Excluding Criminal Responsibility
Subchapter B. Justification Generally
Section 9.22. Necessity
Universal Citation:
TX Penal Code § 9.22 (2025)
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Sec. 9.22. NECESSITY. Conduct is justified if:
(1) the actor reasonably believes the conduct is immediately necessary to avoid imminent harm;
(2) the desirability and urgency of avoiding the harm clearly outweigh, according to ordinary standards of reasonableness, the harm sought to be prevented by the law proscribing the conduct; and
(3) a legislative purpose to exclude the justification claimed for the conduct does not otherwise plainly appear.
Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., p. 883, ch. 399, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1974. Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, Sec. 1.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1994.
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