Drug Crimes

The Texas drug-free-zone statute is contained in Chapter 481 of the Texas Health and Safety Code. Section 481.134 defines the areas that constitute drug-free zones and the enhanced penalties for committing certain drug offenses within those zones.

Drug-free zones generally include areas that are in, on, or near places such as playgrounds, video arcades, youth centers, public swimming pools, day-care centers, school buses, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher education.

The drug-free-zone law is a location-based enhancement to offenses contained within other statutes. It can elevate the level of the offense or increase the punishment for a given offense, making prosecution much harsher.

Common locations include within 1,000 feet of school property, playgrounds, and youth centers, within 300 feet of public swimming pools or video arcades, and on a school bus regardless of location.

The statute allows maps created by city and county government officials to be used as evidence in a drug-free-zone trial. In practice, law enforcement can make broad and inaccurate assumptions about whether an alleged offense actually occurred within the required zone.

Online mapping tools and close factual review can help determine whether the alleged conduct truly occurred inside the prohibited area, and reasonable prosecutors may abandon the enhancement when credible contrary evidence is presented.

Drug-free-zone allegations often arise from everyday settings: a person found with marijuana near a playground, or a student found with Xanax on school grounds or on a school bus. In each example, the location enhancement makes the case much more serious than the underlying allegation standing alone.

Common defenses include no reasonable suspicion to stop and detain the suspect, no probable cause to arrest and search, proof that the offense occurred outside the prohibited zone, and proof that the offense occurred within a private residence.

Texas law provides a specific exception in many situations involving private residences near drug-free zones when no children are present in the residence at the time of the alleged offense.

If you did not commit the underlying drug offense that has been enhanced by a drug-free-zone allegation, then you should not plead guilty to that offense. Mere presence near someone else’s criminal activity is not proof of guilt.

If you were wrongly charged with possession or delivery in a drug-free zone, then we want to see the case thrown out or for you to be found not guilty.

If you or a loved one is charged with committing a drug offense within a drug-free zone, you need a lawyer experienced in handling these cases. Drug-free-zone allegations carry enhanced penalties that can lead to dramatically longer jail sentences.

Our criminal defense attorney has prosecuted and defended these cases, has taken them to trial, and knows how to attack the state’s evidence.