§ 75.007.Trespassers

The trespasser duty, codified in 2011, together with the one exception Texas recognises.

"Trespasser" means a person who enters the land of another without any legal right, express or implied.

An owner, lessee, or occupant does not owe a duty of care to a trespasser and is not liable for any injury, except a duty to refrain from injuring a trespasser wilfully, wantonly, or through gross negligence.

Subsection (c) preserves the attractive nuisance doctrine for children, and states it as five elements, all required. An owner may be liable for injury to a child from a highly dangerous artificial condition if:

the owner knew or reasonably should have known children were likely to trespass there; the owner knew or should have known the condition existed and realized or should have realized it involved an unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily harm to such children; the child, because of youth, did not discover the condition or realize the risk; the utility of maintaining it and the burden of eliminating the danger were slight compared with the risk; and the owner failed to exercise reasonable care to eliminate the danger or protect the child.

The fourth element is the one that decides most cases — a balance of the owner's burden against the risk to children.

Subsection (d) protects justified force: an owner whose actions are justified under the Penal Code's self-defence or property-defence provisions is not liable to a trespasser for damages arising from those actions.

Subsection (e) confirms the section adds nothing: it does not affect the other recreational use sections or create or increase the liability of any person.