Would this include getting it off in a car at night in a rest stop?
Not sure what you mean when by "getting it off", but I'm fairly certain that the statute covers it. And it's not just public places, you can be prosecuted for doing acts of sexual contact or intercourse someplace other than a public place, if you are, "
...reckless about whether another person is present who will be offended or alarmed..." So, if you're in Texas, and want to invite the neighbors over for a little show it's best to make sure that they're into that before the big
unveiling.
If you're talking about two folks doing the nasty in a car out in some public place (rest stop, side of the road, etc.), then the answer is "most def." It's a great charge to reduce citizen complaints regarding street prostitution. And even when it's not about prostitution, who wants to walk down the street with their mom or daughter and subject them to seeing Lorraine the secretary hopping up and down on Bob the IT guy's hard drive?
Edit to ad: Here you go Nords, one for the book:
So I just made up the scenario above, but it reminded me of a true story. One of my offices was in a federal building in the high rent district. We leased almost the entire building, but it was a single agency that didn't want to advertise it's presence. Very nondescript place with no signage other than the address. They even had the Federal Protective Svc cops wearing generic security guard uniforms.
Being a federal building, everyone was usually on super-secret high alert every April 19th. And on a particular April 19th. I came back to the building and saw the FPS guys with a freaked out looking couple they were taking into the building in cuffs. The guy was a business man with his tie undone, shirt untucked, pants barely on, and a very confused look on his face. The woman was even more upset, and kept screaming, "what is this place? who are you people?"
They were a couple of office workers who had been driving down the freeway nearby when their smoldering passion erupted into flames. Unfortunately, they picked the wrong parking garage as their love den. The FPS guys knocked them off as the van drove into the garage and quickly became suspicious when nobody exited. What followed before long was three FPS guys pointing their M-4's into the van and screaming "let me see your hands".