March Madness tips off at the Texas Legislature! Instead of 64 teams trying to get to the championship game in a few weeks, there are about 9,000 bills trying to become law in 72 days. Bill filing deadline has come and gone so the real madness can get going as the biggest enemy of a bill’s survival is time. Which bills will get to enjoy that one shining moment?
Legislative Session Stats
It is a record-breaking year for the members of the 89th Texas Legislative Session. The total number including bills, concurrent resolutions, and joint resolutions maxes out at 9,062, 849 of which were filed on the very last day that a bill could be filed. The grand total is the most ever filed in the history of Texas. It seems that Texas needs quite a bit of maintenance from two years ago when that legislative session broke the record of most bills filed. The legislature is only under one obligation, and that is to pass the budget that allows the government to operate for the next two years.
The House must pass its bills out of committee by May 12. Committees are bill graveyards as this is the first stage a bill must pass, and most bills do not get out of committee. Any House bill that wants a chance of becoming law must pass through the entire House by May 15 and then get over to the Senate where they begin their journey through the Senate committee process. Senate bills that make it to the House must pass out of the House committee by May 24 and must pass the entire House by May 27. The Senate must pass all House legislation by May 28.
The process is set up to kill bills. There are thousands of ways for bills to die through the legislative process and only one way to get to the Governor’s desk for signing. Interest groups that fail to pass their bills will have to wait two more years until the next session and hope that their champion lawmakers win their elections. The legislative session has passed the 60-day mark, which means all bills, not just the emergency items marked by the Governor, can now be debated on the House and Senate floors. This is where the legislature picks up the pace as lawmakers know that the final buzzer is set to go off on the last day of session, Sine Die, on June 2, 2025.
Bail Reform
The House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee held an 11-hour marathon session to hear eight different bills. Representative John Smithee (R-Amarillo) laid out his bail reform bills that mirror the Senate’s bail reform bills that passed that upper chamber earlier this month. HB 75 is the clean-up bill that mandates written findings for “no probable cause” determinations by magistrates and shifts bond-setting authority from appointed magistrates to elected judges for certain types of charges. HB 76 prohibits political subdivisions from using public funds to pay bail bonds. HJR 15 would amend the Constitution to give judges and magistrates the discretion to deny bail to certain felony suspects. HJR 16 seeks to amend the Texas Constitution to require detention without bail for any illegal alien charged with a felony. All four bills were left pending in the committee. Comal County Criminal District Attorney Jennifer Tharp testified in favor of the constitutional amendments and sat through the entire 11-hour committee hearing.
THC ban
The Senate passed Senate Bill 3, which criminalizes consumable hemp products with any amount of THC including gummies, beverages, vapes, and other edible products. Lt. Governor Patrick ranked SB 3 as one of his top five bills and even went undercover to a hemp shop to expose the products in a video he posted on his X account. Lt. Governor Patrick and Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), the bill’s author, held a press conference with different law enforcement agencies including Collin County Criminal District Attorney Greg Willis. Patrick touted that the hemp industry exploded with over 8,000 new stores and profits in the billions as it took advantage of a loophole in the law. Senator Perry accused the hemp industry of targeting children and warned lobbyists working on behalf of the hemp industry that he did not need to speak with them. Now the bill heads to the House, which has historically been more hemp-friendly.
Taxpayer-funded lobbying ban
The Texas Senate worked late into the night as Senator Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) attempted to pass Senate Bill 19, which bans what some call “taxpayer-funded lobbying.” The original bill prohibited nonprofit organizations that represent cities, counties, and school districts from hiring or employing lobbyists. The bill was aimed at the Texas Association of School Boards, but it would also have affected the sheriffs’ and police chiefs’ organizations, the Texas Municipal League, the Texas Association of Counties, and TDCAA.
The Senate normally operates like a well-oiled machine, moving legislation quickly. However, Senator Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville) interrupted the normally scripted proceedings by offering an amendment to the bill. Nichols’s amendment removed that prohibition and allows those groups to employ full-time lobbyists (but not hire outside lobbyists). Nichols argued, “We’re not used to people visiting us very often, and so our representation is pretty slow down there. When the mayor of one of my towns pulls the city checkbook out without help in some fashion and having some type of association to go and talk to, he would have no idea what we’re doing down here or how to come down and even testify on a bill.” Middleton urged his colleagues to vote against the amendment claiming that the amendment would “allow registered lobbyists to continue using taxpayer dollars to lobby against us.” However, seven other Republican senators joined with the Democrats to help Nichols add the amendment to the bill. The final bill passed 20–11 along party lines. If the bill passes into law without any changes from the House, then it will continue to be business-as-usual for TDCAA and our members in future sessions. However, the House has not been kind to bills that ban taxpayer lobbying. The Senate has passed similar bills in past legislative sessions where they meet their demise in the House. Now we will soon find out if that has changed for 2025.
Prosecutor reporting duties
Two items to bring to your attention here—one for the 13 largest counties, the other for everyone.
OAG reporting rules
First, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has adopted the reporting rules applicable only to prosecutors in the largest counties that we previously discussed here and here. Those rules will not be officially published in the Texas Register until Friday, March 28, but they will take effect the following Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (Wait, what? Yes, that’s how this works.) We have a copy of them that we have shared with impacted offices. For the rest of you, here are some details:
- The reporting rules apply to prosecutors in the 13 counties with a population of 400,000 or more.
- The agency’s basis for the rules is a broad reading of Gov’t Code §41.006, a roughly 150-year-old law not read or used in the manner now being employed by OAG in the lifetime of anyone now breathing (if not longer).
- OAG is claiming for itself the power to demand those prosecutors produce for the agency’s review entire case files related to a laundry list of crimes that range from murder to simple theft (which the rules somehow deem a “violent crime”).
- Failure to comply with any of the voluminous immediate, quarterly, or annual reporting duties required by the new rules will serve as a basis for potentially removing the prosecutor from office.
The stated purpose of the rules is to “help ensure that county and district attorneys are consistently
complying with statutory duties, appropriately administering funds, appropriately prosecuting crimes,
and seeking justice for citizens who have been harmed by a criminal act.” However, the remedy of removal gives away the game, doesn’t it? We’ll give a prize to any of you who can find another rule in the entirety of state administrative law that un-elects an elected official for failure to turn in paperwork on time. But such are the times in which we live. And speaking of these times, the rules currently apply only to a hand-picked group of local prosecutors in urbanized areas, but there is nothing preventing OAG from applying it to all prosecutors at a future date.
Legislation on reporting
Independently of this administrative rule, legislation has also been filed to require prosecutors to report different data to a different agency and for a different reason. Specifically, SB 2146 by Huffman (R-Houston) and its identical companion, HB 5354 by Leach (R-Plano), would require all prosecutors to report basic performance data to the Texas Judicial Council, including:
- types and numbers of offenses prosecuted
- personnel employed, and whether that is sufficient for current caseloads
- number of times a defendant was released per CCP Art. 17.151 (90-day release law)
- number of electronic notices submitted per CCP Art. 17.027(a)(2) (notice to out-of-county court of a defendant on felony bond committing a new felony)
The bail-centric nature of this proposed reporting should perhaps be no surprise in light of the primary author’s interest in bail reform this session. We will report on this potential new mandate as it moves through the system, but you can also follow it on our “Bills to Watch” track on our Legislative webpage.
The old end-around
Yesterday the Senate State Affairs Committee took up several bills we mentioned in our “OAG-as-prosecutor bills” segment from last week’s update, including SB 16 by Hughes (prosecution of illegal voter registration crimes) and SB 1210 by Hughes (authorizing SCOTX to overrule certain CCA decisions). The latter bill is an interesting attempt to get around the separation of powers problem faced by anyone hoping to empower OAG to be a trial prosecutor. We did a deep dive on this idea for you last session, when it was filed as SB 1196 by Hughes and HB 2930 by Spiller. You can read that online here (scroll down to the segment called “Separation of Powers under attack”).
In 2023, the House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee considered HB 2930 but did not approve it after prosecutors and defense attorneys joined together to oppose the bill. This week, the band got back together for an encore, as Galveston Co. CDA Jack Roady and 106th Judicial DA Philip Mack Furlow joined with TCDLA legislative counsel Allen Place to testify against new SB 1210. The only other testimony on the bill was from a former OAG attorney now in private practice who testified that the bill would help resolve confusion in cases such as the Robert Roberson death penalty saga, which arose after the idea for this bill was hatched back in 2023. Chalk that up as proof of the old capitol adage that “just because there may be a good reason for filing a bill doesn’t mean it’s the real reason for filing the bill.” After all that, SB 1210 was left pending. We will update you if it moves further.
In related news, Senate Bill 1026 by Hughes did move out of the State Affairs Committee and is headed to the full Senate for a vote. As we noted in last week’s update, SB 1026 authorizes the Attorney General to prosecute election crimes if the local district attorney has not brought charges within six months of law enforcement filing a case.
Upcoming Committee Hearings
Monday, March 24
House Subcommittee on County Government: 10:00am, E2.028
HB 2115 Ashby: Requiring county auditors to report SB 22 grant disbursement and compliance to the comptroller.
House Subcommittee on Family Relationships: 2:00pm, E2.016 <added>
HB 2399 Leo Wilson: Relating to procedures and required findings in certain suits affecting the parent-child relationship.
HB 330 Meza: Relating to reporting and investigating certain cases of child abuse or neglect involving a pregnant person’s use of a controlled substance.
HB 2496 Dutton: Relating to required findings for the issuance of a protective order based on the commission of family violence.
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
House Human Services: 8:00am, E2.030
HB 2071 Hull: Relating to certain policies and procedures for health care specialty consultations in certain child abuse or neglect investigations and assessments.
HB 2216 Hull: Relating to procedures and grounds related to the removal and placement of children, including for terminating the parent-child relationship, for taking possession of a child, and for certain hearings.
Senate Criminal Justice: 8:00am, E1.016
SB 693 West: Relating to creating a criminal offense for the use of a notary seal or counterfeit seal on a fraudulent document or instrument.
SB 781 King: Relating to certain files maintained by a law enforcement agency regarding certain employees of the agency.
SB 836 Paxton: Relating to victims of sex offenses, sex-based human trafficking offenses, or acts of a sexual nature and to the confidentiality of or restrictions on the availability of certain property, material, or information regarding those victims, offenses, or acts.
SB 860 Flores: Relating to abolishing the Criminal Justice Legislative Oversight Committee.
SB 906 Blanco: Relating to the authority of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo to commission peace officers.
SB 993 Nichols: Relating to the authority of a peace officer commissioned by the comptroller to apply for an order authorizing the installation and use of a mobile tracking device.
SB 1101Flores: Relating to the prosecution of the offense of smuggling of persons.
SB 1321: Hagenbuch: Relating to compensation and leave for certain peace officers.
SB 1370 Parker: Relating to the establishment of the office of medical examiner in certain counties.
SB 1537 Zaffirini: Relating to the appointment of an interpreter in a criminal proceeding.
SB 1563 Menéndez: Relating to county jailer training on interacting with veterans in the criminal justice system.
SB 1610 Perry: Relating to sexually violent predators, to the Texas Civil Commitment Office, and to the prosecution of the offense of harassment by sexually violent predators and other persons confined in certain facilities, etc.
SB 1637 King: Relating to an exception to the application of the offense of deadly conduct for certain peace officers discharging official duties.
House Criminal Jurisprudence: 10:30am, E2.014
HB 207 Guillen: Relating to the prosecution of certain criminal offenses prohibiting sexually explicit visual material involving an anatomically correct doll, mannequin, or robot that has the features of a child.
HB 235 Guillen: Relating to civil and criminal liability for the unlawful disclosure or promotion of intimate visual material.
HB 324 Johnson: Relating to the prosecution of the offense of sexual assault.
HB 449 González: Relating to the unlawful production or distribution of sexually explicit images using deep fake technology.
HB 463 Jones: Relating to the automatic expunction of arrest records and files after certain controlled substance offense charges are dismissed.
HB 502 Flores: Relating to the confidentiality of identifying information of victims of certain offenses.
HB 1121Gámez: Relating to civil and criminal liability for the unlawful disclosure or promotion of intimate visual material.
HB 1445 Hernandez: Relating to the compensation of counsel appointed to provide representation and services to indigent individuals in criminal and juvenile proceedings.
HB 1465 Hickland: Relating to the prosecution of the criminal offense of invasive visual recording and the applicability of sex offender registration requirements to that offense.
HB 1778 Thompson: Relating to human trafficking, prostitution, and child pornography and to the prosecution of sexual or assaultive offenses or the prosecution of a failure to stop or report those offenses; amending and harmonizing certain statute of limitations provisions; creating a criminal offense; increasing a criminal penalty.
HB 1977 Cook: Relating to the admissibility of evidence of certain extraneous offenses or acts in the prosecution of sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault or an attempt or conspiracy to commit sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault.
HB 2000 Ashby: Relating to the applicability of sex offender registration requirements to the offense of child grooming.
HB 2066 Virdell: Relating to the expunction of arrest records and files for certain defendants placed on deferred adjudication community supervision for the unlawful carrying of a handgun.
HB 2596 Metcalf: Relating to the issuance of certain protective orders for certain burglary offenses.
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
House Corrections: 8:00am, E1.014
HB 1482 Wilson: Relating to changing the eligibility for community supervision and parole for certain repeat intoxication offenders.
HB 2017 Gerdes: Relating to increasing the minimum term of imprisonment and changing the eligibility for community supervision, mandatory supervision, and parole for certain persons convicted of intoxication manslaughter.
HB 2341 Allen: Relating to the award of diligent participation credit to defendants confined in a state jail felony facility.
House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence: 8:00am, E2.030
HB 113 Vasut: Relating to statutory construction.
HB 2637 DeAyala: Relating to the practice and procedures for summoning prospective grand jurors and petit jurors and the exemption of certain persons from grand jury and petit jury service; authorizing a fee.
HB 2733 Canales: Relating to the prosecution of the criminal offenses of prohibited barratry and solicitation of professional employment.
HB 2986 Moody: Relating to the authority of an appellate court to lift a stay in connection with an interlocutory appeal.
House Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice: 8:00am, E1.026 <added>
HB 1511 Hickland: Relating to the authority of a political subdivision to adopt or enforce a juvenile curfew; creating criminal offenses.
HB 1831 Johnson: Relating to the eligibility to participate in certain drug court programs.
HB 1988 Lujan: Relating to the disclosure of certain information by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
HB 2147 VanDeaver: Relating to remotely conducting depositions, hearings, and other proceedings in juvenile cases.
HB 2234 Dutton: Relating to raising the age of criminal responsibility to 18.
House Homeland Security & Public Safety: 10:30am, E2.016 <added>
HB 1583 Hull: Relating to the peace officer’s notification of emergency detention form for persons evidencing mental illness and retention of that form.
HB 1775 Howard: Relating to reporting information regarding certain evidence collection kits.
HB 1832 Gerdes: Relating to the punishment for certain criminal offenses involving illegal entry into or illegal presence in this state by a person who is an alien; increasing criminal penalties.
HB 1836 Guillen: Relating to a study and report by the General Land Office on private landowner participation in border security.
HB 1837 Guillen: Relating to the enforcement and prevention of offenses involving the manufacture or delivery of controlled substances listed in Penalty Group 1-B, law enforcement officer safety in handling those substances, and the manufacture and proper use of opioid antagonists.
HB 1866 Lujan: Relating to the state law enforcement authority of federal National Park Service law enforcement officers.
HB 1983 Hickland: Relating to creating the criminal offense of child endangerment involving smuggling across an international border.
HB 2318 Thompson: Relating to the establishment of a statewide human trafficking data repository within the office of the attorney general and to reporting of human trafficking data to the office of the attorney general and by the attorney general.
HB 2363 Patterson: Relating to the authority of certain peace officers to arrest a person without a warrant while outside the officer’s jurisdiction.
HB 2486 Hefner: Relating to certain files maintained by a law enforcement agency regarding certain employees of the agency.
Round-Up rides on
If you aren’t a subscriber to our weekly “Round Up” of news articles we put out every Thursday, you should be! Articles about the legislature used to appear in these Friday updates but have been moved to that email-only resource. If you want to receive those emails starting next week, sign up here.
Quotes of the week
“You might want to voluntarily close your doors, because the investigations are going to continue, and I’m sure the lawsuits are about to come. You know what you’re doing.”
—Lt. Governor Patrick at a press conference warning hemp stores selling products containing THC.
“To the lobbyists that are supporting this, I’ve told them they have every right to make a living, and I don’t care who they represent. I will tell you, legislators have all the prerogative on who they talk to every session when they come back. That’s not a warning. That’s not a threat. It’s a two-way street. People that are advocating that this [is] okay are literally creating a situation where kids, families, and lives will be changed impermanently for generations. So let your conscience be your guide. But I, as a legislator, do not have to associate myself with anybody I choose not to, other than constituents always have an open door. But I’m serious about shutting this down.”
—Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) warning the hemp lobby against working against his Senate Bill 3 that bans all THC products.
“I’m going to start calling him ‘Senator Ukraine,’ because he’s funding Ukraine more than he’s funding our border, and that’s a problem in Texas. I think I can win if I have $20 million. I’ve run these primaries in Texas before. I honestly don’t see how [Cornyn] overcomes his numbers.”
—Attorney General Ken Paxton discussing his possible challenge to US Senator John Cornyn with Punchbowl News.
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