Texas bill would keep unsubstantiated complaints against police officers from the public

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

---

A bill that would let Texas law enforcement agencies keep unsubstantiated complaints against officers private is gaining momentum in the Texas Legislature.

Senate Bill 15, which advanced to the House floor on Friday, would require law enforcement agencies to create a confidential department file — also called a “G-file” — to hold any unsubstantiated allegations against an officer as well as those that did not result in disciplinary actions.

The G-file would also include “any letter, memorandum or document” related to the officer that are not their substantiated misconduct complaints, commendations, awards or periodic evaluations. Those remaining records would be in the officer’s personnel file, which would still be publicly accessible through the state’s open records law.

The bill's author Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, said the proposal standardizes the public disclosure policy of law enforcement agencies across the state. Supporters of the bill said the measure could benefit public safety by encouraging supervisors to document critical assessments of officers without fear the records could become public. These backers and King, a former police officer in Fort Worth, also said releasing unsubstantiated misconduct complaints could be defamatory to the officers.

"The reason for this bill is to make sure that we maintain transparency, but that we don't weaponize this department file in cases to discredit our officers. That is something that we're seeing around the state. These things that should not be used to discredit them are being used, and so we want to protect the integrity and transparency of the process, but also help our law enforcement officer do their job," King said on Friday before his bill passed the House public safety committee 7-1.

Among those who testified against the bill during Friday's hearing often referenced the Texas Department of Public Safety's hesitancy to release footage or records from the Uvalde school shooting as an example of how making things confidential is detrimental to public trust.

“Instead of addressing the issues that families are facing about getting access to the information about what’s happened to their loved ones, we’re getting the bill that takes us back in the other direction and just implements more secrecy on top of the secrecy that honestly already pervades too much of the policing,” said Chris Harris of the Texas Civil Rights Project.

Attorney CJ Girsham told lawmakers the bill would require the average Texan to hire an attorney and go to court to use the discovery process to get police files, an expensive and unnecessary step in the criminal justice system.

“What we are doing is saying to the public, because there are some people out there who file frivolous lawsuits, you don’t deserve to know what this officer is accused of before,” he said.

Multiple law enforcement agencies testified to lawmakers that some departments already have confidential personnel files in place, and this would unify them under one standard, and the concerns around bodycam footage and other complaints are unfounded.

“This is a prime example of why this legislation is needed. Too many stand ready to try an officer in the court of public opinion every opportunity they get. This negatively impacts the profession and law enforcement’s relationship with the communities they serve,” said Jennifer Szimanski, the deputy executive director of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas.

SB 15 cleared the Texas Senate on Tuesday with a 18-12 vote.

The legislation followed a 2023 state review of the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, which requires that the agency “standardizes what documentation needs to be included in a license holder’s personnel file.”

Around 26,000 peace officers currently have confidential files similar to what is being proposed, according to Szimanski. These include officers in some of the state’s largest cities that have opted into the state framework for police and firefighters’ civil service, such as Houston and San Antonio.

SB 15, if adopted, would extend the use of G-files to every law enforcement agency across the state. There are currently under 110,000 peace officers and jailers in Texas, according to TCOLE.

Critics said the bill could lead officers — especially those in smaller agencies with fewer resources to shield themselves from conflicts of interest — to disregard or downplay complaints. They also noted that the proposal does not explicitly require agencies to conduct an internal investigation of any kind before marking a claim as unsubstantiated.

“It creates an extremely perverse incentive for them to never find anything wrong,” said Harris.

Some Republican lawmakers have previously raised similar concerns.

“A chief that’s befriended somebody that is a subordinate could continue to hide wrongful action,” state Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, said during this year’s first special legislative session.

King, however, argued that SB 15 would create proper guardrails for these small agencies.

“There are probably law enforcement agencies out there that basically have no files other than the minimal amount that TCOLE might require them to keep,” he said. “I think that this puts a model policy in place that every law enforcement agency is going to have to follow, and everybody will know what all the rules are.”

Some critics including Kathy Mitchell, a criminal justice policy advocate with Equity Action, also raised concerns about how the bill would affect the disclosure of police records related to the Uvalde shooting. The Texas Department of Public Safety continues fighting a judge’s order to release hundreds of videos and investigative files of the botched response to the worst school shooting in Texas history.

During the Senate floor hearing on Monday, Democratic state Sen. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio also grilled King about this issue. King said the bill would not have an impact on lawsuits. Gutierrez countered that the state’s Open Records Act should preclude the need for lawsuits in the first place.

Meanwhile, others said they are worried about how SB 15 would interact with local laws such as the Austin Police Oversight Act, which unseals G-files despite the city’s civil service rules. Voters there approved that requirement. But King has said during two Senate floor hearings that the bill wouldn’t supersede Austin’s current policy.

In addition, the bill specifically allows certain materials to be released, such as body-worn camera footage. It would also not impede disclosures required by criminal investigations and court processes as mandated under the Sandra Bland and Michael Morton Acts.

“Wherever it’s required by other law, this bill doesn’t apply,” King said.

---

More all-star speakers confirmed for The Texas Tribune Festival, Nov. 13–15! This year’s lineup just got even more exciting with the addition of State Rep. Caroline Fairly, R-Amarillo; former United States Attorney General Eric Holder; Abby Phillip, anchor of “CNN NewsNight”; Aaron Reitz, 2026 Republican candidate for Texas Attorney General; and State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin. Get your tickets today!

TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.