Bill shielding some police complaints from public again dies in Texas House

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A bill that would let law enforcement agencies across the state keep numerous records including unsubstantiated complaints against officers private has again died in the Texas House.

Late last month, the House cleared HB 15 after adopting two additional exemptions, including one that would allow parents of Uvalde school shooting victims to see records related to law enforcement’s botched response.

On Tuesday, a Senate panel pushed forward a version of the legislation without these carve-outs. Hours later, the full chamber voted 18-9 to pass the updated bill and send it back to the House for consideration of the changes.

But during a Wednesday floor hearing, House Speaker Dustin Burrows said he didn’t intend to call up the updated bill — hours before the chamber gaveled out. The House had overwhelmingly approved of the carve-outs that the Senate removed.

Gov. Greg Abbott’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about whether he would call a third special session to consider the issue.

HB 15, authored by Republican state Rep. Cole Hefner of Mt. Pleasant, would have required law enforcement agencies to create a confidential department file — also called a “G-file” — for numerous files including any unsubstantiated allegations against an officer as well as complaints that did not result in disciplinary actions.

Substantiated misconduct complaints, commendations, awards or periodic evaluations would remain in the officer’s personnel file, which would still be publicly accessible through the state’s open records law. Any “letter, memorandum or document” not related to those records would go into the G-file.

The bill’s backers said it is about standardizing law enforcement agencies’ public disclosure policy. They have also said disclosure of unsubstantiated complaints could defame officers.

Critics, however, have said the bill would hinder police accountability, including by incentivizing officers to improperly examine allegations. Some are also concerned about how it would affect the release of records related to the Uvalde shooting, as the Texas Department of Public Safety is still fighting a judge’s order to release hundreds of videos and investigative files.

The House voted 90-41 on Aug. 28 to approve HB 15 after adopting two amendments.

The first one, brought by Democratic State Rep. Joe Moody of El Paso, ensures that the bill wouldn’t reopen the dead suspects loophole. The state Legislature closed the loophole — which law enforcement agencies once used to withhold information when suspects die in police custody or at the hands of officers before the suspects could receive a conviction or deferred adjudication — in 2023.

The second one, introduced by Republic state Rep. Don McLaughlin of Uvalde, would allow the victim of alleged police misconduct — or their immediate family if they are dead — to view documents in the officer’s G-files related to the case following its investigation. But they would not be able to duplicate these records.

“This amendment is for my hometown of Uvalde and for the Robb families, who are still waiting for answers,” said McLaughlin, who was mayor during the 2022 school shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers. He has also been vocal about the need for DPS to release its records. “Three and a half years and they still don't have answers.”

Hefner initially opposed the proposal, saying that HB 15 would not hide Uvalde records. But the motion to table McLaughlin’s amendment failed, and Hefner then accepted it.

The Aug. 28 vote also followed Moody’s successful point-of-order — a parliamentary procedure that aims to delay or kill legislation on a technicality — against a similar proposal, Senate Bill 15, on Aug. 25. A day later, Abbott updated the wording of his second special session’s agenda to address the error.

But as a Senate committee considered HB 15 on Tuesday, its sponsor, state Sen. Phil King of Weatherford, offered a substitute that stripped away both of Moody’s and McLaughlin’s carve-outs.

“House sent over two amendments,” he said. “We have removed those amendments, and this is the same bill that we have passed out three previous times.”

During the Senate floor debate, state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, grilled King about the removal of McLaughlin’s amendment. The Weatherford Republican responded that the bill would not change anything regarding the evidence and documents related to the Uvalde shooting.

“It also has the same effect on this bill as if … the amendment had said, ‘Strike everything below the enactment clause,’” King added. “It completely terminates this bill.”

McLaughlin said the removal of the House amendments was disappointing.

“This is not the first time the Senate has disregarded House priorities and removed carefully considered changes without even consulting us,” he said in a statement to The Texas Tribune. “That pattern continued here, and it leaves families and communities without the transparency they deserve.”

Moody didn’t respond to a comment request.

The proposal came after 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.”

If adopted, the bill would have extended the use of G-files to every law enforcement agency across Texas, which has under 110,000 peace officers and jailers, according to TCOLE.

Such files already apply to around 26,000 peace officers, according to Jennifer Szimanski, deputy executive editor of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas. These include officers in dozens of cities that have opted into the state framework for police and firefighters’ civil service, including major ones such as Houston and San Antonio.

The bill doesn’t cover certain materials, such as body-worn camera footage. It also would not affect Austin’s Police Oversight Act, which unseals G-files despite the city having civil service rules. In addition, the proposal would not stop disclosures for criminal investigations and court processes as required under the Sandra Bland and Michael Morton acts.

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