Special Session
Governor Abbott controls the overtime legislative sessions and has set the focus on the tragic Hill Country floods. Lawmakers are tasked with passing laws concerning flood warning systems, emergency communications, natural disaster preparation, and relief funding for impacted areas.
However, the agenda does not stop there. There are 18 agenda items for the upcoming special session that begins at noon on Monday, July 21. A special session can last no longer than 30 days, and lawmakers are supposed to focus on the governor’s agenda. Undeterred by the rules, though, lawmakers have already promised to file bills important to them and their districts or refile bills from the regular session that never made it across the finish line. Everything has to start anew, meaning the bill numbers will change, but the battle lines will not.
The agenda items that we will most closely monitor are:
Regulate hemp-derived products / Protect children from THC: The most controversial bill to be reconsidered may be Senate Bill 3. That all-out ban on consumable hemp and THC products, which we outlined here, was vetoed by Governor Abbott. The Legislature must now create a law that will appease the Lt. Governor, who has promised to outlaw THC products, and at the same time appease the Governor, who wants THC regulated more like alcohol. Lt. Gov. Patrick readily acknowledged this Catch-22, stating, “He (Governor Abbott) has now put us in a box.” Can lawmakers thread that needle with the perfect bill? Ask us again in mid-August.
State Judicial Department: Senate Bill 2878 was vetoed by Governor Abbott but it is on the agenda. It was an omnibus bill that creates new courts, new district attorney offices, new punishment enhancements, and various other changes. Lawmakers are tasked with removing the policy in the bill that allowed automatic expunctions for completing pretrial intervention programs. A bill this large is like a cruise ship that lawmakers like to put their own bills on as stowaways. We will keep you posted to what gets added or taken away from this bill as it starts its voyage anew.
Protect human trafficking victims: Senate Bill 1278 would have created an affirmative defense to prosecution for victims of trafficking or compelling prostitution. Governor Abbott stated the bill went too far and that he preferred a more narrowly tailored piece of legislation. It will be up the author, Senator Tan Parker, to carve out specifics for victim status to be used as a defense to criminal charges.
Police personnel records: SB 781 and HB 2486 were priority bills for CLEAT that will have another chance at passing during the special session. The bills would create a uniform confidentiality standard for law enforcement personnel files. The bills aim to prohibit public disclosure of unsubstantiated complaints in personnel files. It is unclear how these bills would align with Brady and Giglio requirements, but amendments to address that issue were tacked onto SB 781 near the end of the regular session, so let’s hope those survive re-filing.
Attorney General election powers: A handful of joint resolutions filed during the regular session to give the Attorney General the ability to prosecute voter fraud were never debated in the regular session but will now get another chance at passing. A constitutional amendment would require support from two-thirds of both chambers and then voter approval in a statewide election. Attorney General Paxton campaigned and was successful in removing three of the justices that ruled against his ability to prosecute election crimes, but the odds of finding 100 votes in the House for such a joint resolution are still slim. That may be possible in a special session only due to horse trading, threats, or both; we’ll see which the governor chooses. But perhaps the key takeaway from this topic being added to the call of the special session is that it confirms this as something personally important to the governor, not just the current attorney general.
Ban taxpayer-funded lobbying: Senate Bill 19, which prohibited political subdivisions from using public funds to hire registered lobbyists or contribute to organizations that engage in lobbying activities, will also get another chance at life. Senator and Attorney General candidate Mayes Middleton authored this bill that never made it out of the House. The bill was a Lt. Governor priority that left the Senate with an amendment by Senator Robert Nichols, who has since announced his retirement, that carved out an exception for nonprofit organizations similar to TDCAA. Whether the governor’s preferred version will include that carve-out is unknown.
As if this is not enough, the Legislature is also tasked with redrawing Congressional maps to comply with President Trump’s directive to increase the Republican majority in Congress. This process usually attracts congressional members to the Texas Capitol building as they campaign to protect their districts and future political careers. There is already a lawsuit concerning the Texas Congressional maps, and all testimony and actions concerning redistricting is fair game for evidence in the eventual lawsuits.
Again, all this must be completed within 30 days. We will keep you posted with weekly updates as events unfold and try to make it all make sense, but do not be surprised when the next special session gets announced.
Suzanne McDaniel Award
We are currently accepting nominations for this award to recognize a staff member who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to deliver victim services. More information is available here. Please email Jalayne Robinson with your nominations or questions. Nominations must be received by Friday, July 25, 2025.
DPS Crime Lab notice on “total THC”
All of you should have received a customer notification from the director of the DPS Crime Laboratories about their new protocol for reporting THC quantities in vape cartridges. To make a long story short: Their testing process may turn THCA into THC, so the resulting quantity will be “total THC” even though THCA may not be illegal under Texas’s current laws. This problem could have been resolved had SB 3 become law, but the veto of that THC ban has put the issue back in play (as mentioned above). Whether or how the legislature will address it (again) during the special session is unclear. For now, be aware that this presents yet another evidentiary impediment to prosecution of small-quantity vape cartridge cases in your jurisdictions, as well as concerns about past cases already resolved using this testing method.
DPS Crime Lab portal rules
Also from our friends at the DPS Crime Lab are new administrative rules governing the still-under-construction Crime Laboratory Records (CLR) Portal. Those rules can be found in this PDF excerpt from the June 27, 2025, issue of the Texas Register, pages 55–58. One key change made by the agency in response to public input was to narrow a prosecutor’s duty under the rules to “identify at least one contact in the [prosecuting] attorney’s office to designate and keep up to date the person(s) authorized to access the portal under Government Code §411.162.” The proposed version of that rule would have required prosecutors to “maintain up-to-date portal access to defense counsel and others,” a much broader potential duty. Thank you to 106th Judicial DA Philip Mack Furlow and his staff for providing that input on behalf of all of you, and thanks to the agency staff for taking constructive feedback and adopting it.
Conference registrations now open!
Registrations are now open for our Annual Criminal & Civil Law Conference, our online Legislative Update, and several in-person Legislative Updates. Visit our training webpage for additional information.