Monitoring the Session

HB 1777

bill marking sex offender status on driver’s licenses

Died in committee

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Rep. Eddie MoralesDHouse 74

Initial review · graded Oct 20, 2026 · Headline, summary and grade are analysis of the bill text, not a finding about any person · How we grade

Caption

relating to a designation on a person's driver's license or personal identification certificate that the person is a registered sex offender.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

DPS marks the license or ID when a court sends the order.

When a court sends an order under Article 42.016 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the bill requires the Department of Public Safety to mark that person's driver's license or state ID to show they must register as a sex offender. It touches people subject to the sex offender registration rules and the state agency that issues licenses and IDs. Starting September 1, 2025, licenses issued or renewed for those people will carry the designation.

Labels

Labels: ACROSS THE AISLE. Joint authors: 3 Republicans, 2 Democrats. Party as the Legislative Reference Library lists it for the 89th Legislature.GOT HALFWAY. Passed the House on May 10, 2025. Died in the Senate: never got out of the Transportation committee.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-HB1777 · 2025-01-08

SOLD BY

Rep. Eddie MoralesDHouse 74 Rep. Ellen TroxclairRHouse 19 Rep. Caroline Harris DavilaRHouse 52

+ 2 more authors, 17 coauthors

ITEM

relating to a designation on a person's driver's license or personal identification certificate that the person is a registered sex offender.

WHAT IT DOES

DPS marks the license or ID when a court sends the order.

When a court sends an order under Article 42.016 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the bill requires the Department of Public Safety to mark that person's driver's license or state ID to show they must register as a sex offender. It touches people subject to the sex offender registration rules and the state agency that issues licenses and IDs. Starting September 1, 2025, licenses issued or renewed for those people will carry the designation.

CHARGES

[ ] NONE FOUND

TOTAL

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · April 22, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

HISTORY

  1. Filed
  2. Read first time
  3. Referred to Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans' Affairs
  4. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  5. Considered in public hearing
  6. Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
  7. Left pending in committee
  8. Considered in public hearing
  9. Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
  10. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  11. Committee report distributed
  12. Committee report sent to Calendars
  13. Considered in Calendars
  14. Placed on General State Calendar
  15. Read 2nd time
  16. Passed to engrossment
  17. Record vote RV#1918
  18. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  19. Read 3rd time
  20. Postponed 5/10/25 11:15 AM
  21. Laid out as postponed business
  22. Amended 1-E. Morales
  23. Record vote RV#2017
  24. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  25. Passed as amended
  26. Record vote RV#2018
  27. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  28. Reported engrossed
  29. Received from the House
  30. Read first time
  31. Referred to Transportation
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

House · 128 yea · 1 nay

Sources

House: Final passage · May 10, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

All floor motions and other positions below.

No flags

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Eddie Morales

Donors

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC$101KLegacy 44$100KTexas REALTORS Political Action Committee$57K

Not tied to this bill.

Sources

The author's campaign account only. Own money and internal transfers are separate on the member page.

Derived itemized flow · Oct 27, 2024 to Oct 24, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC$101,077.16

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

$101,077.16

Cash
$80,000.00
Paid by others
$21,077.16
Total
$101,077.16
mailers $21,077.16

Also funds 137 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 24, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Oct 27, 2024 to Oct 1, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100983216, 101059340, 101067651, 101071574.

Legacy 44$100,000.00

Legacy 44

$100,000.00

Cash
$30,000.00
Paid by others
$70,000.00
Total
$100,000.00
digital $70,000.00

Also funds 33 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Oct 21, 2024 to Oct 20, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Oct 29, 2024 to Sep 21, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100983216, 101067651.

Texas REALTORS Political Action Committee$56,517.22

Texas REALTORS Political Action Committee

$56,517.22

Cash
$37,500.00
Paid by others
$19,017.22
Total
$56,517.22
mail $18,992.22grassroots $25.00

Also funds 140 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 2, 2024 to Oct 24, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Nov 2, 2024 to Sep 2, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100983216, 101031005, 101067651.

Money

Missing data does not establish zero giving. Display amounts are rounded.

×

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

$101,077.16

Cash
$80,000.00
Paid by others
$21,077.16
Total
$101,077.16
mailers $21,077.16

Also funds 137 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 24, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Oct 27, 2024 to Oct 1, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100983216, 101059340, 101067651, 101071574.

×

Legacy 44

$100,000.00

Cash
$30,000.00
Paid by others
$70,000.00
Total
$100,000.00
digital $70,000.00

Also funds 33 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Oct 21, 2024 to Oct 20, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Oct 29, 2024 to Sep 21, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100983216, 101067651.

×

Texas REALTORS Political Action Committee

$56,517.22

Cash
$37,500.00
Paid by others
$19,017.22
Total
$56,517.22
mail $18,992.22grassroots $25.00

Also funds 140 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 2, 2024 to Oct 24, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Nov 2, 2024 to Sep 2, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100983216, 101031005, 101067651.

Votes3

House May 10, 2025

Yea
128
Nay
1
Present, not voting
2
Absent
5
Excused
14
Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

House journal

Sources

Record 2018

HB 1777, as amended, was passed by (Record 2018): 128 Yeas, 1 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

  • Yea: 128 (published)
  • Nay: 1 (published)
  • Present, not voting: 2 (published)
  • Absent: 5 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 14 (derived from named list)

House journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

House May 10, 2025

Yea
123
Nay
0
Present, not voting
4
Absent
9
Excused
14
Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

House journal

Sources

Record 2017

Amendment No. 1 was adopted by (Record 2017): 123 Yeas, 0 Nays, 4 Present, not voting.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

  • Yea: 123 (published)
  • Nay: 0 (published)
  • Present, not voting: 4 (published)
  • Absent: 9 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 14 (derived from named list)

House journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

House May 9, 2025

Yea
118
Nay
4
Present, not voting
2
Absent
7
Excused
19
Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

House journal

Sources

Record 1918

HB 1777 was passed to engrossment by (Record 1918): 118 Yeas, 4 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

  • Yea: 118 (published)
  • Nay: 4 (published)
  • Present, not voting: 2 (published)
  • Absent: 7 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 19 (derived from named list)

House journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Witnesses22
For
10
Against
12
On
0
Names

For

  • Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT)1 registration
  • Harris County Deputies’ Organization FOP Lodge 391 registration
  • Houston Police Department1 registration
  • San Antonio Police officers Association1 registration
  • SAPOA1 registration
  • Self2 registrations
  • Self; Houston Police Officers’ Union1 registration
  • Self; HOUSTON POLICE RETIRED OFFICERS ASSOC1 registration
  • TMPA1 registration

Against

  • Self6 registrations
  • Self; Equity Action1 registration
  • Self; LatinoJustice PRLDEF1 registration
  • Self; Texas Voices1 registration
  • Texas Appleseed1 registration
  • Texas Civil Rights Project1 registration
  • Texas Criminal defense lawyers association1 registration
Sources

22 parsed registrations across the loaded witness lists.

Derived stock of witness registrations. Repeated appearances count separately. Organizations and self-representation appear as printed.

House witness list. Source snapshot 2026-10-20, Central time.

Fiscal

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · April 22, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

How this was graded

Analysis of text version I by claude-opus-5-5, Oct 20, 2026, against the published rubric.

Sources

Texas House · Filed Jan 8, 2025

05/12/2025 S Referred to Transportation

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · House Committee Report · Engrossed

Data snapshot Oct 26, 2026 at 4:20 AM CDT. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.

Coauthors
Salman BhojaniDHouse 92 David CookRHouse 96 Mark DorazioRHouse 122 Ryan GuillenRHouse 31 Hillary HicklandRHouse 55 Janis HoltRHouse 18 Marc LaHoodRHouse 121 Suleman LalaniDHouse 76 Terri Leo WilsonRHouse 23 AJ LouderbackRHouse 30 David LoweRHouse 91 Armando "Mando" MartinezDHouse 39 Don McLaughlinRHouse 80 Christina MoralesDHouse 145 Jared PattersonRHouse 106 Mihaela PlesaDHouse 70 Terry M. WilsonRHouse 20

House committee · Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans' Affairs · Committee vote 10 aye, 0 nay, 1 absent · Out of committee

Senate committee · Transportation · Final status: Died in committee

Subjects

Crimes--Against Persons--Sexual

Criminal Procedure--Sentencing & Punishment

Vehicles & Traffic--Driver's Licenses

IDENTIFICATION CARDS

SEXUAL OFFENDERS

PUBLIC SAFETY, DEPARTMENT OF

Text

The text as introduced · 204 words

89R7828 AJZ-D

By: Morales of Maverick
H.B. No. 1777

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a designation on a person's driver's license or personal

identification certificate that the person is a registered sex

offender.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter F, Chapter 521, Transportation Code,

is amended by adding Section 521.1231 to read as follows:

Sec. 521.1231. SEX OFFENDER DESIGNATION. On receipt of a

court order issued under Article 42.016, Code of Criminal

Procedure, the department shall include on each driver's license or

personal identification certificate issued to the person who is the

subject of the court order a designation that shows the person is

subject to the registration requirements of Chapter 62, Code of

Criminal Procedure.

SECTION 2. Section 521.1231, Transportation Code, as added

by this Act, applies only to a driver's license issued or renewed on

or after the effective date of this Act. A driver's license issued

or renewed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the

law in effect when the license was issued or renewed, and the former

law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.