Monitoring the Session

HB 2486

bill requires a separate ‘department file’ on every officer

Did not pass

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Rep. Cole HefnerRHouse 5

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 certain files maintained by a law enforcement agency regarding certain employees of the agency.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

Including misconduct complaints too weak to sustain.

The bill requires every Texas law enforcement agency to keep a separate 'department file' on each licensed officer it employs, holding records not kept in the regular personnel file, including complaints of misconduct the agency found too weak to sustain. A hiring agency may view that file, and the agency must hand its contents to the state licensing commission when the law requires or during an investigation of the officer. Everyone else is shut out, because the file is declared confidential and exempt from the Public Information Act, starting September 1, 2025.

Labels

Labels: STALLED AFTER COMMITTEE. Voted out of the House Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans' Affairs committee 10-0 on Apr 2, 2025. Taken up on the floor on May 12, 2025 and postponed on May 13, 2025. The bill died.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-HB2486 · 2025-02-05

SOLD BY

Rep. Cole HefnerRHouse 5

ITEM

relating to certain files maintained by a law enforcement agency regarding certain employees of the agency.

WHAT IT DOES

Including misconduct complaints too weak to sustain.

The bill requires every Texas law enforcement agency to keep a separate 'department file' on each licensed officer it employs, holding records not kept in the regular personnel file, including complaints of misconduct the agency found too weak to sustain. A hiring agency may view that file, and the agency must hand its contents to the state licensing commission when the law requires or during an investigation of the officer. Everyone else is shut out, because the file is declared confidential and exempt from the Public Information Act, starting September 1, 2025.

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 · March 25, 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. Considered in Calendars
  15. Placed on General State Calendar
  16. Read 2nd time
  17. Point of order withdrawn Rule 4, Section 32(c)(2)
  18. Postponed 5/13/25 8:00 AM
  19. Laid out as postponed business
  20. Point of order withdrawn
  21. Postponed 6/3/25 10:00 AM
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

No flags

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Cole Hefner

Donors

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$108KDustin Burrows Campaign$46KGulf States Toyota Inc. State PAC$20K

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 28, 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.

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$107,878.12

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$107,878.12

Cash
$65,000.00
Paid by others
$42,878.12
Total
$107,878.12
mail $42,794.79fundraiser $83.33

Also funds 124 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 10, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Jun 23, 2025 to Oct 17, 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: 100986158, 101009093, 101035205, 101069686.

Dustin Burrows Campaign$46,150.00

Dustin Burrows Campaign

$46,150.00

Cash
$25,000.00
Paid by others
$21,150.00
Total
$46,150.00
polling $21,150.00

Also funds 39 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Sep 13, 2025 to Sep 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Name match, not a verified identity: normalized filed name and state.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Sep 30, 2025 to Jan 6, 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: 101009093, 101031796.

Gulf States Toyota Inc. State PAC$20,000.00

Gulf States Toyota Inc. State PAC

$20,000.00

Cash
$20,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$20,000.00

Also funds 90 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 10, 2024 to Oct 16, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Jun 23, 2025 to Oct 12, 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: 100986158, 101009093, 101035205, 101069686.

Money

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

×

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$107,878.12

Cash
$65,000.00
Paid by others
$42,878.12
Total
$107,878.12
mail $42,794.79fundraiser $83.33

Also funds 124 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 10, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Jun 23, 2025 to Oct 17, 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: 100986158, 101009093, 101035205, 101069686.

×

Dustin Burrows Campaign

$46,150.00

Cash
$25,000.00
Paid by others
$21,150.00
Total
$46,150.00
polling $21,150.00

Also funds 39 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Sep 13, 2025 to Sep 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Name match, not a verified identity: normalized filed name and state.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Sep 30, 2025 to Jan 6, 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: 101009093, 101031796.

×

Gulf States Toyota Inc. State PAC

$20,000.00

Cash
$20,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$20,000.00

Also funds 90 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 10, 2024 to Oct 16, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Jun 23, 2025 to Oct 12, 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: 100986158, 101009093, 101035205, 101069686.

Votes

No floor vote loaded for this bill.

Witnesses26
For
8
Against
17
On
1
Names

For

  • Austin Police Association1 registration
  • City of Lakeway, Texas1 registration
  • Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT)1 registration
  • Dallas Police Department1 registration
  • Self; Houston Police Officers’ Union1 registration
  • Self; Sheriffs Association of Texas1 registration
  • Texas Police Chiefs Association1 registration
  • TMPA1 registration

Against

  • ACLU of Texas1 registration
  • Capital Area Private Defender Service1 registration
  • Dallas Criminal District Attorney John Creuzot1 registration
  • Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas1 registration
  • Self4 registrations
  • Self; ACT 4 SA Action Fund1 registration
  • Self; Austin Justice Coalition2 registrations
  • Self; El Paso County Precinct #21 registration
  • Self; Equity Action1 registration
  • Self; Local Progress Texas1 registration
  • Self; Mano Amiga1 registration
  • Self; Texas Jail Project1 registration
  • Texas Civil Rights Project1 registration

On

  • Texas Commission on Law Enforcement1 registration
Sources

26 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 · March 25, 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 Feb 5, 2025

05/13/2025 H Postponed

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · House Committee Report

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

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

Companion

SB 781 by King (identical)

Subjects

Fire Fighters & Police--General

Law Enforcement

Occupational Regulation--Other Trades & Professions

LAW ENFORCEMENT, TEXAS COMMISSION ON

Text

The text as introduced · 326 words

89R8580 RAL-F

By: Hefner
H.B. No. 2486

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to certain files maintained by a law enforcement agency

regarding certain employees of the agency.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter J, Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, is

amended by adding Section 1701.45351 to read as follows:

Sec. 1701.45351. DEPARTMENT FILE. (a) In this section,

"department file" means a file maintained by a law enforcement

agency for each license holder employed by the agency for the

agency's use.

(b) The head of a law enforcement agency or the head's

designee shall maintain a department file on each license holder

employed by the agency.

(c) A department file must contain any letter, memorandum,

or document relating to the license holder not included in a

personnel file maintained under a policy adopted under Section

1701.4535, including any letter, memorandum, or document relating

to alleged misconduct by the license holder for which the agency

determines there is insufficient evidence to sustain the charge of

misconduct.

(d) As provided by Section 1701.451, a law enforcement

agency hiring a license holder is entitled to view the contents of

the license holder's department file.

(e) A law enforcement agency shall provide contents from a

license holder's department file to the commission in accordance

with:

(1) Section 1701.4522(b)(1)(D); or

(2) a request by the commission as part of an ongoing

investigation relating to the license holder.

(f) Except as provided by Subsections (d) and (e), a law

enforcement agency may not release any information contained in a

license holder's department file to any other agency or person

requesting information relating to the license holder. The agency

shall refer the person or agency requesting the information to the

agency head or the head's designee. A department file maintained

under this section is confidential and not subject to disclosure

under Chapter 552, Government Code.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.