Monitoring the Session

HB 4514

Guillen Bill Opens DPS Face-Matching To Paying Outside Requesters

Did not pass

Verdict: Smells

SmellsReviewed
Rep. Ryan GuillenRHouse 31
Why it's charged
New fee, fund, board or appointees

THE TEXT

…“deposited to the credit of a special account in the general revenue”…

Bill text, House committee report version (H)

The bill sets up a new fee and routes it to a new special account that only the Department of Public Safety may spend on this program. The caption honestly says it authorizes a fee.

New fee, fund, board or appointees

Reviewed · Nov 1, 2026 · Headline, summary and grade are analysis of the bill text, not a finding about any person · How we grade

Caption

relating to the use of the Department of Public Safety image verification system for the purpose of verifying an individual's identity; authorizing a fee.

Caption from analyzed text · version H.

Summary

Now limited to law enforcement. Sign an agreement, get consent, pay a fee. Vendors too.

The bill lets the Department of Public Safety compare a person's face photo against its driver's license image system to confirm who that person is, when a requester has signed an agreement with the department, has the person's consent, and pays a fee. It touches every Texan whose photo is in the license image system, any person or business that signs an agreement with the department, and private vendors the department may let into the system to process requests. On the ground, the state face-matching system, now limited to helping law enforcement, opens to outside requesters for a fee, with submitted data kept confidential and destroyed afterward, and vendors can be given access.

Labels

Labels: FEE INCLUDED. The caption of the graded version (House committee report) reads: “relating to the use of the Department of Public Safety image verification system for the purpose of verifying an individual's identity; authorizing a fee.”STALLED AFTER COMMITTEE. Voted out of the House Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans' Affairs committee 10-0 on Apr 30, 2025. Placed on the General State Calendar on May 14, 2025. The bill died.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-HB4514 · 2025-03-12

SOLD BY

Rep. Ryan GuillenRHouse 31

ITEM

relating to the use of the Department of Public Safety image verification system for the purpose of verifying an individual's identity; authorizing a fee.

WHAT IT DOES

Now limited to law enforcement. Sign an agreement, get consent, pay a fee. Vendors too.

The bill lets the Department of Public Safety compare a person's face photo against its driver's license image system to confirm who that person is, when a requester has signed an agreement with the department, has the person's consent, and pays a fee. It touches every Texan whose photo is in the license image system, any person or business that signs an agreement with the department, and private vendors the department may let into the system to process requests. On the ground, the state face-matching system, now limited to helping law enforcement, opens to outside requesters for a fee, with submitted data kept confidential and destroyed afterward, and vendors can be given access.

CHARGES

[x] NEW FEE, FUND, BOARD OR APPOINTEESanalysis confidence 60%

THE TEXT

…“deposited to the credit of a special account in the general revenue”…

Bill text, House committee report version (H)

The bill sets up a new fee and routes it to a new special account that only the Department of Public Safety may spend on this program. The caption honestly says it authorizes a fee.

TOTAL

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version H · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version H · May 6, 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. Committee substitute considered in committee
  7. Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
  8. Left pending in committee
  9. Considered in public hearing
  10. Committee substitute considered in committee
  11. Reported favorably as substituted
  12. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  13. Committee report distributed
  14. Committee report sent to Calendars
  15. Considered in Calendars
  16. Placed on General State Calendar
FILED UNDER

SURVEILLANCE STATE

THE TEXT

…“allow the vendor access to the image verification system under”…

Bill text, House committee report version (H)

The bill opens the state's facial image system to outside requesters through agreements and lets the department give private vendors access to it.

Smells

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Ryan Guillen

Donors

Frontera Texas PAC$160KTexas Sands PAC$121KAssociated Republicans of Texas Campaign Fund$23K

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 · Jul 1, 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.

Frontera Texas PAC$160,007.97

Frontera Texas PAC

$160,007.97

Cash
$0.00
Paid by others
$160,007.97
Total
$160,007.97
Other filed descriptions $73,500.00mail $40,000.00mailing $19,429.94texting $18,144.37digital $8,211.55printing $722.11

Also funds 3 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Nov 5, 2024 to Oct 24, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Sources

Derived itemized flow · Dec 30, 2025 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.

Report IDs: 101033369, 101062168, 101070155, 101073001.

Texas Sands PAC$120,875.00

Texas Sands PAC

$120,875.00

Cash
$113,500.00
Paid by others
$7,375.00
Total
$120,875.00
polling $7,375.00

Also funds 121 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 3, 2024 to Oct 24, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Dec 14, 2024 to Sep 25, 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: 100989191, 101033369, 101062168, 101073001.

Associated Republicans of Texas Campaign Fund$22,795.90

Associated Republicans of Texas Campaign Fund

$22,795.90

Cash
$0.00
Paid by others
$22,795.90
Total
$22,795.90
polling $15,000.00Other filed descriptions $7,352.14texting $443.76

Also funds 20 other sitting lawmakers.

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

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Dec 15, 2025 to Sep 10, 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: 101033369, 101070155.

Money

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

×

Frontera Texas PAC

$160,007.97

Cash
$0.00
Paid by others
$160,007.97
Total
$160,007.97
Other filed descriptions $73,500.00mail $40,000.00mailing $19,429.94texting $18,144.37digital $8,211.55printing $722.11

Also funds 3 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Nov 5, 2024 to Oct 24, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Sources

Derived itemized flow · Dec 30, 2025 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.

Report IDs: 101033369, 101062168, 101070155, 101073001.

×

Texas Sands PAC

$120,875.00

Cash
$113,500.00
Paid by others
$7,375.00
Total
$120,875.00
polling $7,375.00

Also funds 121 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 3, 2024 to Oct 24, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Dec 14, 2024 to Sep 25, 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: 100989191, 101033369, 101062168, 101073001.

×

Associated Republicans of Texas Campaign Fund

$22,795.90

Cash
$0.00
Paid by others
$22,795.90
Total
$22,795.90
polling $15,000.00Other filed descriptions $7,352.14texting $443.76

Also funds 20 other sitting lawmakers.

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

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Dec 15, 2025 to Sep 10, 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: 101033369, 101070155.

Votes

No floor vote loaded for this bill.

Witnesses9
For
7
Against
1
On
1
Names

For

  • Incode Technologies3 registrations
  • Lumbermen's Association of Texas1 registration
  • Self; Houston Police Officers’ Union1 registration
  • Sheriffs’ Association of Texas1 registration
  • Texas Bankers Association1 registration

Against

  • Self1 registration

On

  • Self; TX Financial Crimes Intelligence Center1 registration
Sources

9 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 H · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version H · May 6, 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

Adversarial review by claude-opus-5-5 at high effort: Smells.

Analysis of text version H by claude-opus-5-5, Oct 22, 2026, against the published rubric.

Sources

Texas House · Filed Mar 12, 2025

05/14/2025 H Placed on General State Calendar

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · House Committee Report

Data snapshot Nov 1, 2026 at 3:13 PM CST. 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 1100 by Flores (similar)

Subjects

Electronic Information Systems

Fees & Other Nontax Revenue--State

Vehicles & Traffic--Driver's Licenses

PUBLIC SAFETY, DEPARTMENT OF

Text

The text as introduced · 452 words

89R3866 MZM-D

By: Guillen
H.B. No. 4514

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the use of the Department of Public Safety image

verification system for the purpose of verifying an individual's

identity; authorizing a fee.

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

SECTION 1. Section 521.059(c), Transportation Code, is

amended to read as follows:

(c) The department shall use the image verification system

established under this section only to the extent allowed by :

(1) Section 521.0591 to verify an individual's

identity; and

(2) Chapter 730[ , Transportation Code, ] to aid other

law enforcement agencies in:

(A) [ (1) ] establishing the identity of a victim

of a disaster or crime that a local law enforcement agency is unable

to establish; or

(B) [ (2) ] conducting an investigation of

criminal conduct.

SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 521, Transportation Code,

is amended by adding Section 521.0591 to read as follows:

Sec. 521.0591. USE OF IMAGE VERIFICATION SYSTEM FOR

IDENTITY VERIFICATION. (a) The department may, on request of any

person, verify the identity of an individual by comparing a facial

image of the individual to facial images contained in the image

verification system established under Section 521.059. The

department may comply with a request under this section only if the

request includes:

(1) a facial image and the name of the individual who

is the subject of the identity verification request;

(2) the written consent of the individual described by

Subdivision (1); and

(3) the fee described by Subsection (c).

(b) The department may refuse to provide an identity

verification under this section for any reason.

(c) The department by rule shall establish a fee for the

submission of an identity verification request under this section

in an amount sufficient to cover the costs of the department's

compliance with this section, including the direct and indirect

costs associated with the department's use of the image

verification system.

(d) This section does not authorize the disclosure of an

image contained in the image verification system established under

Section 521.059 to any person.

(e) Information submitted to the department as part of an

identity verification request under this section, including all

images and personal identifying information, is confidential and

not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code.

(f) The department shall, promptly after conducting an

identity verification or refusing to conduct an identity

verification under this section, destroy all information submitted

as part of the identity verification request.

SECTION 3. Not later than December 1, 2025, the Department

of Public Safety shall adopt the rules necessary to implement

Section 521.0591, Transportation Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.