HB 786: Jones Court Security Bill Uses A 3.3 Million Population Bracket

Caption

relating to justice court security in certain counties.

Summary

The caption’s “certain counties” is one county! Metal detectors and an officer at each public door.

The bill orders the commissioners court in a county with 3.3 million or more people to give every justice court a metal detector and a constable, deputy constable, or deputy sheriff at each public door. The county must pay for this first from its existing courthouse security fund and use general county money only if needed. In practice, only the largest county's justice courts get guaranteed screening and armed officers at every public entrance starting September 1, 2025.

Labels

Labels: ZOMBIE BILL. Died 2 times: 88R HB 3671 (Did not pass) and this bill (Did not pass). Checked against 88R only.DO-OVER. Reworked text of a bill filed before that died: 88R HB 3671 (Did not pass). Filed in 2 sessions, counting this one. Checked against 88R only.TRY NO. 2. Filed in 2 sessions: 88R and 89R. Checked against 88R only.GOT HALFWAY. Passed the House on May 1, 2025. Died in the Senate: received, never referred to a committee.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-HB786 · 2024-11-12

SOLD BY

Rep. Jolanda "Jo" JonesDHouse 147

+ 4 coauthors

ITEM

relating to justice court security in certain counties.

WHAT IT DOES

The caption’s “certain counties” is one county! Metal detectors and an officer at each public door.

The bill orders the commissioners court in a county with 3.3 million or more people to give every justice court a metal detector and a constable, deputy constable, or deputy sheriff at each public door. The county must pay for this first from its existing courthouse security fund and use general county money only if needed. In practice, only the largest county's justice courts get guaranteed screening and armed officers at every public entrance starting September 1, 2025.

CHARGES

[x] BRACKET BILLanalysis confidence 50%

THE TEXT

“The commissioners court of a county with a population of 3.3 million or more shall provide”…

Bill text, introduced version (I)

The 3.3 million population bracket aims this mandate at a single very large county. The caption only partly admits this by saying "certain counties."

TOTAL

No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · March 17, 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

Nov 12, 2024Filed
Mar 5, 2025Read first time
Mar 5, 2025Referred to Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
Mar 19, 2025Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
Mar 19, 2025Considered in public hearing
Mar 19, 2025Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
Mar 19, 2025Left pending in committee
Apr 14, 2025Considered in formal meeting
Apr 14, 2025Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
Apr 23, 2025Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
Apr 23, 2025Committee report distributed
Apr 25, 2025Committee report sent to Calendars
Apr 28, 2025Considered in Calendars
Apr 30, 2025Placed on General State Calendar
Apr 30, 2025Read 2nd time
Apr 30, 2025Amended 1-J. Jones
Apr 30, 2025Passed to engrossment as amended
Apr 30, 2025Record vote RV#1089
Apr 30, 2025Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
May 1, 2025Read 3rd time
May 1, 2025Passed
May 1, 2025Record vote RV#1130
May 1, 2025Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
May 1, 2025Reported engrossed
May 5, 2025Received from the House

FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

House · 85 yea · 50 nay

Sources

House: Final passage · May 1, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

All floor motions and other positions below.

Smells

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Jolanda "Jo" Jones

Donors

Carrin Patman$15,000Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC$9K Houston Federation of Teachers COPE$7K

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 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.

Carrin Patman$15,000.00

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC$9,000.00

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

$9,000.00

Cash: $9,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $9,000.00

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 · Dec 1, 2024 to Apr 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: 100986920, 101030360, 101059410.

Houston Federation of Teachers COPE$7,000.00

Houston Federation of Teachers COPE

$7,000.00

Cash: $7,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $7,000.00

Also funds 2 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Dec 11, 2024 to Jun 30, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Dec 11, 2024. 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: 100986920.

Money

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

×

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

$9,000.00

Cash: $9,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $9,000.00

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 · Dec 1, 2024 to Apr 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: 100986920, 101030360, 101059410.

×

Houston Federation of Teachers COPE

$7,000.00

Cash: $7,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $7,000.00

Also funds 2 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Dec 11, 2024 to Jun 30, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Dec 11, 2024. 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: 100986920.

Votes2

House May 1, 2025

Yea: 85
Nay: 50
Present, not voting: 1
Absent: 1
Excused: 13

Names

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

House journal

Sources

Record 1130

HB 786 was passed by (Record 1130): 85 Yeas, 50 Nays, 1 Present, not voting.

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

Yea: 85 (published)
Nay: 50 (published)
Present, not voting: 1 (published)
Absent: 1 (derived from named list)
Excused: 13 (derived from named list)

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

House Apr 30, 2025

Yea: 100
Nay: 40
Present, not voting: 2
Absent: 4
Excused: 4

Names

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

House journal

Sources

Record 1089

HB 786, as amended, was passed to engrossment by (Record 1089): 100 Yeas, 40 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

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

Yea: 100 (published)
Nay: 40 (published)
Present, not voting: 2 (published)
Absent: 4 (derived from named list)
Excused: 4 (derived from named list)

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

Witnesses7

For: 3
Against: 4
On: 0

Names

For

Harris County Deputies' Organization FOP #391 registration
Self1 registration
Self; JPCA1 registration

Against

County Judges and Commissioners Assocaition1 registration
Leon County Judge and County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas1 registration
Self1 registration
Self; Jefferson County and County Judge And Commissioners Association1 registration

Sources

7 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 fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · March 17, 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.

FILED BEFORE

Filed 2 times: 88R and 89R. Checked against 88R only.

88R HB 3671

by Rep. Jolanda Jones, same lead author · Did not pass · reworked

Introduced text

Last action, May 11, 2023: Placed on General State Calendar

Relating to justice court security in certain counties.

Caption, 88R bill history

Sources

Texas House · Filed Nov 12, 2024

05/05/2025 S Received from the House

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · House Committee Report · Engrossed

Data snapshot Oct 26, 2026 at 4:19 AM CDT. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.

Coauthors

Salman BhojaniDHouse 92

Barbara Gervin-HawkinsDHouse 120

Penny Morales ShawDHouse 148

Mihaela PlesaDHouse 70

House committee · Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence · Committee vote 11 aye, 0 nay · Out of committee

Subjects

Courts--Justice

Law Enforcement

Weapons

CONSTABLES

SECURITY ALARMS & DEVICES

SHERIFFS

Text

The text as introduced · 156 words

89R2140 TSS-D

By: Jones of Harris
H.B. No. 786

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to justice court security in certain counties.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 27, Government Code, is

amended by adding Section 27.007 to read as follows:

Sec. 27.007. JUSTICE COURT SECURITY IN CERTAIN COUNTIES.

(a) The commissioners court of a county with a population of 3.3

million or more shall provide to each justice court in the county a

metal detection device and a constable, deputy constable, or deputy

sheriff for each door of the court open to the public.

(b) In complying with this section, the commissioners court

shall first use money in the county's courthouse security fund

established under Article 102.017, Code of Criminal Procedure, and

only if necessary, money from the general revenue fund of the

county.

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

Verdict: Smells

The receipt

SOLD BY

ITEM

WHAT IT DOES

CHARGES

TOTAL

HISTORY

SIGNED FOR BY

Donors

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

Houston Federation of Teachers COPE

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

Houston Federation of Teachers COPE

House May 1, 2025

House Apr 30, 2025

For

Against

88R HB 3671