Monitoring the Session

SB 1588

bill raises the penalty for not reporting child sex abuse

Died in committee

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Sen. Kelly HancockRSenate 9

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 the failure to report child abuse or neglect; increasing a criminal penalty.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

Class A misdemeanor becomes a state jail felony for listed offenses.

The bill raises the penalty for a professional who fails to report child abuse or neglect from a Class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony when the abuse they failed to report was a listed sex offense, trafficking, prostitution-related conduct, or child sexual exploitation. It touches professionals already required to report abuse under the Family Code, along with prosecutors and courts handling these cases. Starting September 1, 2025, a failure to report serious sexual abuse of a child can be charged at the felony level even without proof that the person meant to hide it.

Labels

Labels: GOT HALFWAY. Passed the Senate on May 7, 2025. Died in the House: never got out of the Human Services committee.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-SB1588 · 2025-02-24

SOLD BY

ITEM

relating to the failure to report child abuse or neglect; increasing a criminal penalty.

WHAT IT DOES

Class A misdemeanor becomes a state jail felony for listed offenses.

The bill raises the penalty for a professional who fails to report child abuse or neglect from a Class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony when the abuse they failed to report was a listed sex offense, trafficking, prostitution-related conduct, or child sexual exploitation. It touches professionals already required to report abuse under the Family Code, along with prosecutors and courts handling these cases. Starting September 1, 2025, a failure to report serious sexual abuse of a child can be charged at the felony level even without proof that the person meant to hide it.

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 28, 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. Received by the Secretary of the Senate
  2. Filed
  3. Read first time
  4. Referred to Criminal Justice
  5. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  6. Considered in public hearing
  7. Testimony taken in committee
  8. Vote taken in committee
  9. Reported favorably w/o amendments
  10. Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
  11. Committee report printed and distributed
  12. Placed on intent calendar
  13. Rules suspended-Regular order of business
  14. Vote recorded in Journal
  15. Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment
  16. Vote recorded in Journal
  17. Three day rule suspended
  18. Record vote
  19. Read 3rd time
  20. Passed
  21. Record vote
  22. Statement(s) submitted
  23. Reported engrossed
  24. Received from the Senate
  25. Read first time
  26. Referred to Human Services
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

Senate · 30 yea · 1 nay

Sources

Senate: Final passage · May 7, 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

Donors

Stephen Brauer JR$57,791
Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$14,750
Q Political Action Committee$12,500

Top donors to Texans for Kelly Hancock SPAC during his Senate service. Not tied to this bill.

Sources

Gifts to Texans for Kelly Hancock SPAC dated July 1, 2024 to June 18, 2025, while he served in the Senate.

Derived from itemized gifts. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Money

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

Votes3

Senate May 7, 2025

Yea
30
Nay
1
Present, not voting
Not printed
Absent
Not printed
Excused
Not printed
Names

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

Senate journal

Names were not printed for yea. Only the named positions are included in member records.

Sources

The bill was read third time and was passed by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1. (Same as previous roll call)

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

  • Yea: 30 (published)
  • Nay: 1 (published)
  • Present, not voting: Not printed
  • Absent: Not printed
  • Excused: Not printed

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

Senate May 7, 2025

Yea
30
Nay
1
Present, not voting
Not printed
Absent
Not printed
Excused
Not printed
Names

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

Senate journal

Names were not printed for yea. Only the named positions are included in member records.

Sources

Senator Hancock moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that SB 1588 be placed on its third reading and final passage. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1.

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

  • Yea: 30 (published)
  • Nay: 1 (published)
  • Present, not voting: Not printed
  • Absent: Not printed
  • Excused: Not printed

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

Senate May 7, 2025

Yea
Not printed
Nay
Not printed
Present, not voting
Not printed
Absent
Not printed
Excused
Not printed
Names

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

Senate journal

Names were not printed for yea. Only the named positions are included in member records.

Voice vote. No numeric tally or individual yeas are inferred.

Sources

Senator Hancock moved to suspend the regular order of business to take up for consideration SB 1588 at this time on its second reading: SB 1588, Relating to the failure to report child abuse or neglect; increasing a criminal penalty. The motion prevailed. Senator Eckhardt asked to be recorded as voting "Nay" on suspension of the regular order of business. The bill was read second time and was passed to engrossment by a viva voce vote.

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

  • Yea: Not printed
  • Nay: Not printed
  • Present, not voting: Not printed
  • Absent: Not printed
  • Excused: Not printed

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

Witnesses11
For
10
Against
1
On
0
Names

For

  • City of San Antonio1 registration
  • Dallas Police Association1 registration
  • Harris County Deputies' Organization FOP #391 registration
  • Houston Police Department1 registration
  • Self2 registrations
  • Self; SOSCSA1 registration
  • SHERIFFS’ Association of Texas1 registration
  • Texas Municipal Police Association (TMPA)1 registration
  • TexProtects1 registration

Against

  • Texas Civil Rights Project1 registration
Sources

11 parsed registrations across the loaded witness lists.

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

Senate 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 28, 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 Senate · Filed Feb 24, 2025

05/08/2025 H Referred to Human Services: May 8 2025 11:58PM

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · Senate Committee Report · Engrossed

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

House committee · Human Services · Final status: Died in committee

Senate committee · Criminal Justice · Committee vote 7 aye, 0 nay · Out of committee

Companion

HB 734 by Leach (identical)

Subjects

Crimes--Against Persons--Sexual

Minors--Crimes Against

CHILD ABUSE

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

PROSTITUTION

SEXUAL ABUSE

SEXUAL ASSAULT

VIDEOTAPE & FILM

Text

The text as introduced · 359 words

89R4297 AMF-D

By: Hancock
S.B. No. 1588

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the failure to report child abuse or neglect;

increasing a criminal penalty.

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

SECTION 1. Section 261.109(c), Family Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(c) An offense under Subsection (a-1) is a Class A

misdemeanor, except that the offense is a state jail felony if it is

shown on the trial of the offense that :

(1) the actor intended to conceal the abuse or

neglect ; or

(2) the conduct the actor failed to report:

(A) constitutes the offense of:

(i) continuous sexual abuse of young child

under Section 21.02, Penal Code;

(ii) indecency with a child under Section

21.11, Penal Code;

(iii) sexual assault under Section 22.011,

Penal Code;

(iv) aggravated sexual assault under

Section 22.021, Penal Code;

(v) trafficking of persons under Section

20A.02(a)(7) or (8), Penal Code;

(vi) solicitation of prostitution under

Section 43.021, Penal Code; or

(vii) compelling prostitution under

Section 43.05(a)(2), Penal Code;

(B) is compelling or encouraging the child to

engage in sexual conduct as defined by Section 43.01, Penal Code;

(C) is causing, permitting, encouraging,

engaging in, or allowing the photographing, filming, or depicting

of the child if the person knew or should have known that the

resulting photograph, film, or depiction of the child is obscene as

defined by Section 43.21, Penal Code, or pornographic; or

(D) is causing, permitting, encouraging,

engaging in, or allowing a sexual performance by a child as defined

by Section 43.25, Penal Code .

SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to

an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An

offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed

by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and that

law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this

section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this

Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.

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