Monitoring the Session

SB 872

stealing a gun from a vehicle becomes a felony

Did not pass

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Sen. Brian BirdwellRSenate 22

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 punishment for the offense of burglary of a vehicle involving theft of a firearm; increasing a criminal penalty.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

Third-degree felony instead of a Class A misdemeanor.

The bill raises the penalty for breaking into a vehicle when the person steals a gun during the break-in, making it a third-degree felony instead of a Class A misdemeanor. It touches people charged under the vehicle burglary law and the courts and prosecutors who handle those cases. Starting September 1, 2025, a vehicle break-in that includes stealing a firearm carries a felony punishment for offenses committed on or after that date.

Labels

Labels: ZOMBIE BILL. Died 2 times: 88R SB 1166 (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 SB 1166 (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 Senate on May 7, 2025. Died in the House: voted out of the Criminal Jurisprudence committee 8-1, no floor vote.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-SB872 · 2025-01-22

SOLD BY

Sen. Brian BirdwellRSenate 22

+ 2 coauthors

ITEM

relating to the punishment for the offense of burglary of a vehicle involving theft of a firearm; increasing a criminal penalty.

WHAT IT DOES

Third-degree felony instead of a Class A misdemeanor.

The bill raises the penalty for breaking into a vehicle when the person steals a gun during the break-in, making it a third-degree felony instead of a Class A misdemeanor. It touches people charged under the vehicle burglary law and the courts and prosecutors who handle those cases. Starting September 1, 2025, a vehicle break-in that includes stealing a firearm carries a felony punishment for offenses committed on or after that date.

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. Co-author authorized
  6. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  7. Considered in public hearing
  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. Co-author authorized
  14. Rules suspended-Regular order of business
  15. Vote recorded in Journal
  16. Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment
  17. Vote recorded in Journal
  18. Three day rule suspended
  19. Record vote
  20. Read 3rd time
  21. Passed
  22. Record vote
  23. Reported engrossed
  24. Received from the Senate
  25. Read first time
  26. Referred to Criminal Jurisprudence
  27. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  28. Considered in public hearing
  29. Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
  30. Left pending in committee
  31. Considered in formal meeting
  32. Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
  33. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  34. Committee report distributed
  35. Committee report sent to Calendars
  36. Considered in Calendars
  37. Placed on General State Calendar
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

Senate · 29 yea · 2 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

Brian Birdwell

Donors

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC Austin TX$30,000
Good Government Fund Fort Worth TX$10,000
Texas Oil & Gas Assn. Good Govt. Cmte Austin TX$10,000

Derived from itemized gifts, Jul 1, 2024 to Jun 30, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Not tied to this bill.

Sources

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

$353,800 raised since Jul 1, 2024. Derived sum of published report totals. blank in the state's data, consistent with zero. Flow, Jul 1, 2024 through Jun 30, 2026. State filing data as of Nov 4, 2026. 4 of 4 filed reports carry a published figure.

$502,039 spent since Jul 1, 2024. Derived sum of published report totals. Flow, Jul 1, 2024 through Jun 30, 2026. State filing data as of Nov 4, 2026. 4 of 4 filed reports carry a published figure.

$731,044 cash on hand. Published report total. Stock, as of Jun 30, 2026. State filing data as of Nov 4, 2026.

$0 loans outstanding. Published report total. Stock, as of Jun 30, 2026. State filing data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived sum of itemized contributions in regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Unitemized contributions are not included. Flow, Jul 1, 2024 through Jun 30, 2026. State filing data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Money

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

Votes3

Senate May 7, 2025

Yea
29
Nay
2
Present, not voting
Not printed
Absent
0
Excused
0
Names

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

Senate journal

Sources

The bill was read third time and was passed by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 2. (Same as previous roll call)

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

  • Yea: 29 (published)
  • Nay: 2 (published)
  • Present, not voting: Not printed
  • Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

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

Senate May 7, 2025

Yea
29
Nay
2
Present, not voting
Not printed
Absent
0
Excused
0
Names

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

Senate journal

Sources

Senator Birdwell moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that SB 872 be placed on its third reading and final passage. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 2.

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

  • Yea: 29 (published)
  • Nay: 2 (published)
  • Present, not voting: Not printed
  • Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

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 Birdwell moved to suspend the regular order of business to take up for consideration SB 872 at this time on its second reading: SB 872, Relating to the punishment for the offense of burglary of a vehicle involving theft of a firearm; increasing a criminal penalty. The motion prevailed. Senators Cook and West 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.

Witnesses27
For
25
Against
2
On
0
Names

For

  • Austin Police Association1 registration
  • City of San Antonio2 registrations
  • Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT)2 registrations
  • Dallas Police Assoc1 registration
  • Dallas Police Association1 registration
  • Game Warden Peace Officers Association1 registration
  • Harris County Deputies' Organization FOP #392 registrations
  • Houston Police Department2 registrations
  • Self2 registrations
  • Self; Chambers County District Attorney’s Office1 registration
  • Self; Harris County Sheriff’s Office1 registration
  • Self; Houston Police Officers’ Union1 registration
  • Self; Prosper ISD Police Department1 registration
  • Self; Texas ISD School District Police Chiefs Association1 registration
  • SHERIFFS’ Association of Texas1 registration
  • Texas Municipal Police Association (TMPA)2 registrations
  • Texas Police Chiefs Association2 registrations
  • Texas State Rifle Association1 registration

Against

  • Self1 registration
  • Texas Civil Rights Project1 registration
Sources

27 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.

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.

FILED BEFORE

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

88R SB 1166

by Sen. Birdwell, same lead author · Did not pass · reworked

Introduced text

Last action, May 17, 2023: Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)

Relating to the punishment for the offense of burglary of a vehicle involving theft of a firearm; increasing a criminal penalty.

Caption, 88R bill history

Sources

Texas Senate · Filed Jan 22, 2025

05/26/2025 H Placed on General State Calendar

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · Senate Committee Report · Engrossed · House Committee Report

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

Coauthors
César BlancoDSenate 29 Sarah EckhardtDSenate 14
Sponsors
David CookRHouse 96

House committee · Criminal Jurisprudence · Committee vote 8 aye, 1 nay, 2 absent · Out of committee

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

Subjects

Crimes--Against Property

Criminal Procedure--General

Criminal Procedure--Sentencing & Punishment

Weapons

BURGLARY

Text

The text as introduced · 402 words

89R5818 CJD-F

By: Birdwell
S.B. No. 872

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the punishment for the offense of burglary of a vehicle

involving theft of a firearm; increasing a criminal penalty.

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

SECTION 1. Sections 30.04(b) and (d), Penal Code, are

amended to read as follows:

(b) For purposes of this section :

(1) "Enter" [ , "enter" ] means to intrude:

(A) [ (1) ] any part of the body; or

(B) [ (2) ] any physical object connected with the

body.

(2) "Firearm" has the meaning assigned by Section

46.01.

(d) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor,

except that:

(1) the offense is a Class A misdemeanor with a minimum

term of confinement of six months if it is shown on the trial of the

offense that the defendant has been previously convicted of an

offense under this section;

(2) the offense is a state jail felony if:

(A) it is shown on the trial of the offense that

the defendant has been previously convicted two or more times of an

offense under this section; or

(B) the vehicle or part of the vehicle broken

into or entered is a rail car; and

(3) the offense is a felony of the third degree if:

(A) the vehicle broken into or entered is owned

or operated by a wholesale distributor of prescription drugs and

the actor breaks into or enters that vehicle with the intent to

commit theft of a controlled substance; [ or ]

(B) it is shown on the trial of the offense that

the actor committed the offense in the course of committing an

offense under Section 20.05(a)(2) ; or

(C) the actor committed theft of a firearm during

the commission of the offense .

SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies 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 the former 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.