SB 890: visiting judges count as retired for handgun licenses

Caption

relating to the issuance of a license to carry a handgun to certain active and retired judicial officers.

Summary

Two code sections no longer decide who counts.

This bill changes who counts as an active or retired judicial officer under the state's handgun license law. It touches judges, including visiting judges on county and probate courts, by removing the rule that a visiting judge had to be appointed under two specific code sections to count as retired. More visiting judges can now use the judicial-officer route to a handgun license starting September 1, 2025.

Labels

Labels: BACK FROM THE DEAD. Same text as a bill filed before that died: 88R SB 1216 (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.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-SB890 · 2025-01-24

SOLD BY

Sen. Angela PaxtonRSenate 8

+ 1 coauthor

ITEM

relating to the issuance of a license to carry a handgun to certain active and retired judicial officers.

WHAT IT DOES

Two code sections no longer decide who counts.

This bill changes who counts as an active or retired judicial officer under the state's handgun license law. It touches judges, including visiting judges on county and probate courts, by removing the rule that a visiting judge had to be appointed under two specific code sections to count as retired. More visiting judges can now use the judicial-officer route to a handgun license 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 · February 23, 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

Jan 24, 2025Received by the Secretary of the Senate
Jan 24, 2025Filed
Feb 13, 2025Read first time
Feb 13, 2025Referred to State Affairs
Feb 24, 2025Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
Feb 24, 2025Considered in public hearing
Feb 24, 2025Testimony taken in committee
Feb 24, 2025Left pending in committee
Mar 3, 2025Considered in public hearing
Mar 3, 2025Vote taken in committee
Mar 5, 2025Reported favorably w/o amendments
Mar 5, 2025Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
Mar 5, 2025Committee report printed and distributed
Mar 11, 2025Co-author authorized
Mar 11, 2025Placed on intent calendar
Mar 12, 2025Rules suspended-Constitutional 60-Day
Mar 12, 2025Rules suspended-Regular order of business
Mar 12, 2025Vote recorded in Journal
Mar 12, 2025Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment
Mar 12, 2025Vote recorded in Journal
Mar 12, 2025Three day rule suspended
Mar 12, 2025Record vote
Mar 12, 2025Read 3rd time
Mar 12, 2025Passed
Mar 12, 2025Record vote
Mar 12, 2025Reported engrossed
Mar 13, 2025Received from the Senate
Apr 9, 2025Read first time
Apr 9, 2025Referred to Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans' Affairs
Apr 24, 2025Considered in formal meeting
Apr 24, 2025Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
Apr 28, 2025Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
Apr 28, 2025Committee report distributed
Apr 29, 2025Committee report sent to Calendars
May 19, 2025Considered in Calendars
May 21, 2025Placed on General State Calendar
May 22, 2025Read 2nd time
May 22, 2025Passed to 3rd reading
May 22, 2025Record vote RV#3217
May 22, 2025Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
May 23, 2025Read 3rd time
May 23, 2025Passed
May 23, 2025Record vote RV#3314
May 23, 2025Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
May 23, 2025House passage reported
May 23, 2025Reported enrolled
May 26, 2025Signed in the Senate
May 26, 2025Signed in the House
May 27, 2025Sent to the Governor
Jun 20, 2025Signed by the Governor
Jun 20, 2025Effective on 9/1/25

FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

House · 105 yea · 33 nay

Senate · 28 yea · 3 nay

Sources

House: Final passage · May 23, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate: Final passage · Mar 12, 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

Angela Paxton

Donors

James Stanton$47,500Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$40KGary Blake$30,000

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 27, 2024 to Jun 30, 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.

James Stanton$47,500.00

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$40,000.00

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$40,000.00

Cash: $40,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $40,000.00

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 · Dec 11, 2024 to Jun 30, 2025. 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: 100982305, 101012314.

Gary Blake$30,000.00

Money

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

×

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$40,000.00

Cash: $40,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $40,000.00

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 · Dec 11, 2024 to Jun 30, 2025. 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: 100982305, 101012314.

Votes5

House May 23, 2025

Yea: 105
Nay: 33
Present, not voting: 2
Absent: 4
Excused: 6

Names

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

House journal

Sources

Record 3314

SB 890 was passed by (Record 3314): 105 Yeas, 33 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

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

Yea: 105 (published)
Nay: 33 (published)
Present, not voting: 2 (published)
Absent: 4 (derived from named list)
Excused: 6 (derived from named list)

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

House May 22, 2025

Yea: 100
Nay: 35
Present, not voting: 2
Absent: 4
Excused: 9

Names

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

House journal

Sources

Record 3217

SB 890 was passed to third reading by (Record 3217): 100 Yeas, 35 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

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

Yea: 100 (published)
Nay: 35 (published)
Present, not voting: 2 (published)
Absent: 4 (derived from named list)
Excused: 9 (derived from named list)

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

Senate Mar 12, 2025

Yea: 28
Nay: 3
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 28, Nays 3. (Same as previous roll call)

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

Yea: 28 (published)
Nay: 3 (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 Mar 12, 2025

Yea: 28
Nay: 3
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 Paxton moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that SB 890 be placed on its third reading and final passage. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 28, Nays 3.

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

Yea: 28 (published)
Nay: 3 (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 Mar 12, 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 Paxton moved to suspend Section 5, Article III of the Texas Constitution, Senate Rule 7.13, and the regular order of business to take up for consideration SB 890 at this time: SB 890, Relating to the issuance of a license to carry a handgun to certain active and retired judicial officers. The motion prevailed. Senators Cook, Eckhardt, and Johnson 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.

Witnesses6

For: 5
Against: 0
On: 1

Names

For

Self3 registrations
Self; Gun Owners of America1 registration
The 24 Statutory Probate Courts of Texas1 registration

On

Texas Department of Public Safety1 registration

Sources

6 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 · February 23, 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 1216

by Sen. Paxton, same lead author · Did not pass · same text

Introduced text

Last action, May 23, 2023: Placed on General State Calendar

Relating to the issuance of a license to carry a handgun to certain active and retired judicial officers.

Caption, 88R bill history

Sources

Texas Senate · Filed Jan 24, 2025

06/20/2025 E Effective on 9/1/25

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

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

Coauthors

Bob HallRSenate 2

Companion

HB 3789 by Hefner (identical)

Subjects

Courts--County & Statutory

Courts--Judges

Weapons

Text

The text as introduced · 303 words

89R1637 CJD-F

By: Paxton
S.B. No. 890

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the issuance of a license to carry a handgun to certain

active and retired judicial officers.

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

SECTION 1. Sections 411.201(a)(1) and (3), Government Code,

are amended to read as follows:

(1) "Active judicial officer" means:

(A) a person serving as a judge or justice of the

supreme court, the court of criminal appeals, a court of appeals, a

district court, a criminal district court, a constitutional county

court, a statutory county court, a statutory probate court, a

justice court, or a municipal court;

(B) a federal judge who is a resident of this

state; or

(C) a person appointed and serving as an

associate judge under Chapter 201, Family Code.

(3) "Retired judicial officer" means:

(A) a visiting judge appointed to serve as the

judge of a constitutional county court, a statutory county court,

or a statutory probate court [ under Section 26.023 or 26.024 ];

(B) a senior judge designated under Section

75.001 or a judicial officer as designated or defined by Section

75.001, 831.001, or 836.001; or

(C) a retired federal judge who is a resident of

this state.

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.

Verdict: No flags

The receipt

SOLD BY

ITEM

WHAT IT DOES

CHARGES

TOTAL

HISTORY

SIGNED FOR BY

Donors

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

House May 23, 2025

House May 22, 2025

Senate Mar 12, 2025

Senate Mar 12, 2025

Senate Mar 12, 2025

For

On

88R SB 1216

Companion