Monitoring the Session

SB 992

attorney general gets 25 days on outside lawyer contracts

Became law, effective Sep 1, 2025

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Sen. Robert NicholsRSenate 3

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 procedure by which the attorney general approves or denies approval of a state agency contract for outside legal services.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

A no comes with a written reason.

The bill gives the attorney general 25 days to approve or deny a state agency's contract for outside lawyers. If the attorney general says no, the office must give the agency a written reason. It also removes the old, vaguer 'timely act' and reason-for-denial language from the Teacher Retirement System section, because the new general rule now covers it.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-SB992 · 2025-01-29

SOLD BY

Sen. Robert NicholsRSenate 3

+ 1 coauthor

ITEM

relating to the procedure by which the attorney general approves or denies approval of a state agency contract for outside legal services.

WHAT IT DOES

A no comes with a written reason.

The bill gives the attorney general 25 days to approve or deny a state agency's contract for outside lawyers. If the attorney general says no, the office must give the agency a written reason. It also removes the old, vaguer 'timely act' and reason-for-denial language from the Teacher Retirement System section, because the new general rule now covers it.

CHARGES

[ ] NONE FOUND

TOTAL

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version E · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version E · May 8, 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 State Affairs
  5. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  6. Considered in public hearing
  7. Left pending in committee
  8. Considered in public hearing
  9. Vote taken in committee
  10. Reported favorably w/o amendments
  11. Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
  12. Committee report printed and distributed
  13. Corrected comm. report printed & distributed
  14. Placed on intent calendar
  15. Co-author authorized
  16. Rules suspended-Constitutional 60-Day
  17. Rules suspended-Regular order of business
  18. Vote recorded in Journal
  19. Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment
  20. Vote recorded in Journal
  21. Three day rule suspended
  22. Record vote
  23. Read 3rd time
  24. Passed
  25. Record vote
  26. Reported engrossed
  27. Received from the Senate
  28. Read first time
  29. Referred to State Affairs
  30. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  31. Considered in public hearing
  32. Left pending in committee
  33. Considered in formal meeting
  34. Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
  35. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  36. Committee report distributed
  37. Committee report sent to Calendars
  38. Considered in Calendars
  39. Placed on General State Calendar
  40. Read 2nd time
  41. Passed to 3rd reading
  42. Record vote RV#2975
  43. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  44. Read 3rd time
  45. Passed
  46. Record vote RV#3046
  47. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  48. House passage reported
  49. Reported enrolled
  50. Signed in the Senate
  51. Signed in the House
  52. Sent to the Governor
  53. Signed by the Governor
  54. Effective on 9/1/25
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

House · 111 yea · 33 nay

Senate · 30 yea · 1 nay

Sources

House: Final passage · May 20, 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

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Robert Nichols

Donors

James I Perkins$25,000Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. PAC$10KTexas REALTORS Political Action Committee$10K

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 2, 2024 to Mar 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.

James I Perkins$25,000.00
Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. PAC$10,000.00

Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. PAC

$10,000.00

Cash
$10,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$10,000.00

Also funds 2 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Dec 5, 2024 to Oct 22, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Name match, not a verified identity: normalized filed name and state.

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Dec 5, 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: 100965387.

Texas REALTORS Political Action Committee$10,000.00

Texas REALTORS Political Action Committee

$10,000.00

Cash
$10,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$10,000.00

Also funds 140 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 2, 2024 to Oct 24, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Dec 5, 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: 100965387.

Money

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

×

Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. PAC

$10,000.00

Cash
$10,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$10,000.00

Also funds 2 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Dec 5, 2024 to Oct 22, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Name match, not a verified identity: normalized filed name and state.

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Dec 5, 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: 100965387.

×

Texas REALTORS Political Action Committee

$10,000.00

Cash
$10,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$10,000.00

Also funds 140 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 2, 2024 to Oct 24, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Dec 5, 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: 100965387.

Votes5

House May 20, 2025

Yea
111
Nay
33
Present, not voting
2
Absent
3
Excused
1
Names

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

House journal

Sources

Record 3046

SB 992 was passed by (Record 3046): 111 Yeas, 33 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

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

  • Yea: 111 (published)
  • Nay: 33 (published)
  • Present, not voting: 2 (published)
  • Absent: 3 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 1 (derived from named list)

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

House May 19, 2025

Yea
118
Nay
23
Present, not voting
2
Absent
3
Excused
4
Names

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

House journal

Sources

Record 2975

SB 992 was passed to third reading by (Record 2975): 118 Yeas, 23 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

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

  • Yea: 118 (published)
  • Nay: 23 (published)
  • Present, not voting: 2 (published)
  • Absent: 3 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 4 (derived from named list)

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

Senate Mar 12, 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 Mar 12, 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 Nichols moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that SB 992 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 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 Nichols 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 992 at this time: SB 992, Relating to the procedure by which the attorney general approves or denies approval of a state agency contract for outside legal services. The motion prevailed. Senator Creighton 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.

Witnesses2
For
2
Against
0
On
0
Names

For

  • Self2 registrations
Sources

2 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 E · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version E · May 8, 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 Jan 29, 2025

05/29/2025 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
Sarah EckhardtDSenate 14
Sponsors
Ken KingRHouse 88

House committee · State Affairs · Committee vote 15 aye, 0 nay · Out of committee

Senate committee · State Affairs · Committee vote 11 aye, 0 nay · Out of committee

Subjects

State Agencies, Boards & Commissions

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Text

The text as introduced · 320 words

89R5329 GP-D

By: Nichols
S.B. No. 992

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the procedure by which the attorney general approves or

denies approval of a state agency contract for outside legal

services.

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

SECTION 1. Section 402.0212, Government Code, is amended by

adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:

(a-1) The attorney general shall approve or deny approval of

a contract for legal services described by Subsection (a) not later

than the 25th day after the date the contract is received by the

attorney general from the submitting state agency. If the attorney

general denies approval of the contract, the attorney general shall

provide the state agency that submitted the contract a written

explanation of the reason the attorney general denied approval of

the contract.

SECTION 2. Section 825.203(c), Government Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(c) [ The attorney general shall timely act on a request to

approve a contract for outside legal services under Section

402.0212. ] If the attorney general denies the board's request for

approval of a contract for outside legal services , [ :

[ (1) the attorney general shall provide the board with

the reason for the denial; and

[ (2) ] the board may select alternative outside legal

counsel, subject to approval by the attorney general in accordance

with this section and Section 402.0212.

SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only

to a contract for legal services submitted for approval to the

attorney general on or after the effective date of this Act. A

contract submitted for approval to the attorney general before the

effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect

immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is

continued in effect for that purpose.

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