Bill Text: TX HB437 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the placement of children in a detention or correctional facility according to biological sex.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-11-12 - Filed [HB437 Detail]

Download: Texas-2025-HB437-Introduced.html

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89R4168 MCF-D
By: Swanson H.B. No. 437

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the placement of children in a detention or
correctional facility according to biological sex.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the Juvenile Girls
Protection Act.
SECTION 2. Section 51.12(m), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(m) The Texas Juvenile Justice Department may deny,
suspend, or revoke the registration of any facility required to
register under Subsection (i) if the facility fails to:
(1) adhere to all applicable minimum standards for the
facility; [or]
(2) timely correct any notice of noncompliance with
minimum standards; or
(3) strictly comply with the requirements of Section
51.127.
SECTION 3. Section 51.125(e), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(e) The Texas Juvenile Justice Department may deny,
suspend, or revoke the registration of any facility required to
register under Subsection (d) if the facility fails to:
(1) adhere to all applicable minimum standards for the
facility; [or]
(2) timely correct any notice of noncompliance with
minimum standards; or
(3) strictly comply with the requirements of Section
51.127.
SECTION 4. Chapter 51, Family Code, is amended by adding
Section 51.127 to read as follows:
Sec. 51.127. PLACEMENT OF JUVENILES BASED ON BIOLOGICAL
SEX. (a) In this section, "department" means the Texas Juvenile
Justice Department.
(b) A juvenile board created under Chapter 152, Human
Resources Code, or the department, as applicable, shall place a
child in a detention or correctional facility according to the
child's biological sex, as determined by:
(1) the child's official birth certificate, if the
child's biological sex is correctly stated on the certificate as
described by Subsection (c); or
(2) if the child's official birth certificate
described by Subdivision (1) is unobtainable, another government
record that states the child's biological sex.
(c) For purposes of this section, a statement of a child's
biological sex on the child's official birth certificate is
considered to have correctly stated the child's biological sex only
if the statement was:
(1) entered at or near the time of the child's birth;
and
(2) not modified except as necessary to correct any
type of scrivener or clerical error in the child's biological sex.
(d) The vital statistics unit of the Department of State
Health Services may not charge a juvenile board or the department a
fee to issue a birth certificate for use under this section.
(e) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a juvenile board
or the department, as applicable, shall, in accordance with the
Prison Rape Elimination Act National Standards (28 C.F.R. Part 115,
Subpart D), consider the unique safety needs of each child and take
appropriate action to ensure a child's health and safety.
(f) A juvenile board and the Texas Juvenile Justice Board
shall adopt any rules necessary to implement this section. The
rules must ensure compliance with state and federal law.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2025.