Bill Text: TX SB1402 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to group home registration with municipal police departments or county sheriff's departments and welfare checks on group home residents; providing a civil penalty.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-19 - Filed [SB1402 Detail]
Download: Texas-2025-SB1402-Introduced.html
| 89R5913 EAS-D | ||
| By: West | S.B. No. 1402 | |
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| relating to group home registration with municipal police | ||
| departments or county sheriff's departments and welfare checks on | ||
| group home residents; providing a civil penalty. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Chapter 769, Health and Safety Code, as added by | ||
| Chapter 141 (S.B. 188), Acts of the 88th Legislature, Regular | ||
| Session, 2023, is amended by adding Sections 769.004 and 769.005 to | ||
| read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 769.004. GROUP HOME REGISTRATION REQUIRED; CIVIL | ||
| PENALTY. (a) Not later than the 60th day after the date a group | ||
| home begins operating, the owner or operator of the group home | ||
| shall: | ||
| (1) for a group home located in a municipality, | ||
| register with: | ||
| (A) the municipality's police department; or | ||
| (B) the sheriff's department of the county in | ||
| which the group home is located if the municipality does not have a | ||
| police department; or | ||
| (2) for a group home located in the unincorporated | ||
| area of a county, register with the sheriff's department of the | ||
| county. | ||
| (b) The registration required by Subsection (a) must: | ||
| (1) be in the form and manner prescribed by the | ||
| municipal police department or sheriff's department, as | ||
| applicable; and | ||
| (2) include: | ||
| (A) contact information for the owner or operator | ||
| of the group home; and | ||
| (B) emergency contact information for another | ||
| group home representative if the contact information used during an | ||
| emergency is different than the contact information for the owner | ||
| or operator. | ||
| (c) A group home that violates Subsection (a) is liable for | ||
| a civil penalty of $2,500 for the first violation. Each day a | ||
| violation continues is considered a separate violation, and the | ||
| group home is liable for a civil penalty of $100 for each subsequent | ||
| day the violation continues. | ||
| (d) The municipality or county served by the police or | ||
| sheriff's department with which the group home is required to | ||
| register may bring an action to recover the civil penalty | ||
| authorized by Subsection (c). The municipality or county may | ||
| recover court costs and attorney's fees incurred in bringing the | ||
| action if the municipality or county prevails in the action. | ||
| Sec. 769.005. WELFARE CHECKS. Notwithstanding any other | ||
| law, a municipal police department or a sheriff's department may | ||
| conduct periodic welfare checks on residents of group homes | ||
| required to register with the department under this chapter. | ||
| SECTION 2. It is the intent of the 89th Legislature, Regular | ||
| Session, 2025, that the amendments made by this Act be harmonized | ||
| with another Act of the 89th Legislature, Regular Session, 2025, | ||
| relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted | ||
| codes. | ||
| SECTION 3. Not later than November 1, 2025, each group home | ||
| in this state that began operating before the effective date of this | ||
| Act shall register with a municipal police department or sheriff's | ||
| department, as applicable, as required by Section 769.004, Health | ||
| and Safety Code, as added by this Act. | ||
| SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. | ||
