Texas bill would keep unsubstantiated complaints against police officers from the public

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A bill that would let Texas law enforcement agencies keep unsubstantiated complaints against officers private is gaining momentum in the Texas Legislature.

Senate Bill 15, authored by Republican state Sen. Phil King of Weatherford, would require law enforcement agencies to create a confidential department file — also called a “G-file” — to hold any unsubstantiated allegations against an officer as well as those that did not result in disciplinary actions.

The G-file would also include “any letter, memorandum or document” related to the officer that are not their substantiated misconduct complaints, commendations, awards or periodic evaluations. Those remaining records would be in the officer’s personnel file, which would still be publicly accessible through the state’s open records law.

King said the proposal standardizes the public disclosure policy of law enforcement agencies across the state. Supporters of the bill said the measure could benefit public safety by encouraging supervisors to document critical assessments of officers without fear the records could become public. These backers and King, a former police officer in Fort Worth, also said releasing unsubstantiated misconduct complaints could be defamatory to the officers.

“It is working against us to publicly release unfounded allegations against officers,” said Jennifer Szimanski, deputy executive director of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas. “You can’t put that toothpaste back in the tube.”

But critics said the bill would hinder police transparency and accountability.

“They claim to want the trust of the community, but then they do everything possible to not earn that trust,” said Chris Harris, associate director of advocacy for the Texas Civil Rights Project. Staff members from the group have also testified against the proposal.

SB 15 cleared the Texas Senate on Tuesday with a 18-12 vote. It is now slated for a hearing in the Texas House’s Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans’ Affairs committee on Friday.

The legislation followed a 2023 state review of the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, which requires that the agency “standardizes what documentation needs to be included in a license holder’s personnel file.”

Around 26,000 peace officers currently have confidential files similar to what is being proposed, according to Szimanski. These include officers in some of the state’s largest cities that have opted into the state framework for police and firefighters’ civil service, such as Houston and San Antonio.

SB 15, if adopted, would extend the use of G-files to every law enforcement agency across the state. There are currently under 110,000 peace officers and jailers in Texas, according to TCOLE.

Critics said the bill could lead officers — especially those in smaller agencies with fewer resources to shield themselves from conflicts of interest — to disregard or downplay complaints. They also noted that the proposal does not explicitly require agencies to conduct an internal investigation of any kind before marking a claim as unsubstantiated.

“It creates an extremely perverse incentive for them to never find anything wrong,” said Harris.

Some Republican lawmakers have previously raised similar concerns.

“A chief that’s befriended somebody that is a subordinate could continue to hide wrongful action,” state Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, said during this year’s first special legislative session.

King, however, argued that SB 15 would create proper guardrails for these small agencies.

“There are probably law enforcement agencies out there that basically have no files other than the minimal amount that TCOLE might require them to keep,” he said. “I think that this puts a model policy in place that every law enforcement agency is going to have to follow, and everybody will know what all the rules are.”

Some critics including Kathy Mitchell, a criminal justice policy advocate with Equity Action, also raised concerns about how the bill would affect the disclosure of police records related to the Uvalde shooting. The Texas Department of Public Safety continues fighting a judge’s order to release hundreds of videos and investigative files of the botched response to the worst school shooting in Texas history.

During the Senate floor hearing on Monday, Democratic state Sen. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio also grilled King about this issue. King said the bill would not have an impact on lawsuits. Gutierrez countered that the state’s Open Records Act should preclude the need for lawsuits in the first place.

Meanwhile, others said they are worried about how SB 15 would interact with local laws such as the Austin Police Oversight Act, which unseals G-files despite the city’s civil service rules. Voters there approved that requirement. But King has said during two Senate floor hearings that the bill wouldn’t supersede Austin’s current policy.

In addition, the bill specifically allows certain materials to be released, such as body-worn camera footage. It would also not impede disclosures required by criminal investigations and court processes as mandated under the Sandra Bland and Michael Morton Acts.

“Wherever it’s required by other law, this bill doesn’t apply,” King said.

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