Texas House clears bill that shields some police complaints

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A bill that would let law enforcement agencies across the state keep unsubstantiated complaints against officers private has advanced from the Texas House, three days after a technical error brought down a previous effort in the chamber.

House Bill 15, authored by Republican state Rep. Cole Hefner of Mt. Pleasant, would require law enforcement agencies to create a confidential department file — also called a “G-file” — for any unsubstantiated allegations against an officer, as well as complaints that did not result in disciplinary actions.

Substantiated misconduct complaints, commendations, awards or periodic evaluations would remain in the officer’s personnel file, which would still be publicly accessible through the state’s open records law. Any “letter, memorandum or document” not related to those records would go into the G-file.

Hefner and his backers said the bill is about standardizing law enforcement agencies’ public disclosure policy. They have also said disclosure of unsubstantiated complaints could defame officers.

Critics, however, have said the bill would hinder police accountability, including by incentivizing officers to improperly examine allegations. Some are also concerned about how it would affect the release of records related to the Uvalde shooting, as the Texas Department of Public Safety is still fighting a judge’s order to release hundreds of videos and investigative files of the botched response.

The House voted 90-41 Thursday to approve HB 15 after adopting two amendments.

The first one, brought by Democratic State Rep. Joe Moody of El Paso, ensures that the bill wouldn’t reopen the dead suspects loophole. The state Legislature closed the loophole — which law enforcement agencies once used to withhold information when suspects die in police custody or at the hands of officers before receiving a conviction or deferred adjudication — in 2023.

The second one, introduced by Republic state Rep. Don McLaughlin of Uvalde, would allow the victim of alleged police misconduct — or their immediate family if they are dead — to view documents in the officer’s G-files related to the case following its investigation. But they would not be able to duplicate these records.

“This amendment is for my hometown of Uvalde and for the Robb families, who are still waiting for answers,” he said. “Three and a half years and they still don't have answers.”

Hefner initially opposed the proposal, saying that HB 15 would not hide Uvalde records. But the motion to table McLaughlin’s amendment failed, and Hefner then accepted it.

“Two things can be true: we must protect law enforcement, and we must ensure families and complainants have access to the truth. That’s the balance my amendment to HB 15 delivers,” McLaughlin said in a subsequent post on X. “I respect Chairman Hefner’s leadership on this bill and will continue to work with him and other stakeholders to achieve a clear path forward that safeguards our officers while giving families the transparency they deserve.”

The Thursday vote followed Moody’s successful point-of-order — a parliamentary procedure that aims to delay or kill legislation on a technicality — against a nearly identical proposal, Senate Bill 15, on Monday. A day later, Gov. Greg Abbott updated the wording of his second special session’s agenda to address the error.

The legislation now heads to the Senate, which had previously cleared SB 15.

The proposal came after 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.”

If adopted, the bill would extend the use of G-files to every law enforcement agency across Texas, which has under 110,000 peace officers and jailers, according to TCOLE.

Such files already apply to around 26,000 peace officers, according to Jennifer Szimanski, deputy executive editor of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas. These include officers in dozens of cities that have opted into the state framework for police and firefighters’ civil service, including major ones such as Houston and San Antonio.

The bill doesn’t cover certain materials, such as body-worn camera footage. It also would not affect Austin’s Police Oversight Act, which unseals G-files despite the city having civil service rules. In addition, the proposal would not stop disclosures for criminal investigations and court processes as required under the Sandra Bland and Michael Morton acts.

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