Texas House bill by Rep. Harris limits weapon disclosure requirements for foster homes

Passed bill authored by State Rep. Cody Harris aims to limit disclosure and reporting requirements regarding weapons in agency foster homes, seeking to protect confidentiality and regulate information use following its approval in both chambers, according to the Texas Legislature website.

In the House, 25 Democrats and 82 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while 34 Democrats and two Republicans opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, two Democrats and 20 Republicans voted in favor, while nine Democrats voted against it.

Cody Harris introduced the bill in the Texas House on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, ahead of the official start of the 89th regular legislative session on Jan. 14, 2025.

Harris graduated from Texas A&M University in 2006 with a BS.

Harris, a Republican, was elected to the Texas State House in 2019 to represent the state’s 8th House district, replacing previous state representative Byron Cook.

According to the Texas Legislature, the bill’s official text was summarized as follows: ‘Relating to the collection and confidentiality of information regarding firearms in agency foster homes; creating a civil penalty’.

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, the bill mandates that the commission, department, or child-placing agencies contracted with the department cannot require agency foster homes to disclose or report changes in the types of weapons, including firearms, they possess. It specifies that if such entities obtain information about the presence of weapons, they may only use it to confirm the presence of weapons, without further obligations. A violation of these conditions by a child-placing agency incurs a civil penalty up to $5,000 for each infraction, enforceable by the attorney general. Additionally, any information about weapons in these homes is deemed confidential and exempt from disclosure under specific government codes. This act is set to take effect Sept. 1, 2025.

The bill was co-authored by Rep. Terry Wilson (Republican – District 20), Rep. David Spiller (Republican – District 68), and Rep. Christian Manuel (Democrat – District 22), along with five other authors.

The bill received its final legislative approval on Wednesday, May 28, and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday, June 20.

Bills in Texas go through a multi-step legislative process, including committee review, debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching a final decision. Each session, there are typically thousands of bills introduced, but only a portion successfully navigate the process to become law.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.