Texas Senate bill by Sen. Eckhardt permits specific property images online

Passed bill authored by State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt seeks to clarify exceptions for posting residential property images online, aiming to balance transparency with privacy concerns after winning approval in both chambers, according to the Texas Legislature website.

In the Senate, 11 Democrats and 17 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while three Republicans opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the House, 53 Democrats and 26 Republicans voted in favor, while 58 Republicans voted against it.

Sarah Eckhardt introduced the bill in the Texas Senate on Wednesday, Jan. 29, during the 89th regular legislative session.

Eckhardt graduated from New York University in 1986 with a BA and again in 1998 from University of Texas with a JD.

Eckhardt, a Democrat, was elected to the Texas State Senate in 2020 to represent the state’s 14th Senate district, replacing previous state senator Kirk Watson.

According to the Texas Legislature, the bill’s official text was summarized as follows: ‘Relating to the periodic reappraisal of property by, and the prohibition on posting on the Internet certain information held by, an appraisal district’.

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

In essence, the bill amends Section 25.027(b) of the Texas Tax Code to specify exceptions to the prohibition on posting certain residential property information online by appraisal districts. It permits the online display of aerial photographs depicting more than one separately owned building, street-level photographs showing only the exterior of a building, and field records or overhead sketches outlining building structures, general landscape features, and dimensions or distances between them. The act will take effect immediately upon receiving a two-thirds majority vote in each legislative house; otherwise, it will be effective Sept. 1, 2025.

The bill was co-authored by Sen. Roland Gutierrez (Democrat – District 19) and Sen. Mayes Middleton (Republican – District 11), along with two other authors.

The bill received its final legislative approval on Friday, May 30, and was filed without the Governor’s signature on Sunday, June 22.

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.