HB1620

HB1620 is a statewide code-maintenance law, not a new package of all the programs and penalties printed in its text. Effective September 1, 2025, its 23 articles reconcile overlapping earlier laws, correct references and drafting errors, move provisions into their proper chapters, and remove duplicate section numbers. Its stated purposes include revision without substantive change and necessary corrections. Final law; Legislative Council explanation of the code-update process.

The largest portions reconcile two 2023 reorganizations with other legislation passed that year: the criminal-procedure revision in HB4504, and the health and human services revision in HB4611. The result puts previously enacted changes into the reorganized code, rather than treating the older reorganizing bill as if it had erased them. The act also combines multiple amendments to the same provisions covering matters such as criminal offenses, protected property-record information, professional licensing, public employees and local hotel taxes. Final law, Articles 5, 8 and 15–20; 2023 HB4504; 2023 HB4611.

Concrete examples show why the distinction matters:

• Youth diversion: The bill places procedures for eligible children’s nontraffic, fine-only cases into Criminal Procedure Chapter 45A. The diversion program and its possible $50 parent administrative fee came from 2023 HB3186; HB1620 is not creating that program or imposing a new $50 charge. The carried-forward rules require a waiver for insufficient means and prohibit making diversion depend on fee payment. HB1620, Section 5.027; HB3186, Articles 45.301–45.313 and transition dates.
• Medicaid home monitoring: The bill aligns reorganized provisions with 2023 HB2727, including its provider and patient criteria, cost-effectiveness requirements and conditions for high-risk-pregnancy equipment. Reprinting those provisions does not establish a new universal entitlement to monitoring equipment. HB1620, Sections 8.017 and 8.047; 2023 HB2727.
• Quarry safety: References to the Railroad Commission become references to the Department of Transportation. The underlying transfer already occurred under 2003 HB2847; HB1620 does not newly transfer the regulatory program in 2025. HB1620, Article 14; 2003 transfer law.
• Data brokers and other duplicate citations: The 2023 data-broker law moves from Business & Commerce Code Chapter 509 to Chapter 510, with matching reference corrections. Its registration and civil-penalty framework is not newly created here. Article 22 similarly renumbers many other provisions, including education, health, district, tax, transportation and utility laws. HB1620, Article 22; original data-broker law, 2023 SB2105.

A particularly important correction fixes garbled wording in the active-shooter-training certification law. It now clearly refers to training for peace officers of public schools and institutions of higher education, removing the leftover phrase “students or employees at.” The adopted 2023 House amendment had directed that replacement, but the enrolled 2023 text retained both phrases. HB1620 expressly identifies this as an enrollment error; it does not establish the certification program for the first time. HB1620, Section 15.002; 2023 SB999 enrolled text; adopted 2023 amendment.

The law preserves applicable transition provisions and earlier validations. It also says that another statute enacted in the 2025 regular session controls if it conflicts with this update, and preserves that session’s amendments to statutes being repealed or recodified. Readers should therefore not use this bill alone as a complete statement of current law on every subject it mentions. Final law, Sections 1.002–1.004.