2025 Texas sessionsRegular and both called sessions have ended. This index covers House and Senate bills, not resolutions. Statuses come from official reports.

2025 · Regular session · House bill

HB2306

HB2306 eliminates a negotiated route to parole eligibility for people sentenced for the child- or disabled-victim trafficking offenses in Penal Code 20A.02(a)(5)–(8).

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Official caption: Relating to changing the eligibility for release on parole of certain inmates serving sentences for trafficking offenses involving child victims and disabled individuals.

Signed by governorSource-checked explanation published

Official report lists House author(s): Villalobos, Leo Wilson, Troxclair, Cook, Plesa. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.

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Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.

Bill highlights

Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.

HB2306 eliminates a negotiated route to parole eligibility for people sentenced for the child- or disabled-victim trafficking offenses in Penal Code 20A.02(a)(5)–(8).
The main change is removal of an exception, not creation of a no-parole rule from scratch.
The change applies only to offenses committed on or after September 1, 2025.

Read the full explanation ↓

What does it do?

HB2306 eliminates a negotiated route to parole eligibility for people sentenced for the child- or disabled-victim trafficking offenses in Penal Code 20A.02(a)(5)–(8). These cover trafficking for forced labor or services, benefiting from that venture, trafficking for specified sexual exploitation, and benefiting from that exploitation or engaging in sexual conduct with a person trafficked in that manner. The law puts these offenses directly in the no-parole list. It retains the existing no-parole rule for continuous trafficking based partly or wholly on those same offenses. Final law, Section 1; trafficking offenses.

The main change is removal of an exception, not creation of a no-parole rule from scratch. Former law already generally barred parole for these four offenses. But a defendant pleading guilty could qualify for a limited exception when the prosecutor, defense attorney and defendant agreed in writing and the judgment contained the required court finding. That exception allowed parole eligibility after actual time served reached half the sentence or 30 years, whichever was less, with a two-year minimum and no good-conduct-time credit toward that threshold. Eligibility did not guarantee release. HB2306 repeals both the court-finding provision and the exception. Final law, Sections 1–3; 2021 law that established the former exception, Sections 1–3.

The change applies only to offenses committed on or after September 1, 2025. If any element occurred before that date, the former law remains applicable. The act changes parole eligibility; it does not convert every sentence into a life sentence, change the statutory trafficking punishment range, or abolish every form of release under other law. Final law, Sections 4–5; official history.

What changed along the way?

All five bill versions—introduced, House committee, engrossed, Senate committee and enrolled—have the same substantive provisions. Only printing marks and certification material differ. The official amendment index lists no amendments, and both committees reported the bill without amendments. The final act moves the covered offenses into Government Code 508.145(a), adjusts the related reference in subsection (d), and repeals subsection (c-1) and Code of Criminal Procedure Article 42.01991. Text versions; introduced text; amendment index; final law.

Other 2025 laws also amended the parole statute. HB1422 added a separate child-sex-abuse offense, and HB1871 added a particular attempted-capital-murder offense. Those additions are not changes made by HB2306; this explanation does not treat HB2306’s printed list as the only applicable 2025 amendment. HB1422, Section 8; HB1871, Sections 2–3.

For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.

Official bill versions

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?

For covered new offenses, victims and the public have the assurance that the former negotiated exception cannot make the offender eligible for parole. Defendants lose that route to parole consideration, and prosecutors and defense lawyers can no longer use that particular agreement. Some people may spend longer in prison, potentially increasing correctional costs. The act does not establish compensation for victims or prove that trafficking will decline. Final law; criminal-justice impact statement.

The Legislative Budget Board’s May 22, 2025 engrossed fiscal note assumes no significant effect on state correctional populations or resources and no significant local enforcement, prosecution, supervision or confinement cost. Its criminal-justice statement nevertheless recognizes that longer confinement may increase resource demands. It reports 109 arrests, three adult community-supervision placements and 30 adult prison admissions in fiscal 2024 for the specified offenses—not forecasts of additional prisoners caused by this law. The April 8 introduced fiscal note and impact statement reach the same conclusions. No dollar cost estimate is supplied. Engrossed fiscal note; engrossed impact statement; introduced fiscal note; introduced impact statement.

Official sources

Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.