SB1080

SB1080 expands opportunities to arrange an occupational license before leaving prison and changes when imprisonment requires a license to be revoked. It became law without the governor’s signature and took effect May 27, 2025. It is not a guarantee that every person with a conviction can receive or keep every kind of license. Official history; Final law.

Revocation: licensing authorities may still revoke a license because the holder is imprisoned after a felony conviction. Revocation remains mandatory when that felony directly relates to the occupation, is among the offenses listed in Code of Criminal Procedure article 42A.054, or is a sexually violent offense as defined in article 62.001. Imprisonment following revocation of felony community supervision, parole or mandatory supervision also still requires revocation. The change makes revocation discretionary, rather than automatic, for other felony-imprisonment cases covered by these provisions. Final law, section 2; CR 42A.054; CR 62.001.

Provisional licenses: the term increases from six to 12 months. For an applicant imprisoned in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), that term starts upon release, not while the applicant remains in prison. The law expressly includes inmates and certain parole or mandatory-supervision releasees living in halfway houses or community residential facilities who are enrolled in or have completed a Windham School District program or a program offered by an institution of higher education as defined by Education Code 61.003. The word “including” means those are not the only applicants with convictions whom the provisional-license provision covers. Final law, section 3; GV 508.118; GV 508.119; ED 61.003.

Limits still matter: the section’s existing requirement to issue an ordinary or provisional license applies to otherwise qualified applicants and excludes the offense categories in section 53.021(a). Section 53.0211 does not cover licenses allowing law-enforcement services, public health, education or safety services, or specified regulated financial services. Chapter 53 also has its own exclusions. Existing provisional-license rules still require revocation for a new offense, conduct causing supervision or parole revocation, or a violation of the occupation’s law or rules; absent those events, the ordinary license must issue when the provisional term expires. OC 53.0211, subsections (a), (d)–(g); OC 53.021, subsection (a); OC 53.002; Final law.

Earlier issuance and information sharing: the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation may issue a license before a TDCJ inmate’s release if the inmate is enrolled in or has completed one of the specified educational programs. This is an exception to that department’s former wait-until-release rule, not permission to skip eligibility checks. TDCJ must provide requested inmate information for a licensing authority’s eligibility determination. Licensing authorities requesting information about an inmate or releasee who has applied for a license are also added to the authorized recipients of confidential parole-related information; the law does not make those records generally public. Final law, sections 1, 3–4; OC 51.001; OC 51.4014; GV 508.313.