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 · Senate bill

SB1137

SB1137 restricts paid referrals to unlicensed or unpermitted group homes, while allowing two specific exceptions and requiring disclosure of known complaints.

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Official caption: Relating to group home consultant referrals; creating a criminal offense.

Signed by governorSource-checked explanation published

Official report lists Senate author(s): Miles. 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.

SB1137 restricts paid referrals to unlicensed or unpermitted group homes, while allowing two specific exceptions and requiring disclosure of known complaints.
The default rule prohibits a consultant from referring someone to a home whose operator lacks a license or permit issued under applicable state law or local regulation.
The law does not define a geographic radius for “region,” set an income cutoff for inability to afford a home, or turn the actual-knowledge disclosure rule into an express duty to discover every complaint.
Coverage is narrower than every shared residence: A group home here provides lodging to at least three residents unrelated by blood or marriage to the owner, together with specified support such as meals, housework, transport, money management, laundry or help with self-administered medication, but not the personal-care services defined in section 247.002.
A consultant who violates the new section commits a Class B misdemeanor.

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What does it do?

SB1137 restricts paid referrals to unlicensed or unpermitted group homes, while allowing two specific exceptions and requiring disclosure of known complaints. A covered consultant is a person with knowledge of group homes who refers potential residents to particular homes and collects compensation for doing so. Signed June 20, 2025, the law took effect September 1, 2025. Final law; Official history.

The default rule prohibits a consultant from referring someone to a home whose operator lacks a license or permit issued under applicable state law or local regulation. A referral to an unlicensed or unpermitted home is allowed only if either no licensed or permitted group home operates in the region where the person wants to live, or the person or their family cannot afford the licensed or permitted home the consultant referred in that region. In either situation, before the referral the consultant must tell the prospective resident about any complaints against the home of which the consultant has actual knowledge. An exception does not remove that disclosure duty. Final law, section 767.004(b)–(d).

The law does not define a geographic radius for “region,” set an income cutoff for inability to afford a home, or turn the actual-knowledge disclosure rule into an express duty to discover every complaint. It also does not create a new statewide group-home license or make an otherwise unlawful operation lawful. Its new rule governs the consultant’s referral. Final law.

Coverage is narrower than every shared residence. A group home here provides lodging to at least three residents unrelated by blood or marriage to the owner, together with specified support such as meals, housework, transport, money management, laundry or help with self-administered medication, but not the personal-care services defined in section 247.002. Existing exemptions remain for the listed licensed providers and statutory licensing exemptions, hotels, retirement communities, monasteries or convents, defined child-care facilities and family-violence shelters, and college-associated sorority, fraternity or other dormitory housing. Final law, sections 767.001–.002; HS 247.002.

A consultant who violates the new section commits a Class B misdemeanor. The ordinary statutory punishment for an individual is a fine up to $2,000, jail up to 180 days, or both—not an automatic maximum sentence in every case. Final law, section 767.004(e); PE 12.22.

What changed along the way?

The act moves the group-home chapter enacted by SB188 in 2023 from chapter 769 to chapter 767 and adds the consultant-referral section. The definition, exemptions and employee criminal-history requirements are carried forward. The existing Class A offense for prohibited hiring or continued employment is distinct from the new Class B consultant offense; SB1137 did not create that older hiring offense. 2023 SB188; Final law.

The introduced, Senate committee, engrossed, House committee and enrolled operative texts match. The official amendment index lists no amendments, so there is no floor proposal to describe as having survived or failed. Introduced bill; All versions; Amendment index; Final law.

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?

Prospective residents gain a restriction on paid referrals to unlicensed or unpermitted homes and a right to hear about complaints the consultant actually knows before an exception-based referral. Consultants must comply with the limits or risk criminal prosecution. The affordability and local-availability exceptions mean the act is not a complete ban on referrals to such homes, nor a guarantee that a referred home is safe. Final law.

The March 31 fiscal note anticipates no significant state impact. The court administration office anticipates no significant state-court cost, and the health commission says consultant complaints can be handled with existing resources. The note assumes no significant correctional-resource or local enforcement, prosecution, supervision or confinement impact. It does not estimate residents’ housing costs, referral fees or a reduction in abuse. Fiscal note.

Official sources

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