SB1610

Sentencing and staff safety. The new 25–99-years-or-life range excludes a state-jail felony punishable under Penal Code section 12.35(a), not every offense called a state-jail felony. It applies when the defendant committed the felony while civilly committed under Chapter 841; it is not a new prison sentence imposed merely for being committed. Multiple convictions must run consecutively when the person was civilly committed when any of the offenses were committed, subject to the act’s transition rule. Final law, sections 1 and 15.

Indecent assault against specified civil-commitment employees or contractors becomes a third-degree felony when the actor is committed to a facility and the knowledge and duty-or-retaliation conditions are met; aggravated assault receives a comparable first-degree classification. Distinctive uniforms or badges support a presumption that an assailant knew the protected worker’s status. This is not automatic guilt: the existing rules for criminal presumptions leave the jury free not to draw the inference and preserve the state’s proof burden. Retaliation law also includes facility contractors and their employees as public servants. Final law, sections 3–7; Existing presumption safeguards, section 2.

The harassment offense involving bodily fluids now also covers other fluids or liquids, broadens the specified intent, and says a prior warning of the intended conduct is not a defense. The enacted language still requires causing contact with the protected person; an accidental spill is not enough. These changes also reach the correctional, detention and public-servant settings listed in that section, not just civil commitment. The indecent-exposure provision reconciles two 2023 amendments; its third-degree classification for a civilly committed offender was already in 2023 law. Final law, sections 2 and 6; 2023 law, section 3.

Arrest, bail and courts. Officers may arrest without a warrant on probable cause of a felony committed while the person was civilly committed. A magistrate may conduct the initial appearance at the commitment facility; the bill does not erase existing advice-of-rights and timing requirements. The affected people are excluded from specified fine-only release and prosecution-not-ready release rules. For their felony cases, bail reduction requires prosecutor notice and a hearing if requested. Bond must prohibit new offenses and require compliance with the commitment order; revocation requires a hearing and proof by a preponderance of the evidence. This is not a blanket abolition of bail. Final law, sections 9–14.

The venue provision permits prosecution of any felony committed during civil commitment in the county where an element occurred or the court retaining commitment jurisdiction. Similar language appeared in 2023 law; SB1610 places it in the recodified article. The independent Special Prosecution Unit receives authority equivalent to a prosecutor’s authority for these offenses. Separately, proceedings in the civil-litigation chapter for committed individuals claiming inability to pay costs may be held at the facility or by audiovisual link without consent, with a recorded hearing. That provision is not a rule for every civil-commitment trial. Final law, sections 8 and 22–24; 2023 venue and civil-litigation provisions, sections 7 and 10.

Registration and paid work. The underlying offense for which a person was civilly committed becomes expressly reportable and generally subject to lifetime registration, with existing statutory exceptions retained. A person who has been civilly committed and is not required to live in a commitment center joins the 90-day verification category; the statutory window is day 83 through the day before day 98. The special ten-year rule for cases transferred from juvenile to adult court now also accounts for release from civil commitment when choosing the latest starting date. It is not a general ten-year exit from registration. Final law, sections 16, 18 and 20.

The paid-work restrictions apply to the specified registrants with a qualifying court finding and to civilly committed sexually violent predators—not every registrant. Alongside existing restrictions on bus, taxi/limousine, unsupervised in-home and amusement-ride work, they now cover services at sexual-assault forensic-examination facilities, sexual-assault programs, family-violence centers and public or private primary or secondary schools, plus paid coaching, tutoring or mentoring of children under 18. The provision is not a ban on all employment or all unpaid activity. Final law, section 19.

Commitment administration. One conviction and sentence for continuous sexual abuse under Penal Code section 21.02 can satisfy the repeat-offender part of the commitment definition. This does not itself order commitment or remove the separate behavioral-abnormality requirement. A repeat referral for assessment can follow revocation for failure to meet treatment or supervision requirements. Multidisciplinary assessment-team records become confidential. The civil-commitment office gains criminal-history access for current and formerly committed people; commitment orders must enter the state criminal-history system, including older orders as soon as practicable. Staff gain good-faith immunity for registration work. Final law, sections 17, 21, 25, 28–30 and 40; Earlier commitment definition, section 2.

Housing, treatment and related contracts may run up to ten years, with unlimited renewals of up to ten years each. The office may buy specified office-use commodities outside the usual purchasing route when it documents a lower price, but the final exception is not the broad exemption proposed earlier. The family-unity policy provision loses its “in-person” qualifier for visitation; it still does not guarantee an additional visitation right. The health commission must pay court-ordered reasonable compensation for services under the special-needs provision. Final law, sections 26–27 and 31–32; Existing family-policy limits, section 14.

Committed residents, including those unable to pay, become responsible for specified property damage or loss and injury-related medical costs they cause intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or negligently, as determined and directed by the office. This is not a charge to every indigent resident for all routine treatment. Good-faith immunity is clarified for office-requested service providers, with immediate dismissal of qualifying claims. When the office requests it and the suit arises from the covered service, the attorney general must defend the provider without charging the office or provider. A finding of immunity requires a court-cost and attorney-fee award to the provider or attorney general, depending on who represented the provider. Final law, sections 33–35.

What changed during passage. Comparing the introduced bill, committee substitutes and final law shows that mandatory life-only sentencing, blanket community-supervision and parole restrictions, a no-limitations rule for covered felonies, and proposed drone and terrorism provisions did not survive. The final bill uses the sentencing range above. The Senate’s two adopted Perry amendments added the procurement-price approach and defense/fee rules, and equivalent prosecutorial authority for the Special Prosecution Unit. All text versions and conference report; Senate amendment 1; Senate amendment 2; Final law.

All four House amendments were checked. Cook’s second-reading procurement amendment narrowed the purchasing exception and survived. Zwiener’s proposal to remove the new tobacco provisions failed, but Cook’s later third-reading amendment removed the proposed section 38.11 changes, including tobacco/nicotine and alcohol-manufacture provisions; those additions are absent from the final law. Troxclair’s adopted sexual-assault consent amendment was dropped in conference. A floor adoption alone therefore does not establish what became law. Amendment index; Cook procurement amendment; Zwiener amendment; Troxclair amendment; Cook third-reading amendment; Conference report and final text.

Timing and cleanup. Criminal-offense changes and consecutive sentencing apply only to offenses committed on or after September 1, 2025; an offense with any element before that date stays under former law. The specified arrest and bail changes apply to arrests on or after that date. Registration changes cover people required to register on or after that date regardless of when the underlying offense occurred. Chapter 841 changes apply to proceedings initiated on or after that date regardless of petition date, but immunity, defense and fee changes apply only to actions filed on or after it. The act repeals duplicate 2023 provisions, not the entire trust-account-statement requirement, and prevails over conflicting nonsubstantive code corrections. Final law, sections 36–43; Retained parallel litigation provisions, section 10; Separate code-corrections bill, sections 4.001–4.002 and 17.001.

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

The intended benefits are stronger protection for staff, residents and the public, clearer prosecution and registration rules, and more flexible administration. The trade-offs include much longer possible incarceration, tighter release and paid-work options, resident liability even for negligent damage, less public access to assessment records, and stronger defenses against civil claims. These are effects of the legal rules, not measured proof that violence or recidivism will fall. Final law.

The final fiscal note says the statewide fiscal impact cannot be determined because the number of affected offenses is unknown. Longer sentences and changes in felony handling could increase correctional demands while moving some costs from the civil-commitment office to the prison system. The note cites daily costs of $117.53 for civil commitment in fiscal 2025 and $86.50 for prison in fiscal 2024; those different-year averages are not a calculation of net savings from this law. It assumes no significant local-government impact, not zero cost for every agency or individual. No reliable total cost or savings over a defined budget period is supplied. Final fiscal note; Final criminal-justice impact statement.