SB2180

The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement may establish minimum training, testing and certification requirements. It must adopt rules barring a peace officer from conducting a covered examination unless the officer completes a commission-approved training course and passes a commission-administered examination testing knowledge of investigative polygraphy. It must issue certification to an officer who applies and meets those training and examination requirements. This is an additional specialized framework, not a replacement for the existing general officer license. Final law, section 1; Existing license requirement.

The preemployment category is limited to candidates for positions requiring a license under Occupations Code Chapter 1701; the bill does not regulate every employer’s hiring test. Its rule applies to peace officers conducting the covered tests, not every person who might operate a polygraph. The commission must adopt the required rules as soon as practicable after the effective date, while the separate officer-compliance deadline is January 1, 2027. This briefing does not claim that rulemaking has already been completed. Final law, sections 1–4.

Changes during passage: The introduced bill also covered post-conviction sex-offender tests and required certified officers conducting those tests to follow American Polygraph Association or successor guidelines. The Senate substitute removed that category and guideline requirement. The Senate-passed, House committee and final texts retain that narrower scope. The official index lists no individual amendments; the substantive change came through the committee substitute. Introduced proposal; Senate substitute; Senate-passed; House committee; Final law; Amendment index; Version index.

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 framework sets a training and testing floor for officers performing the covered examinations. Officers and their agencies may need time and resources to meet it. Certification is not a legislative finding that a polygraph result is scientifically conclusive, proof of guilt or automatically admissible in court; the act contains no such rule. Nor does it require every candidate or person under investigation to take a test. Final law.

The April 8 substitute fiscal note anticipates no significant state or local fiscal implication and assumes implementation costs can be absorbed within existing resources. The April 7 introduced note reaches the same budget conclusions. These are government-budget estimates, not a promise of no training costs or a guarantee of test accuracy. The act makes no appropriation. Substitute fiscal note; Introduced fiscal note.