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Read. Follow. Verify.Texas HB 1515 Extends Sunset Date for Criminal Justice Board and Department, Reorganizes Oversight, and Reforms Rehabilitation and Parole Programs
Last action · May 9, 2025: Committee report sent to CalendarsSponsor: Terry Canales
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What This Bill Proposed
This bill continues the Texas Board of Criminal Justice and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice until September 1, 2037, while restructuring independent reporting entities, modifying educational and vocational requirements for inmates through the Windham School District, and updating procedures effective September 1, 2025.
The measure reshapes oversight and operations across Texas correctional facilities, altering how state audits are coordinated, revising prisoner rehabilitation and education programs, and modifying parole review criteria and officer caseload guidelines.
- The Texas Sunset Act mandates periodic review of state agencies to determine whether they should be continued, abolished, or restructured. context
- The Texas Department of Criminal Justice operates the state prison system and manages community supervision and correctional rehabilitation programs. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Inmates
Inmates experience changes to educational program requirements, vocational disclosures, release funding disbursement methods, and postsecondary education tuition reimbursement obligations.
Parole officers
Parole officers are subject to newly established salary career ladders and maximum caseload guidelines adopted by the Texas Board of Criminal Justice.
Windham School District
The district must compile expanded program evaluation data, provide mandatory pre-enrollment disclosures regarding licensing restrictions, and develop a strategic plan with the department.
Texas Board of Criminal Justice
The board assumes expanded oversight duties for independent reporting entities, approves operating budgets, adopts rules for parole officer caseloads, and oversees strategic planning.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the Texas Department of Criminal Justice expire under the updated law?
What information must students receive before enrolling in a Windham School District vocational program?
What financial assistance do inmates receive upon release?
Are parole officers subject to maximum caseload guidelines?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
13 actions- May 9, 2025HouseCommittee report sent to Calendars
- May 8, 2025HouseCommittee report distributed
- May 8, 2025HouseComte report filed with Committee Coordinator
- Apr 30, 2025HouseCommitteeReported favorably as substituted
- Apr 30, 2025HouseCommittee substitute considered in committee
- Apr 30, 2025HouseConsidered in public hearing
Show 7 earlier actions
- Apr 9, 2025HouseLeft pending in committee
- Apr 9, 2025HouseTestimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
- Apr 9, 2025HouseConsidered in public hearing
- Apr 9, 2025HouseScheduled for public hearing on . . .
- Mar 14, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to Corrections
- Mar 14, 2025HouseIntroducedRead first time
- Mar 14, 2025HouseIntroducedFiled
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Restructuring of Independent Reporting Entities
The legislation formally establishes and clarifies the direct board oversight and operating structures for independent entities such as the office of the independent auditor and the office of the inspector general.
Postsecondary Education Tuition and Repayment
Establishes a new framework where inmates participating in postsecondary education courses during confinement receive tuition and fee payments from department appropriations and subsequently reimburse the department without interest.
Connected Entities
Sources
capitol.texas.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 90)
- Controversy25Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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