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HB 197TEXASSession 891State Billdead

Did Not Advance

Texas Bill Limits Admissibility of Employee THC and Low-THC Cannabis Evidence in Employer Liability Lawsuits

Original title: Relating to admissibility of certain evidence against employers for employee use of THC.

Last action · July 24, 2025: FiledSponsor: Pat Curry

Bill progressHistory & official text ↓

Introduced

Committee

Floor Vote

Passed

Law

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What This Bill Proposed

Texas House Bill 197 prohibits courts in civil actions against employers from admitting evidence of an employee's medical use of or positive THC test results unless specific intoxication and employer-knowledge conditions are met. The changes apply to actions filed on or after the effective date.

Why it matters

Changes the legal standards for what evidence can be presented against employers in civil lawsuits involving employee injury, death, or property damage related to THC use.

Background

Texas law governs employer liability in civil actions involving employee negligence and regulates the medical use of low-THC cannabis under the Occupations Code. 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.

Directly affected

Employers

Employers face new statutory restrictions regarding what employee THC and low-THC cannabis evidence can be admitted in civil liability and administrative proceedings against them.

Directly affected

Employees

Employees using medical low-THC cannabis or THC have specific evidentiary standards applied to their medical and test records in civil actions involving workplace incidents.

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 can an employee's medical use of low-THC cannabis be admitted as evidence in a lawsuit against an employer?

It cannot be admitted unless the employer knew the employee used under Chapter 169, became aware the employee was intoxicated before the harm occurred in a way that made the harm foreseeable, and failed to reasonably intervene.

Does a positive THC test automatically serve as admissible evidence in a civil proceeding against an employer?

No, a positive THC test is inadmissible unless the party offering the evidence also introduces other sufficient evidence showing the employee was intoxicated at or near the time of the incident.

What else do you want to know?

News Coverage

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Where This Stands

This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · introduced in the House.

Procedural history

1 action

Jul 24, 2025HouseIntroduced
Filed

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.

Discoveries

1 pattern noticed across the record

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift95% confidence

Evidentiary Standard Modification for THC

The bill introduces specific statutory hurdles for admitting employee THC test results and medical low-THC cannabis use into civil liability actions against employers.

Civil Practice and Remedies Code Occupations Code

Connected Entities

Texas, Occupations Code, Civil Practice and Remedies Code

locationTexas“Jurisdiction where the bill is introduced.”Map →

otherOccupations Code“Statutory code referenced for low-THC cannabis definitions.”Map →

otherCivil Practice and Remedies Code“Statutory code amended by the bill.”Map →

Sources

Open source document

capitol.texas.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance20
Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 60)
Controversy65
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment10
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz30
Current news / social attention level

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