Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3225 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Alders H.B. No. 3225
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6	6	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
7	7	AN ACT
8	8	relating to the prohibition of access by minors to sexually
9	9	explicit materials in municipal public library collections;
10	10	providing a civil penalty.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 10, Local Government Code, is
13	13	amended by adding Chapter 310 to read as follows:
14	14	CHAPTER 310. SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIALS IN MUNICIPAL PUBLIC
15	15	LIBRARY COLLECTIONS
16	16	Sec. 310.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
17	17	(1) "Access" means the ability to check out, or to be
18	18	provided a copy of a particular material in a physical or electronic
19	19	format or in any other manner by library staff or automated systems.
20	20	(2) "Commission" means the Texas State Library and
21	21	Archives Commission.
22	22	(3) "Minor" means an individual who is younger than 18
23	23	years of age.
24	24	(4) "Municipal public library" means a library that
25	25	is:
26	26	(A) financed and operated by a municipality; and
27	27	(B) open free of charge to all members of the
28	28	public under identical conditions.
29	29	(5) "Sexually explicit material" means any
30	30	communication, language, or material, including a written
31	31	description, illustration, photographic image, video image, or
32	32	audio file, that describes, depicts, or portrays sexual conduct, as
33	33	defined by Section 43.25, Penal Code.
34	34	(6) "Minor's section" means any section of a municipal
35	35	public library designated for children, teens, or young adults, or
36	36	labeled in a manner that indicates its primary audience includes
37	37	individuals younger than 18 years of age.
38	38	(7) "Curate" means to select, organize, or place
39	39	materials within a specific section or collection of a municipal
40	40	public library.
41	41	Sec. 310.002. ACCESS TO SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL. (a) A
42	42	municipal public library may not maintain sexually explicit
43	43	material in a physical or electronic collection that a minor may
44	44	access.
45	45	(b) A municipal public library that maintains sexually
46	46	explicit material in a physical or electronic collection shall
47	47	implement age verification measures to prevent minors from
48	48	accessing such materials.
49	49	(c) A municipal public library may not curate, display, or
50	50	make available for checkout any sexually explicit material in any
51	51	minor's section of the library.
52	52	(d) This section does not apply to religious materials.
53	53	Sec. 310.003. REVIEW OF LIBRARY COLLECTIONS. (a) The
54	54	commission shall establish guidelines for a municipal public
55	55	library to review its collections to determine whether the
56	56	collections curated in minor's sections contain sexually explicit
57	57	material. The guidelines must require a municipal public library
58	58	to:
59	59	(1) annually review its collections;
60	60	(2) document the review process; and
61	61	(3) adopt a process to review a specific material in
62	62	its collections upon petition from a member of the public and
63	63	determine if it contains sexually explicit material within ten days
64	64	of the petition.
65	65	(b) A municipal public library that determines that the
66	66	library curates, displays, or makes available for checkout any
67	67	sexually explicit material in a minor's section in violation of
68	68	Section 310.002 shall, not later than the 45th day after the date
69	69	the library makes the determination, remove or relocate the
70	70	sexually explicit material in a manner that prevents access to the
71	71	material by a minor.
72	72	Sec. 310.004. ENFORCEMENT; PENALTY; INJUNCTION. (a) The
73	73	commission may monitor and enforce compliance with this chapter.
74	74	(b) If the commission determines that a municipal public
75	75	library has violated Section 310.002 and has not removed or
76	76	relocated sexually explicit material that is the subject of the
77	77	violation by the 45th day after the date the commission notifies the
78	78	library of the violation, the state or a political subdivision may
79	79	not provide funds to the municipal public library for the fiscal
80	80	year following the year in which the library is found to be in
81	81	violation of Section 310.002.
82	82	(c) A municipal public library that violates Section
83	83	310.002 is liable to the state for a civil penalty of not more than
84	84	$10,000 for each violation.
85	85	(d) The attorney general may bring an action to:
86	86	(1) recover the civil penalty imposed under this
87	87	section; or
88	88	(2) obtain a temporary or permanent injunction to
89	89	restrain the violation.
90	90	(e) An action under this section may be brought in a
91	91	district court in:
92	92	(1) Travis County; or
93	93	(2) a county in which any part of the violation occurs.
94	94	(f) The attorney general shall deposit a civil penalty
95	95	collected under this section in the state treasury to the credit of
96	96	the general revenue fund.
97	97	(g) The attorney general may recover reasonable expenses
98	98	incurred in bringing an action under this section, including court
99	99	costs, reasonable attorney's fees, investigative costs, witness
100	100	fees, and deposition expenses.
101	101	Sec. 310.005. RULES. The commission may adopt rules
102	102	necessary to administer this chapter.
103	103	SECTION 2. Not later than January 1, 2026, the Texas State
104	104	Library and Archives Commission shall adopt the guidelines for
105	105	municipal public library collection reviews as required under
106	106	Section 310.003, Local Government Code, as added by this Act.
107	107	SECTION 3. Not later than January 1, 2027, each municipal
108	108	public library shall conduct the review required by Section
109	109	310.003, Local Government Code, as added by this Act.
110	110	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.