Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4448 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R13491 MEW-D
2	2	By: Hickland H.B. No. 4448
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to an automated artificial intelligence review of library
10	10	material purchased by public schools; providing an administrative
11	11	penalty.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Chapter 35, Education Code, is amended by adding
14	14	Section 35.0022 to read as follows:
15	15	Sec. 35.0022. AUTOMATED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LIBRARY
16	16	MATERIAL REVIEW. (a) Not later than 90 days before purchasing
17	17	library material from a library material vendor, a school district
18	18	or open-enrollment charter school must ensure the material is
19	19	submitted to a third party approved by the agency to conduct an
20	20	automated artificial intelligence review of the material to
21	21	determine whether the material should be rated as sexually explicit
22	22	material or sexually relevant material.
23	23	(b) Not later than the 20th business day after an automated
24	24	artificial intelligence review is conducted under Subsection (a),
25	25	an individual employed or contracted by the third party shall
26	26	verify the results of the review.
27	27	(c) If an automated artificial intelligence review
28	28	conducted under Subsection (a) rates a library material as sexually
29	29	explicit material or sexually relevant material, the third party
30	30	must provide to the school district or open-enrollment charter
31	31	school a detailed report that contains:
32	32	(1) the specific content flagged as sexually explicit
33	33	or sexually relevant;
34	34	(2) the historical, educational, or other context in
35	35	which the content appears; and
36	36	(3) the rationale for why the material was rated as
37	37	sexually explicit or sexually relevant.
38	38	(d) A school district or open-enrollment charter school:
39	39	(1) may not purchase a library material that has been
40	40	determined to contain sexually explicit material; and
41	41	(2) must require parental consent in accordance with
42	42	Section 35.005 for a library material determined to contain
43	43	sexually relevant material.
44	44	(e) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
45	45	shall maintain documentation regarding each automated artificial
46	46	intelligence review conducted under this section.
47	47	(f) The commissioner shall adopt and post on the agency's
48	48	Internet website a list of third parties approved to conduct an
49	49	automated artificial intelligence review under Subsection (a). In
50	50	adopting the list, the commissioner:
51	51	(1) may not approve a third party that holds a
52	52	financial interest in a library material vendor;
53	53	(2) must require bias mitigation protocols and
54	54	cultural competency testing;
55	55	(3) must ensure the third party has received training
56	56	on the definitions of sexually explicit and sexually relevant
57	57	material under Section 35.001; and
58	58	(4) must require the third party to update the third
59	59	party's automated artificial intelligence review system at least
60	60	quarterly.
61	61	(g) The agency shall conduct quarterly audits of not less
62	62	than five percent of library materials submitted for review under
63	63	Subsection (a) to ensure accuracy in ratings and compliance with
64	64	the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, Section 8,
65	65	Article I, Texas Constitution, other federal and state law, and
66	66	school district and open-enrollment charter school policies. In
67	67	conducting audits under this subsection, the agency may establish
68	68	an oversight committee composed of educators, librarians, legal
69	69	experts, and community representatives to verify the accuracy of an
70	70	automated artificial intelligence review system.
71	71	(h) The agency shall remove a third party from the list
72	72	adopted under Subsection (f) if the agency's audit under Subsection
73	73	(g) determines that the third party's automated artificial
74	74	intelligence review system has less than a 95 percent rate of
75	75	accuracy in rating library material as sexually explicit material
76	76	or sexually relevant material.
77	77	(i) The agency shall assess an administrative penalty
78	78	against a school district or open-enrollment charter school that
79	79	violates Subsection (a) or (d)(1) in an amount not to exceed $10,000
80	80	for each library material acquired in violation of that provision.
81	81	(j) If, based on automated artificial intelligence reviews
82	82	and audits conducted under this section, the commissioner
83	83	determines that a library material vendor has not rated or
84	84	incorrectly rated three or more library materials in violation of
85	85	this chapter, the commissioner shall place that library material
86	86	vendor on a list posted and maintained in a conspicuous place on the
87	87	agency's Internet website. A school district or open-enrollment
88	88	charter school may not purchase library material from a library
89	89	material vendor on the list.
90	90	(k) A parent of or person standing in parental relation to a
91	91	student enrolled in a school district or open-enrollment charter
92	92	school that violates this section may bring an action for
93	93	injunctive relief against the district or school to compel the
94	94	district or school to comply with this section.
95	95	SECTION 2. Section 35.005, Education Code, is amended to
96	96	read as follows:
97	97	Sec. 35.005. PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIRED FOR USE OF CERTAIN
98	98	LIBRARY MATERIALS. A school district or open-enrollment charter
99	99	school may not allow a student enrolled in the district or school to
100	100	reserve, check out, or otherwise use outside the school library
101	101	library material the library material vendor or the automated
102	102	artificial intelligence review has rated as sexually relevant
103	103	material under Section 35.002(a) or 35.0022(a) unless the district
104	104	or school first obtains written consent from the student's parent
105	105	or person standing in parental relation.
106	106	SECTION 3. Not later than the first day of the 2026-2027
107	107	school year, the commissioner of education shall adopt the list of
108	108	approved third parties as required under Section 35.0022(f),
109	109	Education Code, as added by this Act.
110	110	SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2026-2027
111	111	school year.
112	112	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.