Text of TX HB 3842 (2025)

89R14646 LRM-D By: Schatzline H.B. No. 3842 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to the prohibited display of certain flags in governmental buildings or on governmental property; providing a civil penalty. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 6, Government Code, is amended by adding Chapter 621 to read as follows: CHAPTER 621. PROHIBITED DISPLAY OF CERTAIN FLAGS ON GOVERNMENTAL PROPERTY Sec. 621.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: (1) "Governmental entity" means: (A) a department, commission, board, office, or other agency in the executive branch of state government that was created by the constitution or a statute of this state, including an institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code; (B) the supreme court, the court of criminal appeals, a court of appeals, a district court, or the Texas Judicial Council or another agency in the judicial branch of state government; (C) a county, municipality, special purpose district, including a school district, or any other political subdivision of this state; or (D) an open-enrollment charter school established under Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code. (2) "LGBTQ flag" means a flag intended to display support for lesbianism, homosexuality, bisexuality, transgenderism, gender nonconforming behavior, or an individual who engages in such conduct. Sec. 621.002. PROHIBITED DISPLAY. A governmental entity or employee of a governmental entity may not display an LGBTQ flag in a building or on property owned or controlled by the governmental entity, including a classroom. Sec. 621.003. PERSONAL ITEMS. An individual in a building or on property owned or controlled by a governmental entity may display a personal item with an LGBTQ flag, such as a small pin or clothing, while in the public building or on the property. Sec. 621.004. CONSTRUCTION OF CHAPTER. This chapter may not be construed to restrict or regulate: (1) behavior of an employee of a governmental entity while the employee is not performing the employee's official duties; or (2) speech or conduct protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, or by Section 8, Article I, Texas Constitution. Sec. 621.005. SANCTIONS FOR NONCOMPLIANCE BY SCHOOL. (a) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may impose sanctions, including removal from the person's employment position, against a district or school employee who violates this chapter. (b) The board of trustees of a school district shall investigate any suspected violation of this chapter to determine whether the violation occurred. If the board determines that a violation has occurred, the board shall immediately report the violation to the commissioner of education. (c) If the commissioner of education finds on an appeal under Section 7.057, Education Code, that a school district has violated this chapter, notwithstanding any other law, the commissioner shall withhold the funding to which the district is entitled under Chapters 46, 48, and 49, Education Code, for the school year during which the violation occurred. The commissioner may adjust the district's entitlement to funding under those chapters for subsequent school years as necessary to recover any state funding already paid to the district for the school year in which the violation occurred. (d) This section applies to an open-enrollment charter school as though the governing body of the school were the board of trustees of a school district. Sec. 621.006. CIVIL PENALTY. (a) This section does not apply to a school district or open-enrollment charter school established under Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code. (b) A governmental entity or employee of a governmental entity that violates this chapter is subject to a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $2,000 for each violation. (c) The attorney general may sue to collect a penalty imposed under this section and may recover reasonable expenses incurred in collecting the penalty, including court costs, reasonable attorney's fees, investigative costs, witness fees, and deposition costs. Sec. 621.007. IMMUNITY WAIVED. Sovereign, governmental, and official immunity to suit is waived and abolished to the extent of liability created by this chapter. SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.