Texas Senate panel pauses bill that would create confidential ‘department file’ for officers

The Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs left Senate Bill 14 pending after a lengthy public hearing in Austin on whether the proposal to create a confidential “department file” for licensed law-enforcement officers would improve personnel recordkeeping or hide misconduct from the public.

Proponents, including law enforcement representatives, said the bill protects officers from the lasting damage of unsubstantiated allegations. Jason Warren, chief deputy with the Walker County Constable’s Office, said the measure “has nothing to do with any type of allegations that were substantiated. This has to do with false or unsubstantiated allegations.”

Opponents said the bill as written would broadly conceal records that communities, victims and local oversight bodies rely on to evaluate police performance. Kathy Mitchell, a witness who cited court precedent, warned that “this bill does not use the term personnel file. It uses the term, departmental file,” and argued that change could expand secrecy beyond the narrow employee‑personnel protections in prior law.

The bill would require agencies to keep a confidential department file that, testimony…