Committee advances bill to centralize and limit public access to certain law‑enforcement records

The Committee on Homeland Security & Public Safety voted to report Senate Bill 15 favorably to the full House after a hearing in which supporters said the bill would standardize how agencies maintain personnel and department files and opponents said it would create new secrecy that could hide misconduct.

Senate Bill 15 would codify a model policy adopted after a Sunset Commission review that keeps substantiated misconduct, awards and routine evaluations in a public personnel file while placing unsubstantiated complaints, coaching notes and other department documents in a confidential department file. The bill’s backers say discovery rights in civil and criminal proceedings and existing statutes such as the Michael Morton Act and the Sandra Bland law still allow prosecutors and defense lawyers access to records when legally required.

Opponents warned the bill could shield misconduct in the smallest agencies and make records effectively unavailable to victims and the public. “SB 15 would require all law enforcement agencies, even those with just 1 officer, to maintain a confidential department…