BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1837

By: Guillen

Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans' Affairs

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The bill author has informed the committee that the sharp increase in fentanyl-related overdoses and the escalation of crimes associated with the trafficking and use of not only fentanyl but other dangerous controlled substances has given rise to an ongoing and serious problem in Texas. The bill author further informed the committee that there are currently no statewide enforcement training programs within the Department of Public Safety (DPS) or other law enforcement agencies that provide uniform training or best practices regarding dangerous controlled substances and that government agencies, including DPS, often face gaps in training and resources that leave them underprepared to safely and effectively address dangerous controlled substances offenses and the dangers these substances themselves pose to both officers and the public. C.S.H.B. 1837 seeks to address any possible shortcomings in current DPS and law enforcement training that would prevent law enforcement officers from being able to deal with dangerous controlled substances to the fullest extent by requiring DPS, in coordination with local law enforcement agencies, to establish and administer a dangerous controlled substance offenses enforcement training program for peace officers employed by local law enforcement agencies, to authorize the program's use for continuing education for officers, and to establish a task force, with members appointed by the governor, that is focused on compiling data and developing certain best practices with regard to controlled substances poisoning prevention as well as studying methods to incentivize manufacturers of opioid antagonists to increase production.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

Dangerous Controlled Substance Offenses Enforcement Training Program

C.S.H.B. 1837 amends the Government Code to require the Department of Public Safety (DPS), in coordination with local law enforcement agencies, to establish and administer a dangerous controlled substance offenses enforcement training program for peace officers employed by local law enforcement agencies that will prepare the officers to do the following:

· collaborate and cooperate with and assist any law enforcement agency in the interdiction, investigation, and prosecution of offenses under the Texas Controlled Substances Act involving the manufacture or delivery of controlled substances listed in Penalty Group 1 or 1-B under that act; and

· collaborate and cooperate with and assist district attorneys, county attorneys, the border prosecution unit, and other prosecutors in the investigation and prosecution of allegations of those offenses.

The bill requires the training program to include the following:

· information on criminal activity related to a controlled substance in Penalty Group 1 or 1-B occurring along the Texas-Mexico border, including manufacture and delivery of those controlled substances carried out by cartels, transnational gangs, and other groups engaged in organized criminal activity;

· information on methods for identifying intrastate criminal activity associated with the manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance listed in Penalty Group 1 or 1-B and other organized criminal activity related to those controlled substances; and

· best practices for the investigation and prosecution of such criminal activity, the proper use of an opioid antagonist, and the safest method for handling a controlled substance listed in Penalty Group 1 or 1-B as determined by the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC).

The bill defines an opioid antagonist, for purposes of the foregoing best practices, by reference as any drug that binds to opioid receptors and blocks or otherwise inhibits the effects of opioids acting on those receptors.

Continuing Education

C.S.H.B. 1837 amends the Occupations Code to authorize the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) to recognize, or with the consent of DPS administer or assist in administering, the dangerous controlled substance offenses enforcement training program established under the bill's provisions as a continuing education program for officers and to credit an officer who successfully completes that program with the appropriate number of continuing education hours.

Lethal Controlled Substances Poisoning Prevention Task Force

C.S.H.B. 1837 establishes the lethal controlled substances poisoning prevention task force to do the following:

· compile data on criminal activity in the Texas-Mexico border region related to the manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance listed in Penalty Group 1 or 1-B;

· develop best practices for the following:

o the investigation, interdiction, and prosecution of criminal activity that constitutes an offense involving the manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance in Penalty Group 1 or 1-B;

o the safe handling of a controlled substance listed in Penalty Group 1 or 1-B; and

o the proper use of an opioid antagonist, also defined by reference; and

· study methods to incentivize manufacturers of opioid antagonists to increase production, particularly for opioid antagonists to be used by Texas law enforcement agencies.

The bill requires the governor to appoint to the task force, as soon as practicable after the bill's effective date, two members representing DPS, two members representing HHSC, and two members representing TCOLE. The bill requires the task force, not later than six months after the date the governor appoints members to that task force, to submit to the governor and the director of DPS a report containing the compiled data and best practices and, not later than December 1, 2026, to submit to the legislature a report containing its findings regarding methods to incentivize opioid antagonist manufacturers, including proposed legislation to increase the manufacturing production of opioid antagonists. The task force is abolished and these provisions expire January 1, 2027.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2025.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 1837 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

Both the introduced and substitute provide for the enforcement training program regarding certain offenses under the Texas Controlled Substances Act and for the establishment of a lethal controlled substances poisoning prevention task force and both the introduced and substitute address a controlled substance listed in Penalty Group 1-B. However, they differ as follows:

· whereas the introduced required DPS, in coordination with local law enforcement agencies, to establish and administer a fentanyl offenses enforcement training program for peace officers employed by local law enforcement agencies, the substitute requires DPS, in coordination with local law enforcement agencies, to establish and administer a dangerous controlled substance offenses enforcement training program for such peace officers and does not make specific reference to fentanyl offenses; and

· the substitute makes the bill's provisions regarding the program and the task force also applicable to controlled substances listed in Penalty Group 1 under the act, whereas the introduced did not.