BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3948

By: Davis, Yvonne

Intergovernmental Affairs

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The bill author has informed the committee that certain municipalities would benefit from a municipal office of inspector general to investigate operations of any municipal agency, office, or department, including the offices of the city manager and city attorney, to prevent and detect serious breaches of municipal policy, fraud, abuse of office, and other criminal activities. C.S.H.B. 3948 seeks to establish and define the role of an office of inspector general in certain municipalities.

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

C.S.H.B. 3948 amends the Local Government Code to authorize the office of the inspector general of a municipality that has a population of more than 500,000 and is primarily located in a county with a population of more than 2.5 million that is adjacent to a county with a population of more than 2 million to investigate the operations of any agency, office, or department of the municipality, including the office of the city manager and the office of the city attorney, to prevent and detect serious breaches of municipal policy and fraud, abuse of office, and any other criminal activity. The bill requires the inspector general's office to report any findings resulting from such an investigation or an investigation under other law to the district attorney, criminal district attorney, or county attorney, as appropriate, who must review the findings and determine whether further action is warranted. The bill prohibits the office of the city manager or the office of the city attorney from impeding the operations of the inspector general's office or an investigator of that office commissioned as a peace officer. The bill authorizes such a municipality that has an office of the inspector general to commission the investigators of that office as peace officers.

C.S.H.B. 3948 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to include an investigator commissioned by the office of the inspector general of a municipality under the bill's provisions in the list of individuals who are peace officers and in the list of individuals who are authorized peace officers. The bill further updates the list of peace officers to conform to changes made by certain Acts of the 88th Legislature, Regular Session, 2023, to a version of the list of peace officers that was repealed and replaced by another act of that legislature.

C.S.H.B. 3948 repeals Section 2, Chapter 624 (H.B. 4372), Section 1, Chapter 870 (H.B. 3981), Section 1, Chapter 950 (S.B. 1727), and Section 1, Chapter 984 (S.B. 2612), Acts of the 88th Legislature, Regular Session, 2023.

To the extent of any conflict, the bill prevails over another Act of the 89th Legislature, Regular Session, 2025, relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted codes.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 3948 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.

The substitute includes a provision absent from the introduced that requires the inspector general's office to report any findings resulting from an investigation described by the bill to the district attorney, criminal district attorney, or county attorney, as appropriate, who must review the findings and determine whether further action is warranted. The substitute also includes an investigator commissioned by the office of the inspector general of a municipality under the bill's provisions in the list of individuals who are authorized peace officers.