Honorable Lois W. Kolkhorst, Chair, Senate Committee on Health & Human Services
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB1195 by Birdwell (Relating to the procedures for removing names from the central registry of child abuse and neglect.), As Introduced
Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for SB1195, As Introduced: a negative impact of ($6,504,462) through the biennium ending August 31, 2027.
General Revenue-Related Funds, Five- Year Impact:
Fiscal Year
Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2026
($3,618,493)
2027
($2,885,969)
2028
($2,889,816)
2029
($2,893,014)
2030
($2,896,283)
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
Fiscal Year
Probable Savings/(Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1
Probable Savings/(Cost) from GR Match For Medicaid 758
Probable Savings/(Cost) from Federal Funds 555
Change in Number of State Employees from FY 2025
2026
($3,580,128)
($38,365)
($341,425)
19.0
2027
($2,854,600)
($31,369)
($250,955)
19.0
2028
($2,858,405)
($31,411)
($251,288)
19.0
2029
($2,861,569)
($31,445)
($251,567)
19.0
2030
($2,864,802)
($31,481)
($251,851)
19.0
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would direct the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to establish an expungement review panel to review requests to have a person's name removed from the central registry. The bill would require the expungement review panel to be composed of the general counsel of DFPS, or the general counsel's designee, the DFPS chief consumer affairs and accountability officer or the officer's designee, and a member of the State Bar of Texas appointed by the Commissioner.
Methodology
This analysis assumes the creation of a new office separate from the Office of Appeals tasked to oversee the expungement review panel.
Based on information from DFPS, the agency assumes of the 43,994 annual expected perpetrators, 1,300 individuals will request an expunction panel review. This analysis assumes that each review will take approximately 8.0 hours of work resulting in 10,400 hours of work per fiscal year. It is assumed that five review panels will be needed to process the cases. This analysis assumes 5.0 Attorney III FTEs to allow for one attorney per panel and 5.0 Program Specialist VI FTEs to allow for one Office of Appeals staff to be on each panel in each fiscal year.
To support the work required by the panels, this analysis assumes the need of the following FTEs each fiscal year, 1.0 Attorney IV FTE to coordinate activities of the attorneys, 1.0 Legal Assistant I FTE to research and gather records, 1.0 Staff Services Officer III to provide administrative support to the Appeals staff, and 1.0 Director II to report directly to the Chief Consume Affairs and Appeal Officer.
Additionally, to prepare and redact the necessary documents for each hearing, this analysis assumes the need of 1.0 Records Analyst I and 4.0 Records Analyst II in each fiscal year as well as Adobe Pro licenses for each FTE. The licenses total $494 in General Revenue in each fiscal year.
Lastly, this analysis assumes the need of 2.5 System Analyst V Contracted FTEs in fiscal year 2026 to make modifications to the Information Management Protecting Adults and Children in Texas (IMPACT) system. These modifications would include allowing for the documentation of hearings and maintaining documentation associated with each expungement panel decision. It is assumed this will require 5,021 hours of work in fiscal year 2026.
Technology
Technology costs for IMPACT modifications are estimated to be $560,419 in All Funds in fiscal year 2026.
Local Government Impact
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.