Relating to the disposition of abandoned or unclaimed property seized by a peace officer.
ModeratePlan for compliance
Low Cost
Effective:2025-05-29
Enforcing Agencies
Municipal Law Enforcement Agencies • County Sheriffs • County Purchasing Agents
01
Compliance Analysis
Key implementation requirements and action items for compliance with this legislation
Implementation Timeline
Effective Date: May 29, 2025 (Immediate effect due to supermajority vote).
Compliance Deadline:May 29, 2025. Protocols must be active immediately for any property seized on or after this date.
Agency Rulemaking: No state-level rulemaking is required. Local Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) and County Commissioners Courts will establish internal policies immediately to define authorized social media channels.
Immediate Action Plan
1.Audit Pending Inventory: Immediately tag all inventory based on seizure date. Ensure no property seized *before* May 29 is processed using the new digital-only rules.
2.Update Vendor Contracts: Remove newspaper advertising fee schedules from future municipal contracts and insert digital processing fees.
3.Map Digital Jurisdictions: Fleet owners must compile a list of "Official" URLs and Social Media handles for the jurisdictions where they operate to facilitate weekly searches.
4.Establish Archiving Protocols: IT departments must implement tools to automatically screenshot and archive "Legal Notice" webpages to serve as permanent evidence of compliance.
Operational Changes Required
Contracts
Auctioneer & Towing MSAs: Vendors managing disposition for municipalities must renegotiate Master Service Agreements. Clauses authorizing "pass-through costs" for newspaper advertising are obsolete for new seizures. These must be replaced with "digital administration" or "web-posting" fee structures.
IT & Web Hosting: Municipalities and their IT vendors require updated Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Websites hosting legal notices must guarantee high availability (99.9% uptime); a server outage during the 14-day notice period prior to sale could legally invalidate an auction.
Hiring/Training
Asset Recovery Teams: Corporate compliance staff and fleet managers must be retrained to stop relying on certified mail. Staff must proactively monitor specific county Sheriff and Police Department social media feeds and websites for seized asset notices.
Agency Staff: Personnel responsible for property management must be trained on "Digital Evidence Preservation." They must transition from filing Publisher's Affidavits to generating time-stamped digital logs.
Reporting & Record-Keeping
Digital Evidence Logs: For every notice posted online, the agency or vendor must retain a time-stamped screenshot or server log. This replaces the newspaper clipping as the primary proof of notice in court.
Inventory Bifurcation: You must maintain two distinct inventory tracks based on the Date of Seizure:
1.Pre-May 29, 2025: Must follow Former Law (Newspaper/Mail).
2.Post-May 29, 2025: Governed by HB1261 (Digital Notice).
Fees & Costs
Advertising Budget: Line items for "Legal Notices/Newspaper Ads" will decrease significantly.
Administrative Costs: Expect a minor increase in internal administrative time required to draft, post, and archive digital notices compliant with the 90-day holding period.
Strategic Ambiguities & Considerations
"Social Networking Website": The statute does not define which platforms constitute valid notice. A post on a Sheriff’s rarely used Twitter account may technically comply but fail actual notice standards. Businesses should anticipate local policies defining "Official Channels" (e.g., Facebook vs. TikTok).
"One-Time" vs. Duration: The law permits a "one-time" digital notice, but the property must be held for 90 days. It is unclear if the notice must remain visible/pinned for the duration. Best practice dictates the notice remain searchable to defend against due process claims.
Accessibility (ADA): Digital notices must comply with ADA standards. If an agency's website is not accessible to screen readers, the legal notice may be challengeable.
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Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans' Affairs
Committee Report (Unamended)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Current law requires notice of certain abandoned or unclaimed property seized by a peace officer to be published in an applicable newspaper of local or regional circulation. This law was written at a time when newspapers were a primary form of mass communication. According to witness testimony, there is a need for a more efficient and cost-effective method of publishing notice given the high cost of print publication and decline in newspaper readership. H.B. 1261 seeks to provide law enforcement agencies the option to instead publish notice on the agency's official Internet and social media websites.
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
H.B. 1261 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to revise the procedures governing the disposition of unclaimed or abandoned personal property seized by a peace officer to provide an alternative to mailing notices or publishing the notices in a newspaper, as applicable, wherein the notice requirement could instead be satisfied by placing a one-time notice on the Internet website and social networking website of the law enforcement agency that seized the property. These provisions apply only to personal property seized by a peace officer on or after the bill's effective date. Personal property seized before the bill's effective date is governed by the law in effect on the date the property was seized, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
Honorable Cole Hefner, Chair, House Committee on Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans' Affairs
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1261 by Cunningham (Relating to the disposition of abandoned or unclaimed property seized by a peace officer.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
It is assumed that any costs associated with the bill could be absorbed using existing resources.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
302 Office of the Attorney General, 405 Department of Public Safety, 458 Alcoholic Beverage Commission, 696 Department of Criminal Justice, 802 Parks and Wildlife Department
LBB Staff:
JMc, MGol, BC, CWi, CSh
Related Legislation
Explore more bills from this author and on related topics
HB1261 fundamentally alters the due process requirements for seized and abandoned property by authorizing law enforcement agencies to utilize agency websites and social media for public notice, removing the absolute mandate for newspaper publication and certified mail. This digital transformation requires fleet operators and businesses to immediately shift asset recovery monitoring from physical mail to digital channels, while municipal vendors must overhaul disposition contracts to reflect new digital workflows. Implementation Timeline Effective Date: May 29, 2025 (Immediate effect due to supermajority vote).
Q
Who authored HB1261?
HB1261 was authored by Texas Representative Charles Cunningham during the Regular Session.
Q
When was HB1261 signed into law?
HB1261 was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on May 29, 2025.
Q
Which agencies enforce HB1261?
HB1261 is enforced by Municipal Law Enforcement Agencies, County Sheriffs and County Purchasing Agents.
Q
How urgent is compliance with HB1261?
The compliance urgency for HB1261 is rated as "moderate". Businesses and organizations should review the requirements and timeline to ensure timely compliance.
Q
What is the cost impact of HB1261?
The cost impact of HB1261 is estimated as "low". This may vary based on industry and implementation requirements.
Q
What topics does HB1261 address?
HB1261 addresses topics including criminal procedure, criminal procedure--general, property interests, property interests--general and electronic information systems.
Legislative data provided by LegiScanLast updated: November 25, 2025
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