HB3513

Regular Session

Relating to the composition, duties, and personnel of the Moore County Juvenile Board.

LowStandard timeline

Low Cost

Effective:2025-05-24

Enforcing Agencies

Moore County Commissioners Court • Moore County Juvenile Board

Compliance Analysis

Key implementation requirements and action items for compliance with this legislation

Implementation Timeline

Effective Date: May 24, 2025 (Immediate effect due to supermajority vote; disregard the September 1 date in the bill text).
Compliance Deadline: Immediate. The Moore County Commissioners Court must appoint the new slate of members before the Juvenile Board can validly convene or authorize expenditures.
Agency Rulemaking: No state-level rulemaking required. However, the Moore County Commissioners Court must execute a local resolution to define the specific number of citizen members (between 3 and 5) to satisfy the statutory range.

Immediate Action Plan

1. Suspend Board Activity: Halt all non-emergency Board votes until the Commissioners Court formalizes the new appointments.
2. Pass Resolution: Moore County Commissioners Court must meet immediately to set the number of citizen members (3, 4, or 5) and appoint them.
3. Update Insurance: Contact the county’s risk pool or liability carrier to update the schedule of covered officials.
4. Audit Terms: Reset all appointed member term expirations to December 31, 2026, in compliance tracking software.
5. Ratify Actions: Schedule a ratification vote for the first meeting of the new Board to confirm any administrative actions taken since May 24.

Operational Changes Required

Contracts

Signature Authority Validation: Review all contracts, MOUs, and vendor agreements pending approval or signed after May 24, 2025. The Board Chair’s authority is contingent upon a validly constituted Board.
Ratification: Any agreements executed during the transition period (late May/early June) by the "old" Board composition must be ratified by the "new" Board to ensure enforceability.

Hiring/Training

Board Composition: The County Court at Law Judge is now a mandatory statutory member of the Board.
Citizen Appointments: The Commissioners Court must appoint not fewer than three and not more than five citizen members.
Term Management: Human Resources and Legal departments must update tracking systems. Staggered terms are abolished; all appointed terms now expire on December 31 of even-numbered years.

Reporting & Record-Keeping

Quorum Calculations: Update bylaws and meeting protocols. Quorum is no longer based on the previous fixed membership count.
Meeting Minutes: Minutes must explicitly record the presence of the County Court at Law Judge and the specific Commissioners Court resolution establishing the number of citizen members to prove the body was legally constituted during votes.

Fees & Costs

Insurance Adjustments: Notify carriers for Public Official Liability (POL) insurance immediately. The County Court at Law Judge must be added as a named insured in their capacity as a Juvenile Board member.
Fiscal Liability: The bill removes exclusions for Human Resources Code §§ 152.0007-152.0008. Risk management must determine if this triggers new bond requirements for fiscal officers handling juvenile funds.

Strategic Ambiguities & Considerations

Transition of Existing Members: The statute reduces citizen members from six to a maximum of five but does not specify which existing members are removed. If the Board attempts to meet with all six previous members, their vote is subject to challenge. The Commissioners Court must affirmatively identify which members are retained to meet the "3-to-5" cap.
Liability Scope: The implicit adoption of standard fiscal and personnel liability sections (by removing them from the exclusion list) creates uncertainty regarding personal liability for Board members. Until clarified by the County Attorney, assume stricter state liability standards now apply.

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Legislative Timeline

This bill's path through the Texas Legislature

TopicsMoore County Courts Courts--judges Juvenile Boards & Officers

Official Analysis

View HRO Analysis View All Bill Documents

BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 3513

By: Fairly

Criminal Jurisprudence

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The bill author has informed the committee of a local county attorney's concerns about the current composition of the Moore County Juvenile Board, as current Texas law governing the juvenile board requires the board to be composed of six people appointed by the county commissioners court plus the county judge, but the board has experienced difficulty remaining in compliance with this requirement due to the county's rural population. H.B. 3513 seeks to address this issue by changing the number of members required to be appointed to the Moore County Juvenile Board by the county commissioners court. These appointed members would still serve two-year terms unless extended by a vote of the county commissioners court for not more than two additional years.

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. 3513 amends the Human Resources Code to revise provisions relating to the composition, duties, and personnel of the Moore County Juvenile Board as follows:

·adds the judge of the County Court at Law of Moore County to the board's membership and changes the number of board members appointed by the Moore County Commissioners Court from six to not fewer than three or more than five other members;

·changes the terms of service of appointed board members from staggered two-year terms with the terms of three members expiring on December 31 of each even-numbered year, and the terms of three members expiring on December 31 of each odd-numbered year to two-year terms expiring on December 31 of each even-numbered year unless the county commissioners court votes to extend a member's term for not more than two years; and

·removes from the statutory provisions from which the board is exempt provisions relating to the general duties of a juvenile board and provisions relating to the personnel who the chief juvenile probation officer may employ within the budget adopted by the applicable juvenile board.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.

House Authors

Rep. Caroline FairlyRepublican · Primary Author

Senate Sponsor

Sen. Kevin SparksRepublican · Primary Sponsor

Bill Text(with markup)

H.B. No. 3513

View bill text in multiple formats on Texas Legislature website

Fiscal NoteView Original

	AN ACT
	relating to the composition, duties, and personnel of the Moore
	County Juvenile Board.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1. Sections 152.1771(a), (b), and (f), Human
	Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(a) The Moore County Juvenile Board is composed of:
	(1) the county judge;
	(2) the judge of the County Court at Law of Moore
	County; and
	(3) not fewer than three or more than five other
	members [~~(2) six persons~~] appointed by the Moore County
	Commissioners Court.
	(b) The appointed members serve [~~staggered~~] two-year terms
	[~~with the terms of three members~~] expiring on December 31 of each
	even-numbered year unless the Moore County Commissioners Court
	votes to extend a member's term for not more than two years[~~, and~~
	~~the terms of three members expiring on December 31 of each~~
	~~odd-numbered year~~].
	(f) Sections 152.0002, 152.0003, 152.0004, 152.0005, and
	152.0006[~~, 152.0007, and 152.0008~~] do not apply to the juvenile
	board of Moore County.
	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 89TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION


March 31, 2025

TO:	Honorable John T. Smithee, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence

FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board

IN RE:	HB3513 by Fairly (Relating to the composition, duties, and personnel of the Moore County Juvenile Board.), 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:

644 Juvenile Justice Department

LBB Staff:

JMc, MGol, CSh, AF

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Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about HB3513

What does Texas HB3513 do?

HB3513 immediately restructures the Moore County Juvenile Board, altering its statutory composition and term limits effective May 24, 2025. This legislation invalidates the previous six-member citizen panel structure; any Board actions taken after this date without the newly mandated County Court at Law Judge or with an incorrect number of citizen members are legally voidable. Implementation Timeline Effective Date: May 24, 2025 (Immediate effect due to supermajority vote; disregard the September 1 date in the bill text).

Who authored HB3513?

HB3513 was authored by Texas Representative Caroline Fairly during the Regular Session.

When was HB3513 signed into law?

HB3513 was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on May 24, 2025.

Which agencies enforce HB3513?

HB3513 is enforced by Moore County Commissioners Court and Moore County Juvenile Board.

How urgent is compliance with HB3513?

The compliance urgency for HB3513 is rated as "low". Businesses and organizations should review the requirements and timeline to ensure timely compliance.

What is the cost impact of HB3513?

The cost impact of HB3513 is estimated as "low". This may vary based on industry and implementation requirements.

What topics does HB3513 address?

HB3513 addresses topics including moore county, courts, courts--judges and juvenile boards & officers.

Legislative data provided by LegiScanLast updated: November 25, 2025

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