---
title: "HB668: Relating to the renewal of a license to carry a handgun."
bill_number: HB668
session: Regular Session
status: Enacted
filed_date: 2024-11-12
signed_date: 2025-06-20
effective_date: 2025-06-20
primary_author: Cecil Bell (R)
subjects:
  - Weapons
  - PUBLIC SAFETY, DEPARTMENT OF
compliance_urgency: low
cost_impact: low
enforcing_agencies:
  - Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
canonical_url: "https://jdkey.com/texas-89th-legislature/hb668-89th-regular"
source: JD Key Consulting - Texas Legislative Intelligence
---

# HB668: Relating to the renewal of a license to carry a handgun.

**Status:** Signed into Law (June 20, 2025)
**Effective Date:** 2025-06-20

## Summary

## Executive Summary
HB668 amends the Texas Government Code to extend the grace period for renewing an expired License to Carry (LTC) to one year, effective immediately. While this reduces the administrative burden of retraining staff with lapsed licenses, it creates a significant liability risk: **a license is legally invalid for carry purposes from the moment of expiration until the renewal is issued, regardless of the extended application window.**

## Implementation Timeline
- **Effective Date:** **June 20, 2025** (Immediate).
- **Compliance Deadline:** **Immediate.** You must immediately audit all armed personnel files. Any employee carrying on a license that expired within the last 12 months is currently unauthorized to carry, even though they are now eligible for renewal.
- **Agency Rulemaking:** The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) must update the Regulatory Services Division (RSD) online portal to accept late renewals without triggering a "new application" workflow. Expect technical delays in the portal's logic for the first 30-60 days.

## Operational Changes Required

### Contracts
- **Vendor Agreements (Security/Logistics):** Amend Master Service Agreements (MSAs) to explicitly define "Qualified Personnel" as holding a *current, active* LTC. Explicitly exclude licenses in the "HB668 renewal grace period" to prevent vendors from staffing your sites with officers holding expired, albeit renewable, credentials.
- **Employment Agreements:** Review termination clauses. If your policy mandates termination upon license expiration, consider amending this to "Unpaid Suspension" or "Reassignment to Unarmed Duty" for up to one year to retain talent while they process the late renewal.

### Hiring/Training
- **Reinstatement Opportunities:** Review personnel files for staff terminated in the last 11 months solely due to license expiration. Under Section 2 (Retroactivity), these individuals are now eligible to renew immediately ($40 fee) rather than restart the entire application/training process.
- **Training:** No new training is required for renewals submitted within the one-year window.

### Reporting & Record-Keeping
- **HRIS Configuration:** Update Human Resources Information Systems to flag the exact expiration date as a "Hard Stop" for armed duty. Do not program the system to view the license as "Active" during the 1-year grace period.
- **Documentation:** Retain the electronic acknowledgment of the "Informational Form" required by Subsection (c) as proof of valid renewal submission.

### Fees & Costs
- **Renewal Fee:** **$40** (nonrefundable).
- **Cost Savings:** This legislation eliminates the cost of new fingerprinting and proficiency courses for licenses expired less than one year, representing a savings of approximately $100-$200 per affected employee.

## Strategic Ambiguities
- **The "Gap" Liability:** The statute allows for late renewal but does not grant "interim authority" to carry. Until DPS issues a specific rule or the Attorney General issues an opinion to the contrary, you must operate under the strict legal presumption that **an expired license provides zero legal protection against Unlawful Carry charges**, even if the renewal application is pending.
- **Portal Functionality:** The statute references "procedures adopted" for internet renewal. It is unclear if the DPS system will automatically recognize the retroactive eligibility for licenses that expired prior to June 20, 2025. Manual intervention or paper filing may be required for retroactive cases until the IT infrastructure catches up.

## Action Plan
1.  **Audit Active Rosters:** Immediately identify any armed employee operating on a license that expired less than one year ago.
2.  **Issue "Stop Carry" Orders:** Remove identified employees from armed posts immediately. They may not resume armed duties until they possess the physical, renewed license.
3.  **Process Retroactive Renewals:** Direct eligible employees to the DPS portal to pay the $40 fee and submit the renewal application.
4.  **Notify Liability Carriers:** Confirm with your insurance broker that your coverage requires *active* licensure and that "renewable status" is insufficient for coverage.

## Compliance Badges
- **Urgency:** **Moderate** (High liability risk if misinterpreted).
- **Cost Impact:** **Low** (Positive impact via reduced retraining costs).
- **Primary Enforcing Agency:** **Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)**

## Business Impact

- **Compliance Urgency:** Low
- **Cost Impact:** Low
- **Enforcing Agencies:** Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)

## Key Compliance Information

### Fee Changes

- **Handgun License Renewal Fee:** $40 nonrefundable fee (statute confirms this fee applies to renewals submitted during the new 1-year grace period) (effective 2025-06-20)

## Official Analysis

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# BILL ANALYSIS

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H.B. 668

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By: Bell, Cecil

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Homeland Security,
  Public Safety & Veterans' Affairs

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Committee Report
  (Unamended)

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**BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE **



Under current law, a
  law-abiding handgun license holder who forgets to renew the license by the
  license's expiration date must undergo the application process for a new handgun
  license. This process involves complying with all of the requirements applicable
  to new applicants, including handgun proficiency training, fingerprinting,
  and identity documentation submissions, all of which are already on file for
  a renewal applicant. H.B. 668 seeks to prevent this from occurring by
  establishing a grace period after the expiration of a handgun license during
  which a license holder can renew the license.

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**CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT**

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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.

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**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.

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**ANALYSIS **



H.B. 668 amends the Government
  Code to establish a one-year grace period after the expiration date of a
  handgun license during which the license holder may still renew the license. The
  bill applies to a handgun license that expires before, on, or after the bill's
  effective date.

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**EFFECTIVE DATE **



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

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## Topics

- Weapons
- PUBLIC SAFETY, DEPARTMENT OF

## Author

**Primary Author:** Cecil Bell (R)

## Source Links

- [Full Interactive Analysis](https://jdkey.com/texas-89th-legislature/hb668-89th-regular)
- [Texas Legislature Online](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB668)
- [LegiScan](https://legiscan.com/TX/bill/HB668/2025)

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*Analysis provided by [JD Key Consulting](https://jdkey.com). For questions about Texas legislative strategy, contact us at [jdkey.com/contact](https://jdkey.com/contact).*