SB1079

Regular Session

Relating to the authority of a county to dispose of sensitive media devices.

LowStandard timeline

Low Cost

Effective:2025-09-01

Enforcing Agencies

County Commissioners Courts

Compliance Analysis

Key implementation requirements and action items for compliance with this legislation

Implementation Timeline

Effective Date: September 1, 2025
Compliance Deadline: August 1, 2025 (Contracts and disposal workflows must be updated prior to the effective date to avoid unauthorized resale of restricted assets).
Agency Rulemaking: No state-level rulemaking is required. However, individual County Commissioners Courts will issue orders defining "sensitive" inventory on a case-by-case basis starting September 1, 2025.

Immediate Action Plan

Audit Contracts: Identify all active contracts with Texas counties that rely on a revenue-share or "no-cost" disposal model based on resale.
Renegotiate Terms: Issue contract amendments establishing destruction fees effective September 1, 2025.
Update Insurance: Verify your Errors & Omissions (E&O) policy covers liability for the physical destruction of government assets.
Segregate Inventory: Establish a physical "Destruction Zone" in your facility for county assets to prevent accidental resale.

Operational Changes Required

Contracts

Existing Master Services Agreements (MSAs) with county governments must be amended immediately.

Remove: Clauses allowing for the sanitization and remarketing (resale) of hard drives, servers, and networking gear to offset disposal costs.
Insert: A dedicated fee schedule for physical destruction (shredding/disintegration) services, as you will no longer retain the asset's residual value.

Hiring/Training

Warehouse and logistics staff require training on strict physical segregation. Assets designated by the County as "sensitive" must be isolated from general surplus. Commingling these assets with auctionable inventory creates a high risk of accidental sale and subsequent liability.

Reporting & Record-Keeping

The standard for proof of work shifts from data erasure logs to Certificates of Destruction (CoD).

Requirement: You must generate serialized CoDs for every device destroyed.
Chain of Custody: Maintain a documented chain of custody from the moment of county handover to the moment of physical disintegration to satisfy county audit requirements.

Fees & Costs

Vendors must anticipate a revenue reduction due to the loss of high-value resale inventory (e.g., enterprise storage, server blades). Disposal fees charged to the county must be increased to cover the operational costs of physical destruction and the loss of secondary market revenue.

Strategic Ambiguities & Considerations

The statute does not define "sensitive media device."

The Risk: Section 263.1521 leaves this definition entirely to the discretion of each County Commissioners Court. One county may designate only hard drives as sensitive, while another may designate entire laptops or networking switches.
The Fix: Do not wait for 254 different definitions. Proactively draft a "Standard of Sensitivity" (e.g., "any device containing PII, PHI, or CJIS data") and incorporate it into your service contracts to standardize operations across your client base.

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Legislative Timeline

This bill's path through the Texas Legislature

TopicsCounty Government County Government--general Electronic Information Systems Surplus Property

Official Analysis

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BILL ANALYSIS

Senate Research Center	S.B. 1079
89R4554 DRS-D	By: West
	Local Government
	3/25/2025
	As Filed

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

Sensitive media devices refer to devices including computers or tablets that are used by members of government agencies, both state and local. They contain sensitive information crucial to regular operations, which calls for high confidentiality.

S.B. 1079 grants authority to a county to order the destruction of a sensitive media device:

(1) that is salvage or surplus property; and

(2) for which the commissioners court determines that the destruction of the sensitive media device is necessary to prevent inadvertent disclosure of information in connection with the disposal of the device.

"Sensitive media device" means a data storage device that the commissioners court of a county determines the county has used to store data the maintenance or disclosure of which is regulated by state or federal law.

As proposed, S.B. 1079 amends current law relating to the authority of a county to dispose of sensitive media devices.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter D, Chapter 263, Local Government Code, by adding Section 263.1521, as follows:

Sec. 263.1521. DISPOSITION OF CERTAIN SENSITIVE MEDIA DEVICES. (a) Defines "sensitive media device."

(b) Authorizes the commissioners court of a county, notwithstanding Section 263.152 (Disposition), to order the destruction of a sensitive media device that is salvage or surplus property and for which the commissioners court determines that the destruction of the sensitive media device is necessary to prevent inadvertent disclosure of information in connection with the disposal of the device.

SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 2025.

Senate Authors

Sen. Royce WestDemocrat · Primary Author

House Sponsors

Rep. Cassandra Garcia HernandezDemocrat · Primary Sponsor

Cosponsors (1)

Terri Leo-Wilson (R)

Bill Text(with markup)

S.B. No. 1079

View bill text in multiple formats on Texas Legislature website

Fiscal NoteView Original

	AN ACT
	relating to the authority of a county to dispose of sensitive media
	devices.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 263, Local Government
	Code, is amended by adding Section 263.1521 to read as follows:
	Sec. 263.1521. DISPOSITION OF CERTAIN SENSITIVE MEDIA
	DEVICES. (a) In this section, "sensitive media device" means a
	data storage device that the commissioners court of a county
	determines the county has used to store data the maintenance or
	disclosure of which is regulated by state or federal law.
	(b) Notwithstanding Section 263.152, the commissioners
	court of a county may order the destruction of a sensitive media
	device:
	(1) that is salvage or surplus property; and
	(2) for which the commissioners court determines that
	the destruction of the sensitive media device is necessary to
	prevent inadvertent disclosure of information in connection with
	the disposal of the device.
	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 89TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION


March 28, 2025

TO:	Honorable Paul Bettencourt, Chair, Senate Committee on Local Government

FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board

IN RE:	SB1079 by West (Relating to the authority of a county to dispose of sensitive media devices.), As Introduced

No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

Local Government Impact

No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.

Source Agencies:

LBB Staff:

JMc, SZ, BC, CWi

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Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about SB1079

What does Texas SB1079 do?

Senate Bill 1079 fundamentally alters the asset disposition lifecycle for Texas counties by authorizing the physical destruction of "sensitive media devices" rather than the traditional surplus auction or resale model. This legislation effectively eliminates the "wipe-and-resell" revenue stream for IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) vendors and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) servicing county governments, requiring an immediate shift to a fee-for-service destruction model. Implementation Timeline Effective Date: September 1, 2025 Compliance Deadline: August 1, 2025 (Contracts and disposal workflows must be updated prior to the effective date to avoid unauthorized resale of restricted assets).

Who authored SB1079?

SB1079 was authored by Texas Senator Royce West during the Regular Session.

When was SB1079 signed into law?

SB1079 was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on May 29, 2025.

Which agencies enforce SB1079?

SB1079 is enforced by County Commissioners Courts.

How urgent is compliance with SB1079?

The compliance urgency for SB1079 is rated as "low". Businesses and organizations should review the requirements and timeline to ensure timely compliance.

What is the cost impact of SB1079?

The cost impact of SB1079 is estimated as "low". This may vary based on industry and implementation requirements.

What topics does SB1079 address?

SB1079 addresses topics including county government, county government--general, electronic information systems and surplus property.

Legislative data provided by LegiScanLast updated: November 25, 2025

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