Relating to prosecution and punishment of certain criminal offenses prohibiting sexually explicit visual material involving depictions of children, computer-generated children, or other persons; creating criminal offenses; increasing criminal penalties.
CriticalImmediate action required
Low Cost
Effective:2025-09-01
Enforcing Agencies
Texas Department of Criminal Justice • Local Law Enforcement Agencies • District Attorneys
01
Compliance Analysis
Key implementation requirements and action items for compliance with this legislation
Implementation Timeline
Effective Date: September 1, 2025
Compliance Deadline:August 31, 2025 (All network filters, AUP updates, and employee acknowledgments must be active prior to the effective date to prevent "continuing offense" liability).
Agency Rulemaking: No specific agency rulemaking is mandated; however, judicial interpretation will rapidly define the "virtually indistinguishable" standard. Expect guidance from the Texas District & County Attorneys Association regarding prosecution standards in late 2025.
Immediate Action Plan
1.Audit School Libraries: Physically and digitally inspect all library terminals and catalogs for potential access to AI-generation tools or repositories.
2.Update Acceptable Use Policies (AUP): Explicitly ban the use of AI tools to generate images of humans on company/school hardware.
3.Implement "Zero Trust" on Devices: Restrict administrative rights on devices used by child-care employees to prevent the installation of unauthorized storage or generation software.
4.Issue Staff Advisory: Send a formal memorandum to all employees explaining that possession of AI-generated CSAM on work devices is now a felony offense with enhanced penalties for their profession.
Operational Changes Required
Contracts
IT/Network Vendor Agreements: Renegotiate Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with web filtering providers. Contracts must include indemnification if the vendor fails to block known AI-generation sites, specifically regarding the "display" of material in school libraries.
Employment Agreements: Revise "Termination for Cause" clauses for youth-serving roles. Ensure that "possession of prohibited digital material (real or AI-generated)" is grounds for immediate termination without the requirement of a criminal conviction.
Hiring/Training
HR Policy Update: The "Romeo and Juliet" defense (actor is not more than 2 years older than the child) is removed for material depicting actual children. Update sexual harassment and conduct training to reflect this stricter standard.
Staff Training: Conduct mandatory training for IT and Library staff on the new definition of "visual material," which now includes "any file in any digital format." Staff must understand that "it's just AI/fake" is no longer a legal defense against possession charges.
Reporting & Record-Keeping
Network Filtering Logs: Maintain immutable logs of blocked access attempts. In a negligence claim ("should have known"), these logs are your primary evidence that reasonable preventative steps were taken.
Chain of Custody for Deletion: If prohibited material is discovered, you must document the exact time of discovery and time of destruction. The law provides a defense for administrators only if material is destroyed within an "appropriate period."
Fees & Costs
Budget Impact: Allocate funds for advanced AI-detection software and enhanced network firewalls.
Insurance Review: Consult brokers regarding Employment Practices Liability (EPLI) and Cyber Liability exclusions. Standard policies often exclude criminal acts; ensure you have coverage for defense costs related to "negligent supervision" allegations.
Strategic Ambiguities & Considerations
"Virtually Indistinguishable": The statute defines a computer-generated child as one that "to a reasonable person is virtually indistinguishable from an actual child." This is a subjective standard decided by a jury. Guidance: Adopt a conservative enforcement policy—if it looks like a minor, treat it as a minor.
"Caused to be Displayed": It is unclear if a school library providing an unfiltered internet connection constitutes "causing" material to be displayed. Guidance: Until case law clarifies, assume strict liability applies and filter aggressively.
"Appropriate Period": The safe harbor for destroying material requires action within an "appropriate period," which is undefined. Guidance: Define this internally as "immediately upon verification, not to exceed 24 hours."
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With the advancement of technology comes new crimes that state law may not be able to address within the current construction of a given statute. Specifically, in the case of deepfake technology and artificial intelligence (AI), which allow individuals to create sexually explicit visual material of another person, the state must now take action in order to combat predators who create explicit visual material involving minors.
S.B. 1621 is a delete-and-re-write of our current child pornography statute to better take into account the advances in A.I.-generated content. The bill creates two new distinct definitions of "depiction of a child" and "depiction of a computer-generated child," along with updating the prosecutorial standards and penalty ranges for various amounts and types of those materials.
As proposed, S.B. 1621 amends current law relating to prosecution and punishment of certain criminal offenses prohibiting sexually explicit visual material involving depictions of children, computer-generated children, or other persons; creates criminal offenses; and increases criminal penalties.
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 Section 43.26, Penal Code, by amending Subsections (a), (e), (g), and (h) and adding Subsections (a-1), (a-2), (c-1), (c-2), (c-3), (c-4), (e-1), (f), (g-1), (h-1), and (h-2), as follows:
(a) Defines "depiction of a child," "depiction of a computer-generated child," "promote," "sexual conduct," "school library, " and "visual material."
(a-1) Creates this subsection from existing text. Provides that a person commits an offense if:
(1) the person intentionally or knowingly possesses, or intentionally or knowingly accesses with intent to view, visual material that contains a visual depiction of, rather than that visually depicts, a child, rather than a child younger than 18 years of age at the time the image of the was made who is, engaging in sexual conduct, including a depiction of a child engaging in sexual conduct as a victim of an offense under certain provisions of Section 20A.02 (Trafficking of Persons); and
(2) the person knows or should have known that the depiction described by Subdivision (1) is of a child younger than 18 years of age at the time the image of the child was made, rather than that the person knows that the material depicts the child as described by Subdivision (1).
Makes nonsubstantive changes to this subsection.
(a-2) Provides that a person commits an offense if the person:
(1) intentionally or knowingly possesses, or intentionally or knowingly accesses with intent to view, visual material that contains a visual depiction of a computer-generated child engaging in sexual conduct; and
(2) either knows or should have known that the depiction described by Subdivision (1) appears to be of a child younger than 18 years of age or believes that the depiction is of an actual child younger than 18 years of age at the time the image of the child was made.
(c-1) Provides that an offense under Subsection (a-1) is a felony of the third degree, except that the offense is:
(1) a felony of the second degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the actor has been previously convicted one time of an offense under Chapter 43 (Public Indecency) or described by Article 62.001(5) (relating to defining "reportable conviction or adjudication"), Code of Criminal Procedure, or possesses visual material that contains 10 or more visual depictions of a child engaging in sexual conduct as described by Subsection (a-1)(1) but fewer than 50 such depictions;
(2) a felony of the first degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the actor has been previously convicted two or more times of certain offenses; or
(3) a felony of the first degree punishable by imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) for life or for any term of not more than 99 years or less than 25 years if it is shown on the trial of the offense that:
(A) at the time of the offense, the actor was:
(i) an employee at a child-care facility or a residential child-care facility, as those terms are defined by Section 42.002 (Definitions), Human Resources Code;
(ii) an employee at a residential treatment facility established under Section 221.056 (Residential Treatment Facility), Human Resources Code;
(iii) an employee at a shelter or facility that serves youth and that receives state funds; or
(iv) receiving state funds for the care of a child depicted by the visual material; or
(B) the actor displayed the visual material or caused the visual material to be displayed in a school library.
(c-2) Provides that, if it is shown on the trial of an offense under Subsection (a-1) that the visual material contained a depiction of a child younger than 10 years of age at the time the image of the child was made engaging in sexual conduct as described by Section (a-1)(1):
(1) an offense punishable under Subsection (c-1) as a felony of the second or third degree is increased to the next higher category of offense; or
(2) the minimum term of confinement for an offense described for purposes of punishment by Subsection (c-1)(2) is increased to 15 years.
(c-3) Provides that an offense under Subsection (a-2) is a state jail felony, except that the offense is:
(1) a felony of the third degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the actor has been previously convicted one time of an offense under this chapter or described by Article 62.001(5), Code of Criminal Procedure, or possesses visual material that contains 10 or more visual depictions of a computer-generated child engaging in sexual conduct as described by Subsection (a-2)(1) but fewer than 50 such depictions;
(2) a felony of the second degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the actor has been previously convicted two or more times of an offense, or any combination of offenses under this chapter or described by Article 62.001(5), Code of Criminal Procedure, or possesses visual material that contains 50 or more visual depictions of a computer-generated child engaging in sexual conduct as described by Subsection (a-2)(1); or
(3) a felony of the second degree with a minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years if it is shown on the trial of the offense that at the time of the offense, the actor was an employee described by Subsection (c-1)(3)(A)(i), (ii), or (iii) or the actor displayed the visual material or caused the visual material to be displayed in a school library.
(c-4) Provides that, if it is shown on the trial of an offense under Subsection (a-2) that the visual material contained a depiction of a� computer-generated child who appears to be younger than 10 years of age and is engaging in sexual conduct as described by Subsection (a-2)(1), the punishment for the offense is increased to the punishment for the next higher category of offense, provided that the minimum term of imprisonment for an offense described for purposes of punishment by Subsection (c-3)(3) is 10 years.
(e) Provides that a person commits an offense if the person intentionally or knowingly promotes or possesses with intent to promote visual material described by Subsection (a-1)(1), rather than (a)(1), and the person knows or should have known that the depiction described by Subsection (a-1)(1), rather than (a)(1), is of a child younger than 18 years of age at the time the image of the child was made. Makes nonsubstantive changes.
(e-1) Provides that a person commits an offense if the person intentionally or knowingly promotes or possesses with intent to promote visual material described by Subsection (a-2)(1), and either knows or should have known that the depiction described by Subsection (a-2)(1) appears to be of a child younger than 18 years of age or believes that the depiction is of an actual child younger than 18 years of age at the time the image of the child was made.
(f) Provides that in the prosecution of an offense under Subsection (a-1) or (e) the state is not required to prove the identity of the child in the depiction described by Subsection (a-1)(1) and there is a rebuttable presumption that the depiction is of an actual child as described by Subsection (a)(1)(A) (relating to including a depiction of a child who was younger than 18 years of age at the time the image of the child was made in the definition of "depiction of a child") or (B) (relating to including depictions of a child with certain circumstances in the definition of "depiction of a child"), and not of a computer-generated child, as described by Subsection (a)(2) (relating to "defining depiction of a computer-generated child").
(g) Provides that an offense under Subsection (e) is a felony of the second degree, except that the offense is:
(1) a felony of the first degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the actor, rather than person, has been previously convicted one or more times of an offense under this chapter or described by Article 62.001(5), Code of Criminal Procedure, promotes or possesses with intent to promote visual material that contains 10 or more visual depictions of a child engaging in sexual conduct as described by Subsection (a-1)(1) but fewer than 50 such depictions, or promotes or possesses with intent to promote visual material that contains one or more visual depictions of a child who appears to be younger than 10 years of age and is engaging in sexual conduct as described by Subsection (a-1)(1); or
(2) a felony of the first degree with a minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the actor promotes or possesses with intent to promote visual material that contains certain amounts and forms of visual depictions of a child engaging in sexual conduct.
(g-1) Provides that an offense under Subsection (e-1) is a felony of the third degree, except that the offense is a felony of the second degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the person:
(1) has been previously convicted one or more times of an offense under this chapter or described by Article 62.001(5), Code of Criminal Procedure, promotes or possesses with intent to promote visual material that contains 10 or more visual depictions of a computer-generated child engaging in sexual conduct as described by Subsection (a-2)(1), or promotes or possesses with intent to promote visual material that contains one or more visual depictions of a computer-generated child who appears to be younger than 10 years of age and is engaging in sexual conduct as described by Subsection (a-2)(1); or
(2) a felony of the second degree with a minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the person promotes or possesses with intent to promote visual material that contains 50 or more visual depictions of a computer-generated child engaging in sexual conduct as described by Subsection (a-2)(1).
(h) Provides that it is a defense to prosecution under Section 43.26 (Possession or Promotion of Child Pornography), rather than prosecution under Subsection (a) or (c) (relating to providing that affirmative defenses under certain provisions also apply to a prosecution under Section 43.26), that the actor is a law enforcement officer or a school administrator under certain circumstances.
(h-1) Provides that it is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that the conduct was for a bona fide educational, medical, psychological, psychiatric, judicial, law enforcement, or legislative purpose.
(h-2) Provides that it is an affirmative defense to prosecution under Subsection (a-2) or (e-1) that the actor is not more than two years older than the depicted child.
SECTION 2. Amends Article 38.45(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, to prohibit the court, during the course of a criminal hearing or proceeding, from making available or allowing to be made available for copying or dissemination to the public certain property or material, including material that constitutes child pornography, as described by Section 43.26(a-1)(1) or (a-2)(2), rather than 43.26(a)(1), Penal Code.
SECTION 3. Amends Article 39.15(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, to require a court to allow discovery under Article 39.14 (Discovery) of certain property or material, including property or material that constitutes child pornography, as described by Section 43.26(a-1)(1) or (a-2)(2), rather than 43.26(a)(1), Penal Code.
SECTION 5. Amends Section 43.261(b-1), Penal Code, as follows:
(b-1) Provides that, for purposes of conduct under Subsection (b) (relating to providing that a person who is a minor commits an offense if the person performs certain actions), visual material to which that conduct applies includes:
(1) creates this subdivision from existing text and makes nonsubstantive changes; or
(2) a depiction of a minor, created using an artificial intelligence application or other computer software, that to a reasonable person is virtually indistinguishable from an actual minor.
SECTION 6. Amends Section 43.262(b-1), Penal Code, as follows:
(b-1) Provides that, for the purposes of conduct prohibited under Subsection (b) (relating to providing that a person commits an offense if the person possesses, accesses with intent to view, or promotes visual material that meets certain criteria) to which that conduct applies includes:
(1) creates this subdivision from existing text and makes nonsubstantive changes;� or
(2) a depiction of a child, created using an artificial intelligence application or other computer software, that to a reasonable person is virtually indistinguishable from an actual child younger than 18 years of age.
Repealers: Sections 43.26(d) (relating to providing that an offense under Subsection (a) is a felony of the third degree, except in certain circumstances) and (d-2) (relating to providing that the enhancement described in Subsection (d-1) is unavailable if the person is also prosecuted for conduct occurring in the same criminal episode), Penal Code.
Repealer: Section 43.26(i) (relating to providing that, for the purposes conduct prohibited under this section, visual material to which that conduct applies includes certain depictions of a child), Penal Code.
Repealers: Sections 43.26(d-1) (relating to providing that certain punishments apply if an offense under this section occurred during the same criminal episode as an offense under Subsection (e)), as added by Chapter 93 (S.B. 1527), Acts of the 88th Legislature, Regular Session, 2023, and (d-1) (relating to providing that certain punishments apply if it is shown that the visual material depicted a child younger than 10 years of age at the time the image was made or the defendant has been previously convicted), as added by Chapter 1041 (S.B. 129), Acts of the 88th Legislature, Regular Session, 2023, Penal code.
SECTION 8. Makes application of this Act prospective.
Honorable Pete Flores, Chair, Senate Committee on Criminal Justice
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB1621 by Huffman (Relating to prosecution and punishment of certain criminal offenses prohibiting sexually explicit visual material involving depictions of children, computer-generated children, or other persons; creating criminal offenses; increasing criminal penalties.), As Introduced
Expanding the conduct constituting and increasing the penalties for existing offenses may result in additional demands upon state and local correctional resources due to a possible increase in the number of individuals placed under supervision in the community or sentenced to a term of confinement, some with longer sentences. The fiscal implications of the bill cannot be determined due to the lack of data to identify cases which would meet the revised offense criteria as proposed by the bill.
The bill would expand the conduct constituting the offenses of possession or promotion of child pornography, electronic transmission of certain visual material depicting a minor, and possession or promotion of lewd visual material depicting a child by invoking a reasonable person standard and making the offenses punishable when the image depicting a child does not to any degree involve imagery of an actual child, and by defining visual material to include a file in any digital format.
The bill would expand conduct constituting the offense of possession or promotion of child pornography by relaxing the mental state required to establish culpability to include when the actor should have known the depicted child was younger than 18, and by removing the requirement, in cases where the offense to any degree involves imagery of an actual child, that the prosecutor prove the identity of the child.
The bill would provide additional criteria for penalty enhancement for the offense of possession or promotion of child pornography by including when the actor has certain prior sex offender related convictions and when the visual material is displayed in a school library.
The bill would make certain criteria for penalty enhancement currently applicable only to the offense of possession or access of child pornography applicable also to the offense of promotion or possession with intent to promote child pornography.
The bill would provide lower penalties for the offense of possession and promotion of child pornography in certain circumstances if the visual material does not to any degree depict an actual child.
The bill would expand the conduct constituting the offense of unlawful disclosure or promotion of intimate visual material by defining visual material to include a file in any digital format.
The bill would remove the affirmative defense to prosecution of the offense of possession or promotion of child pornography, that the actor was not more than two years older than the depicted child, in cases where the imagery to any degree involves imagery of an actual child.
The Office of Court Administration (OCA) and the Comptroller of Public Accounts (CPA) indicate that the fiscal implication of the bill cannot be determined.
Local Government Impact
While the fiscal impact to units of local government cannot be determined, the expansion of qualifying conduct for offenses may result in additional demands on local correctional resources due to the arrest or pretrial detention of more defendants or more defendants receiving community supervision.
Source Agencies:
212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts
LBB Staff:
JMc, MGol, AMr, DGI
Related Legislation
Explore more bills from this author and on related topics
SB1621 creates a new class of criminal liability for AI-generated depictions of minors ("computer-generated children") and imposes severe penalty enhancements for employees of child-care facilities and schools. The law shifts the culpability standard to "should have known," effectively removing willful ignorance as a defense for organizations that provide digital networks or devices where such material is stored or displayed. Implementation Timeline Effective Date: September 1, 2025 Compliance Deadline: August 31, 2025 (All network filters, AUP updates, and employee acknowledgments must be active prior to the effective date to prevent "continuing offense" liability).
Q
Who authored SB1621?
SB1621 was authored by Texas Senator Joan Huffman during the Regular Session.
Q
When was SB1621 signed into law?
SB1621 was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on June 20, 2025.
Q
Which agencies enforce SB1621?
SB1621 is enforced by Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Local Law Enforcement Agencies and District Attorneys.
Q
How urgent is compliance with SB1621?
The compliance urgency for SB1621 is rated as "critical". Businesses and organizations should review the requirements and timeline to ensure timely compliance.
Q
What is the cost impact of SB1621?
The cost impact of SB1621 is estimated as "low". This may vary based on industry and implementation requirements.
Q
What topics does SB1621 address?
SB1621 addresses topics including artificial intelligence, crimes, crimes--against persons, crimes--against persons--sexual and criminal procedure.
Legislative data provided by LegiScanLast updated: November 25, 2025
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