‘Let’s just say it’s done’: Will Texas lieutenant governor sign ‘dead suspect’ bill?
AUSTIN (KXAN) — While the mystery surrounding a missing transparency measure at the Texas Capitol remains, the attention it grabbed in recent days – from state lawmakers, frustrated families and open records advocates nationwide – ensured any movement to advance a replacement copy of House Bill 30 would not go unnoticed.
“That’s a whole long story,” Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, told reporters Tuesday afternoon during a press conference. “That will take care of itself before you know it.”
As the Senate prepared to reconvene for its special session work, those stakeholders were waiting to see if Patrick would sign the "dead suspect loophole" legislation overwhelmingly passed by both chambers in the final stretch of the regular session. His signature is required in the Texas Constitution, and his House counterpart – Republican Speaker Dade Phelan – had already signed off more than a week earlier.
Phelan’s communications director, Cait Wittman, called HB 30 one of the speaker’s “many legislative priorities” – leaving those anxiously watching for an update to wonder whether the measure had become political fallout from recent high-profile policy disagreements between Texas’ top leaders.
“(The speaker) was proud to fulfill his constitutional obligation of signing this legislation in the presence of the House,” Wittman said in a statement Friday. “There are several administrative tasks that need to take place after a bill’s passage before it can be signed into law, and House Bill 30 has cleared all of those necessary procedures in the House.”
What happened to the bill?
After Phelan signed off, records KXAN obtained through a public information request from the House’s chief clerk indicate the bill was among several prepared on May 29 – the final day of the regular session when property tax squabbles were already threatening a special session. It was then to be delivered to the Senate for Patrick’s signature – the final step before being sent to Gov. Greg Abbott for review before becoming law.
A Senate journal clerk told KXAN the bill never made it to the upper chamber. And a source close to the process said legislative staff discovered it missing the next day as they readied that batch of bills for the governor.
After it was revealed HB 30 was never signed by the lieutenant governor, Phelan signed a certified replacement copy, and records show that version was received by the Senate secretary on May 30. A week later, Patrick had yet to sign the bill, leaving its future – and the potential precedent set by that move – in question. Of more than 1,240 bills passed by lawmakers in the regular session, HB 30 was the only one that had not made it to the governor’s desk.
During the Tuesday press conference, Patrick indicated he had become aware of a “deal in the works” at the end of the regular session: if the House passed a certain Senate bill, the Senate would pass HB 30.
“(House members) killed the (Senate) bill,” Patrick said, adding that he later “pulled (HB 30) out of the stack, stuck it on my podium, and it’s been there the last five days.”
Patrick also said HB 30 was “always intended to be signed.”
“Let’s just say it’s done,” he closed.
So far, KXAN’s multiple requests for comment from both Patrick and Abbott’s offices have gone unanswered. HB 30’s sponsor – Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford – has also not returned messages, and its author, Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, has said he could not speak on the matter at this time. KXAN has also requested copies of communication regarding the matter from Patrick’s office and other Senate staff members to further shed light on the timeline.
What does HB 30 do?
Moody has filed similar legislation every regular session since 2017, aiming to close the state’s “dead suspect loophole.” It relates to an exception to the Texas Public Information Act giving law enforcement discretion to withhold details in closed criminal cases when the suspect does not go through the court process.
While that point was put in place to protect the privacy of people wrongfully accused of crimes, open records advocates say it had an unintended consequence of keeping information about a person who dies in custody secret permanently – because that person will never have a chance to go to court. KXAN has investigated the loophole’s widespread use for years, as police agencies have used it broadly across Texas to keep evidence from journalists, lawyers and families.
Though it faced heavy opposition from police unions over the years, the measure to close the loophole gained strong bipartisan support following the Uvalde school shooting in 2022 that left 19 elementary students and two teachers dead. There were fears officials would cite that legal exemption since the shooter had also died, preventing families from getting answers about possible police inaction. That concern led Phelan to become an early supporter before Moody re-filed the bill – one of the few pieces of Uvalde-related policy lawmakers eventually passed in the regular session.
“More than anything, the families of the #Uvalde victims need honest answers and transparency. Period,” Phelan tweeted shortly after the shooting. “It would be absolutely unconscionable to use the ‘dead suspect loophole’ to thwart the release of information that is so badly needed and deserved right now. I think it’s time we pass legislation to end the dead suspect loophole for good in 2023.”
Can the bill still become law?
Stalling at this stage is rare. Perhaps the last time it happened was 2003, according to an online archive analysis. Like HB 30 now, two bills in the first special session of the 78th Legislature were left with a final action of “Signed in the House.” Neither bill became law.
A group of Senate Democrats then – the so-called Texas Eleven – had fled the state for Albuquerque, New Mexico, for 46 days to prevent passage of controversial redistricting legislation. They broke quorum – which is important, because only then can a chamber meet. Without the Senate meeting, the lieutenant governor could not sign those two bills “in the presence of the House over which he presides … after their titles have been publicly read before signing,” as required in the Texas Constitution.
But that historic move in 2003 was part of the legislative process. Patrick not signing HB 30 today is not spelled out so clearly in any rule or law. Some sources suggest it amounts to veto power – which, by law, only the governor has. Others suggest Patrick and Phelan’s signatures may not even be necessary.
Historic explanations of signatures at this stage indicate they were once necessary to certify lawmakers’ votes actually happened and ensure the governor did not act on unapproved legislation. The constitutional stipulation in Texas dates back to the 1870s – well before voting records were kept in the chambers’ journals electronically and online, along with video recordings of those votes.
While Abbott has a constitutional deadline to act on bills sent to him, there appears to be nothing specifically addressing timing for the chambers’ presiding officers to sign bills and send them to the governor. Some sources suggest – without those signatures – HB 30 will be invalid. Some suggest it could become law without any signature, if it reaches the date it was meant to go into effect – Sept. 1. And others suggest the legislature could bypass Patrick altogether or even involve a court to compel his signature. It is unclear if anyone will take any of those actions at this time.
The simplest path at this point would be Patrick following the law and signing the bill before him when the Senate reconvenes Tuesday night. By mid-day, there were inside rumblings something could happen with the bill soon, though it was apparent Patrick was still at odds with Phelan over other policy matters. The speaker had sent House members home a week earlier after they passed their own governor-backed property tax plan in the special session, further adding to the division between these leaders – and the uncertain outcome of HB 30.
“The Senate continues to work,” Patrick said in a Tuesday afternoon press conference. “The House continues to stay home.”