Texas Senate bill by Sen. West mandates provisional occupational licenses for qualified applicants with criminal convictions

Passed bill authored by State Sen. Royce West aims to amend the Texas Occupations Code to require licensing authorities to issue provisional occupational licenses to qualified applicants with criminal convictions, excluding specific offenses, according to the Texas Legislature website.

In the Senate, 10 Democrats and 20 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, with no opposition.

Meanwhile, in the House, 62 Democrats and 85 Republicans voted in favor, also with no opposing votes.

Royce West introduced the bill in the Texas Senate on Tuesday, Feb. 4, during the 89th regular legislative session.

West graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a BA and again from University of Houston with an MA.

West, a Democrat, was elected to the Texas State Senate in 1993 to represent the state’s 23rd Senate district, replacing previous state senator Eddie Bernice Johnson.

According to the Texas Legislature, the bill’s official text was summarized as follows: ‘Relating to the revocation of an occupational license from certain license holders and the issuance of an occupational license to certain applicants with criminal convictions’.

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends the Texas Occupations Code to provide that a licensing authority must issue a provisional occupational license or the requested license to an otherwise qualified applicant with a criminal conviction, unless the conviction is for an offense outlined in Section 53.021(a). The provisional license is valid for six months. For applicants who are inmates in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the six-month term begins upon their release. The bill takes effect immediately upon receiving a two-thirds majority vote in both legislative houses; otherwise, it becomes effective on Sept. 1, 2025.

The bill was co-authored by Sen. Borris Miles (Democrat – District 13) and Sen. Juan Hinojosa (Democrat – District 20), along with two other authors.

The bill received its final legislative approval on Monday, May 12, and was filed without the Governor’s signature on Tuesday, May 27.

Bills in Texas go through a multi-step legislative process, including committee review, debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching a final decision. Each session, there are typically thousands of bills introduced, but only a portion successfully navigate the process to become law.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.