Looking for signed copies of bills, or trying to determine in what session law chapter a bill can be found? Here are some tips.
Signed copies of bills
Bills that the Governor signed or allowed to become law without his signature are sent to the Secretary of State's office, where they will be made available online on the Bills and Resolutions page. The signing deadline for the 85th Legislature is Sunday, June 18.
You can determine whether a bill sent to the Governor was signed or filed without signature by checking the bill in the Texas Legislature Online. If the bill passed but was filed without signature, you will see the action "Filed without the Governor's signature."
Signed copies from the 78th - 84th Legislatures are available online at the University of North Texas Laws and Resolutions Archive. Copies of signed bills older than the 78th Regular Session are available through the Texas State Archives. Please call (512) 463-5480.
Session law chapter numbers
The Secretary of State's Bills and Resolutions page also lists the session law chapter number that is assigned to each bill that has become law. The session laws contain the text of all bills passed into law during a particular legislative session. Chapter numbers are used primarily for citing a bill in a legislative history annotation.
For questions about bill/chapter numbers for bills from the 85th R.S., please contact the Secretary of State's office at (512) 463-5561.
Session law chapter citations for previous sessions are available online through the Legislative Archive System. To view the complete bill/session law chapter cross reference table for a session, select the legislature in the "search by session law chapter" option and leave the chapter box blank. The LRL will be working to add these records for the 85th regular session.
