More than 800 new Texas laws took effect this week

AUSTIN – More than 800 new laws took effect Monday. Some of the major new laws are listed below.

EDUCATION CHANGES

• School Voucher Program: Up to $10,000 per child for private school tuition.

• Ten Commandments required in all public school classrooms with 16"x20" posters, but a federal judge has issued a temporary block on this one.

• Cell phone ban in schools already in effect.

• DEI programs are banned in K-12 schools.

• Parents get more control over school library books.

• $8.5 billion in new funding for public schools.

• Prayer in schools allows public school districts to ability to adopt policies requiring campuses to set aside time for students and staff to pray or read a religious text.

• To assure financial literacy Texas high school students will be required to take at least one semester of personal financial literacy beginning the 2026-2027 school year.

HOUSING & PROPERTY

• New homes can be built on smaller lots (minimum 3,000 sq. ft. in big cities).

• Business property tax exemption increases from $2,500 to $125,000.

• Foreign nationals from China, North Korea, Russia, Iran banned from owning Texas land.

HEALTH

• A new law makes it a criminal offense to own childlike sex dolls.  

• It is now classified as a state jail felony for owning this type of doll or possessing one with the intent to promote it is a third-degree felony.

• The law also establishes a limit of two sex dolls per person.

• A new law allows police officers the right to detain someone with anosognosia, or the inability to recognize one’s psychiatric condition, for evaluation by a mental health professional.

• Lawmakers approved a ban on lab-grown meat sales for the next two years. Texas was the seventh state to enact some sort of ban on lab-grown meat.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA EXPANSION

• Now includes chronic pain, traumatic brain injury, and Crohn’s disease.

• Vaping products are now allowed for medical patients.

LAW ENFORCEMENT & LEGAL

• Crisis response policies are required for all law enforcement agencies.

• NDAs banned in sexual assault and human trafficking cases (“Trey’s Law”).

• Cities/counties can’t fund out-of-state abortion travel with taxpayer money.

• Animal control vehicles and officers are now covered under the “Slow Down & Move Over Law,” which requiring drivers to move over or slow down when they are on the roadway.

• Road rage shootings will now be charged as a first-degree felony, punishable by five years to life in prison.

UNIVERSITY CHANGES

• Regents get more power over public universities.

• New oversight office to investigate DEI compliance.

BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS

• $338 billion state budget (70% for education and health services).

• Texas Lottery Commission to be dissolved.

The Ellis County Sheriff’s Department noted at its website, “Some laws face legal challenges and may not take immediate effect in all districts.”