Texas House passes bill by Rep. Thompson requiring de-escalation and behavioral health training for correctional staff

Passed bill authored by State Rep. Senfronia Thompson aims to enhance correctional staff training on communication, crisis management, and behavioral health to reduce use of force and improve inmate interactions, according to the Texas Legislature website.

In the House, 57 Democrats and 83 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, with no opposition.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, 10 Democrats and 20 Republicans voted in favor, also with no opposing votes.

Senfronia Thompson introduced the bill in the Texas House on Wednesday, Feb. 12, during the 89th regular legislative session.

Thompson graduated from Texas Southern University with a BS and again from Thurgood Marshall School of Law with a JD.

Thompson, a Democrat, was elected to the Texas State House in 1983 to represent the state’s 141st House district, replacing previous state representative Gib Lewis.

According to the Texas Legislature, the bill’s official text was summarized as follows: ‘Relating to training on de-escalation, crisis intervention, and behavioral health for correctional officers and certain other employees of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’.

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

In essence, this bill, known as the Jovian Motley Act, requires the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to provide training on de-escalation, crisis intervention, and behavioral health to correctional officers and other employees who interact with inmates. The training must cover effective communication, alternatives to physical restraints, and techniques to minimize force use that results in injury. Additionally, behavioral health training should address communication and intervention, awareness of behavioral health issues, crisis management, suicide prevention, and accessing employee assistance programs. The training must be part of preservice education and completed annually. The department must implement the training by December 1, 2025. The act takes effect September 1, 2025.

The bill was co-authored by Rep. Mihaela Plesa (Democrat – District 70), Rep. Aicha Davis (Democrat – District 109), and Rep. Charlene Ward Johnson (Democrat – District 139).

The bill received its final legislative approval on Monday, May 12, and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday, May 26.

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.