Relating to civil liability for removing certain individuals or animals from a motor vehicle.
HB 349 creates legal immunity for people who enter a locked motor vehicle to remove a vulnerable individual (like a child under 7 or someone with a disability) or a domestic animal (like a pet dog or cat) from a car. To qualify for immunity, rescuers must first confirm the vehicle is locked or the person/animal cannot exit safely, reasonably believe immediate harm is occurring, notify law enforcement or 911 before entering (unless they are first responders), use only necessary force, and stay with the person/animal until help arrives. The law specifically protects ordinary citizens - not just police - from civil lawsuits when following these steps. It does not apply to livestock or cases where authorities advise against entry.
Bill status
passed
3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
May 2025
House Passage
May 2025
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 28, 2025
Last action May 5, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
Introduced
→
Engrossed
·
4 edits
·
May 1, 2025
MODERATE
This bill updates the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code to clarify and modernize the legal protections for individuals who remove vulnerable people or animals from locked motor vehicles. The changes primarily involve formatting improvements and renumbering of sections, with no substantive policy changes to the liability protections themselves.
Scope change
No substantive change to scope or applicability; the bill maintains the same protections for removing vulnerable individuals or animals from motor vehicles.
TECHNICAL
Formatting and numbering corrections throughout the document, including updating section references and removing redundant text.
Added accessibility compliance statement regarding WCAG 2.1 standards for digital content.
Updated bill header information to reflect the engrossed version status and corrected sponsor attribution formatting.
DEFINITION
Minor renumbering of the 'Vulnerable individual' definition subsection from (3) to (2) to align with proper legislative numbering conventions.
Floor votes · House Apr 30, 2025
How they voted
91–45
Passed · 7 other
Total votes 143
Apr 30, 2025
D
Democratic59
93% Yea
R
Republican84
51% Nay
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
26
Key actions
7
Committee
7
May 5, 2025
Committee
Referred to State Affairs
upper
May 5, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
upper
May 5, 2025
Introduced
Received from the House
upper
May 1, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed
lower
Apr 30, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed to engrossment
lower
Mar 25, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report sent to Calendars
lower
Mar 25, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report distributed
lower
Mar 19, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
lower
Mar 12, 2025
Lower · Passed
Left pending in committee
lower
Mar 12, 2025
Lower · Passed
Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
lower
Feb 28, 2025
Committee
Referred to Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
lower
Feb 28, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
lower
4 primary · 9 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Ben Bumgarner
RRepublican
P
Brad Buckley
RRepublican
P
Jeff Leach
RRepublican
P
Mihaela Pleșa
DDemocratic
Co
Christina Morales
DDemocratic
Co
Gene Wu
DDemocratic
Co
JG
Jessica González
DDemocratic
Co
John Bryant
DDemocratic
Co
John Bucy
DDemocratic
Co
Jon Rosenthal
DDemocratic
Co
MG
Mary González
DDemocratic
Co
Penny Morales Shaw
DDemocratic
Co
Vikki Goodwin
DDemocratic
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