Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a formal legal opinion Sept. 17 concluding that school district police departments do not qualify to receive reports of suspected child abuse or neglect under the Texas Family Code.
The opinion turns on Senate Bill 571, which the Legislature enacted in 2025. According to a news release from the attorney general’s office, that bill amended Chapter 261 of the Family Code to define “law enforcement agency” as the Texas Department of Public Safety, a municipal police department, a county sheriff’s office or a county constable’s office. Paxton concluded that the definition applies throughout Chapter 261, including the provisions governing how reports of suspected abuse are referred and investigated.
Chapter 261 sets the state’s reporting and investigation requirements for child abuse and neglect. Among them, the release noted, is the rule that anyone with reasonable cause to believe a child’s physical or mental health or welfare has been adversely affected by abuse or neglect must immediately make a report.
Paxton cast the opinion as a check on districts that keep allegations in-house. “I have issued this formal opinion to ensure the safety of school children in Texas by stopping rogue school districts from concealing the sexual abuse of children. School districts can no longer keep reports within their own captive agencies,” Paxton said in the release. “Any reasonable belief that a child is being abused or neglected must be taken seriously and reported to the correct law enforcement agency, as required by Texas law.”
The opinion does not remove other obligations from campus police, according to the release. Paxton wrote that the conclusion does not relieve school district police departments or their officers of duties elsewhere in Texas law, including the duty to report suspected abuse or neglect, to cooperate in investigations and to assist an appropriate law enforcement agency.
Attorney general opinions interpret existing law at the request of specified public officials and are advisory rather than binding, though state agencies and local governments routinely treat them as guidance. Paxton said in the release that he will continue working to ensure reports of child abuse and neglect are handled by the appropriate authorities.