The nine-member board that licenses Texas car dealers votes Thursday on rules meant to make the state’s vehicle-records privacy law enforceable against the businesses that hold your name, address and license number. Public comment is taken in person only, three minutes a speaker.
The motor vehicle records privacy law keeps agencies from handing out the personal information attached to a registration or title — name, address, date of birth, driver’s license number — except to a long list of authorized recipients, and it keeps those recipients from passing it along to anyone else. Selling it to someone not on the list is a misdemeanor carrying a fine of up to $100,000, and the person whose information was sold can go to district court for at least $2,500. What the board takes up Thursday is the plumbing: writing those limits into its own licensing rules, where a violation becomes something the department can act on directly.
The adoption covers the chapter governing new-vehicle dealers and distributors, with amendments across seven subchapters, three new sections and eight repeals. A companion proposal would do the same for salvage vehicle dealers and would also thin out the signs those dealers must post. Both chapters are simultaneously up for the periodic review state agencies must run on their own rules.
The money item is separate. The board’s finance and audit committee brings the operating budget for the year beginning September 1, along with an update on the funding request the agency will file for 2028 and 2029 — the request Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows told agencies in July to cut by three percent. In closed session, members will take legal advice on a federal appeal brought by the electric-vehicle maker Lucid against the department’s motor vehicle division director. The Fifth Circuit heard argument in March and has not ruled.
Also on the agenda: a final order in an enforcement case against a licensed dealer, Owono Motors, on which the board has made no findings; appointments to the advisory committees on automated vehicles and household-goods movers; and a redesign of the Oklahoma State University specialty plate.
Meeting at a glance
- When
- 9:00 a.m. CT Thursday, August 13, 2026. The notice was filed August 4.
- Where
- 4000 Jackson Ave., Building 1, Lone Star Conference Room, Austin. Parking adjoins Building 1.
- Governing body & chair
- Board of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles — nine governor-appointed members, with seats set aside for dealers, a tax assessor-collector, a motor carrier, law enforcement and the public. Charles Bacarisse chairs.
- Format
- In person; the presiding officer attends in person and some members may join by video. To speak, file a form at the registration table or email GCO_General@txdmv.gov before the item is called. Closed session noticed.
- Live video
- None advertised on the notice. Meeting documents are posted on the board meetings page.
- Full agenda
- Secretary of State Open Meeting Viewer · TxDMV board meetings
Board members
- Charles Bacarisse, Houston — chair; former Harris County district clerk.
- Tammy McRae, Conroe — vice chair; Montgomery County tax assessor-collector.
- Christian Alvarado, Austin — public member; co-founder of CB Capital. To 2027.
- Chase Cooley, Dallas — franchised dealer seat; Clay Cooley Auto Group.
- Brett Graham, Denison — franchised dealer seat; Graham International. To 2029.
- Mark Jones, Mansfield — independent dealer seat; Mike Carlson Motor Co.
- Sharla Omumu, Cypress — manufacturer seat; Gulf States Toyota. Term to 2027.
- Mark Roesler, League City — motor carrier seat; Acme Truck Line.
- Darren Schlosser, Rosharon — law enforcement seat; retired Houston police sergeant.
Term expiration dates for every member, plus hometowns and seat categories, are on the agency’s TxDMV Board page, which also lists the seat categories required by Transportation Code §1001.021(b). Staff: Daniel Avitia, executive director; Laura Moriaty, general counsel; Brett Graham chairs the finance and audit committee.