BELL COUNTY, Texas — Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed House Bill 1465 into law, expanding the state’s sex offender registry to include individuals convicted of invasive visual recording—crimes such as secretly filming someone in a private space without their consent.

The law, authored by Representative Hillary Hickland (R-55), takes effect September 1, 2025. It closes a significant loophole in Texas law that previously allowed those convicted of voyeuristic crimes—like recording someone in a bathroom or bedroom—to avoid registering as sex offenders.

The legislation was inspired by the testimony of Cailey Rush , a Temple resident who was secretly recorded by her then stepfather, a former Temple Police Department officer, when she was a teenager. Despite being convicted, he was not

See Full Page