The measure passed the Republican-led Senate in a 19-10 vote that fell along party lines.

Under Texas open records law on the books since 1973, Police officers’ general personnel files are public, but the G-file has served as a carve-out since the late ’80s.

Police in North Charleston, which has about 52,000 cards on file, and Columbia, with more than 30,000, also proposed tens of thousands of dollars in fees for full access to their records.

Hours before debate, a Senate committee advanced a version of HB 15 that stripped changes the House added last week, including one that addressed the release of Uvalde shooting documents.

SB 15, which a state Senate panel advanced Friday, could help Texas state police withhold records on their response to the 2022 Uvalde mass school shooting.

A close-up photo of a San Diego Police officer. (File photo courtesy San Diego Police Department) The public can now search internal affairs documents and other police-misconduct records from ...

Texas lawmakers push 'massive secrecy grab' to shield police files As public attention has shifted away from policing reform, legislators attempt to shove information into the dark.