Texas SB 240 · Primary source
Texas SB 463: Chapter 331 Expansion and the September 1, 2026 Deadline
Senate Bill 463 (89th Texas Legislature) amended the Chapter 331 workplace violence prevention statute effective September 1, 2025. It expanded coverage from six facility classes to eight: every HCSSA service category now counts toward the two-RN test, and intermediate care facilities (ICF/IID) and state supported living centers were added. Facilities newly covered by the amendment have been required to comply since September 1, 2026.
On this page
Section 01
What SB 463 changed
SB 463 was signed May 20, 2025 and took effect September 1, 2025. It made one surgical change with wide reach: it amended the facility definition in HSC §331.001(3), in three ways.
- It struck the home-health limitation on HCSSA coverage. The definition previously reached a Chapter 142 agency licensed "to provide home health services." That phrase is gone. Any HCSSA that employs two or more registered nurses is now covered, whatever its service categories, hospice-focused and personal-assistance agencies included.
- It added intermediate care facilities for individuals with an intellectual disability (ICF/IID), licensed under HSC Chapter 252, with no staffing threshold.
- It added state supported living centers (as defined by Health & Safety Code §531.002), also with no threshold.
The two-RN threshold survives exactly where it always was: inside the HCSSA and nursing-facility definitions. It is not a general trigger, and SB 463 did not extend it to any other setting.
Section 02
There are now two compliance deadlines
SB 463’s transition section binds only entities that become subject to Chapter 331 because of the amendment. Everyone else keeps their original obligation. The controlling question is when your facility class entered the statute.
| Covered before SB 463 | Hospitals, mental hospitals, ASCs, FSEDs, nursing facilities (≥2 RNs), and home-health HCSSAs (≥2 RNs): required to have a program in place since Sept. 1, 2024; no new runway. |
|---|---|
| Newly covered by SB 463 | Non-home-health HCSSAs meeting the two-RN test, ICF/IIDs, and state supported living centers: required to comply since Sept. 1, 2026. |
Section 03
Newly covered? What must be in place
A facility brought in by SB 463 owes the entire Chapter 331 program; the statute grants no partial on-ramp. As of September 1, 2026, all six elements must be adopted and implemented:
- A WVP committee with the statutory floor: an RN providing direct patient care; a physician providing direct patient care (the §331.002(c) exemption reaches only HCSSAs without one; for ICFs, PL 2026-13 applies a hold-harmless period to the physician seat from September 1, 2026 to August 31, 2027); and a security-services employee if any and if practicable.
- A written policy and a written, setting-specific plan: two documents, not one, reflecting your actual practice environment.
- Training at least annually for applicable staff, documented; it may be folded into other required training.
- A confidential reporting policy with anti-retaliation protection, including non-discouragement of contacting law enforcement.
- Post-incident response: immediate services including any necessary acute medical treatment, and patient care assignment adjustment.
- An annual plan evaluation reported to the governing body: the renewing obligation that keeps the program alive year over year.
Section 04
ICF/IIDs and state supported living centers: a different risk profile
An ICF/IID or SSLC plan cannot be a hospital plan with the name changed. The dominant exposure is resident-behavior-driven (escalation tied to intellectual and developmental disability, not intruders or the public), and the statute expressly requires the plan to be "based on the practice setting." Behavior-support integration, environmental controls sized to a small facility, and a committee the facility can actually staff are the design problems here.
HHSC issued Provider Letter PL 2026-13 on July 25, 2026 as its implementation guidance for ICFs, and revised it on August 10, 2026 to add a hold-harmless period for the physician committee seat that runs from September 1, 2026 to August 31, 2027; every other requirement applies in full. HHSC has since proposed rules for two of the newly covered classes: new 26 TAC §551.51 for ICF/IIDs (Texas Register, September 25, 2026; comments due October 26, 2026), which as proposed requires the physician seat with no hold-harmless language, and an amendment to 26 TAC §558.243 for HCSSAs that employ two or more registered nurses (Texas Register, September 18, 2026; comments due October 19, 2026). Neither rule has been adopted, and none has been proposed for state supported living centers. Until adoption, the statute plus provider-letter guidance is the framework, which makes precise documentation more important, not less.
Section 05
Enforcement, stated honestly
Chapter 331 carries no fine schedule, and SB 463 added none. §331.006 lets the appropriate licensing agency treat a violation like a licensing-law violation, so for newly covered classes, non-compliance surfaces as a deficiency at the HHSC survey, requiring a plan of correction, and as post-incident litigation discovery after a serious event. That is the accurate urgency; there is no fine to threaten, and we do not invent one.
Section 06
Citation hygiene for the amended statute
The free codified text of Chapter 331 on the Legislature’s statutes site did not reflect SB 463 well into 2026: it still showed six classes and carried only the 2023 enactment note. The enrolled session law controls. When you need the amendment on the record, cite SB 463, 89th Legislature, R.S. (2025) and its transition section for the September 1, 2026 date, rather than the lagging codified web copy.
One more trap: HB 1531 (89th Legislature) covered the same subject and never became law. The expansion came from SB 463 alone.
Section 07
How VIGILO helps newly covered facilities
VIGILO builds the full Chapter 331 program for newly covered agencies, ICF/IIDs, and SSLCs: coverage confirmation against the amended definition, the committee, the setting-specific policy and plan, training, and the annual evaluation cycle. Start with a survey-readiness audit to see exactly where you stand now that the September 1, 2026 deadline has passed, or go straight to a program build.
Key dates
Dates that matter
- May 20, 2025
SB 463 signed
The Governor signs SB 463 after unanimous passage in both chambers.
- Sept. 1, 2025
Amendment effective
Chapter 331 coverage expands from six classes to eight: every HCSSA service category now counts (two-RN test), and ICF/IIDs and state supported living centers are added.
- July 25, 2026
PL 2026-13 (ICF guidance)
HHSC Long-Term Care Regulation issues implementation guidance for ICFs. A revision on August 10, 2026 adds a hold-harmless period for the physician committee seat through August 31, 2027.
- Sept. 1, 2026
Compliance deadline (newly covered)
Newly covered HCSSAs, ICF/IIDs, and SSLCs had to have the full Chapter 331 program adopted and implemented by this date.
- Sept. 18, 2026
HCSSA rule proposed
HHSC proposes amending 26 TAC §558.243 so HCSSAs that employ two or more registered nurses must have a WVP committee, policies and procedures, and a Chapter 331 program. Comments due Oct. 19, 2026.
- Sept. 25, 2026
ICF/IID rule proposed
HHSC proposes new 26 TAC §551.51, Workplace Violence Prevention, for ICF/IIDs. Comments due Oct. 26, 2026.
Primary sources
- SB 463, 89th Texas Legislature, R.S. (2025): enrolled text; amends HSC §331.001(3); transition deadline Sept. 1, 2026 (uncodified §2).
- Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 331: Workplace Violence Prevention (added by SB 240, 88th Legislature, 2023).
- HHSC Provider Letter PL 2026-13: Implementation of Workplace Violence Program for Intermediate Care Facilities (issued July 25, 2026; revised Aug. 10, 2026).
- Proposed new 26 TAC §551.51, Workplace Violence Prevention (ICF/IID), Texas Register, Sept. 25, 2026 (TRD-202603921).
- Proposed amendment to 26 TAC §558.243 (HCSSA), Texas Register, Sept. 18, 2026 (TRD-202603806).
- HHSC Provider Letter PL 2024-10 (Apr. 18, 2024): HCSSA guidance; predates SB 463 and should be read with the amended statute.
Part of the Texas SB 240 compliance hub.
Frequently asked
Frequently asked questions
What is Texas SB 463?
SB 463 (89th Texas Legislature) is the 2025 law that amended the facility definition in HSC Chapter 331. Effective September 1, 2025, it removed the home-health limitation on HCSSA coverage, added intermediate care facilities (ICF/IID), and added state supported living centers, expanding Chapter 331 from six covered facility classes to eight.
Who had to comply by September 1, 2026?
Facilities that became covered because of SB 463: HCSSAs outside home health that employ two or more registered nurses, ICF/IIDs, and state supported living centers. Facilities covered before SB 463 (hospitals, mental hospitals, ASCs, FSEDs, qualifying nursing facilities, and home-health HCSSAs) have been required to comply since September 1, 2024 and got no new runway.
Does SB 463 change anything for hospitals?
No new obligations. Hospitals were already covered, and their implementing rule (26 TAC §505.55) is unchanged by SB 463. The bill’s effect is entirely on who is covered, not on what a covered facility must do.
Are assisted living facilities covered after SB 463?
No. Chapter 247 assisted living facilities were not added and remain outside the §331.001 facility list at any RN staffing level. The two-RN threshold applies only within the nursing facility and HCSSA definitions; it does not pull other settings into the statute.
What happens if a newly covered facility missed the 2026 deadline?
Chapter 331 has no fine schedule. Non-compliance surfaces as a deficiency at the HHSC licensure or certification survey, requiring a plan of correction, with the licensing agency able to act against the license as with any licensing-law violation, and as discovery exposure in litigation after a serious incident. The urgency is survey-readiness and litigation posture, not fines.
Where is the September 1, 2026 deadline written?
In SB 463’s uncodified transition section, which requires an entity that becomes subject to Chapter 331 under the amended definition to comply not later than September 1, 2026. It does not appear in the codified chapter text: the same drafting pattern as SB 240’s original 2024 deadline.
Find out where your program stands
A Survey-Readiness Audit scores your committee, plan, training, reporting policy, and governing-body evaluation against every applicable Chapter 331 instrument, in one document.