HB4448 - Relating to an automated artificial intelligence review of library material purchased by public schools; providing an administrative penalty.

  89R13491 MEW-D     By: Hickland H.B. No. 4448       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to an automated artificial intelligence review of library   material purchased by public schools; providing an administrative   penalty.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Chapter 35, Education Code, is amended by adding   Section 35.0022 to read as follows:           Sec.   35.0022.     AUTOMATED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LIBRARY   MATERIAL REVIEW. (a)   Not later than 90 days before purchasing   library material from a library material vendor, a school district   or open-enrollment charter school must ensure the material is   submitted to a third party approved by the agency to conduct an   automated artificial intelligence review of the material to   determine whether the material should be rated as sexually explicit   material or sexually relevant material.           (b)     Not later than the 20th business day after an automated   artificial intelligence review is conducted under Subsection (a),   an individual employed or contracted by the third party shall   verify the results of the review.           (c)     If an automated artificial intelligence review   conducted under Subsection (a) rates a library material as sexually   explicit material or sexually relevant material, the third party   must provide to the school district or open-enrollment charter   school a detailed report that contains:                 (1)     the specific content flagged as sexually explicit   or sexually relevant;                 (2)     the historical, educational, or other context in   which the content appears; and                 (3)     the rationale for why the material was rated as   sexually explicit or sexually relevant.           (d)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school:                 (1)     may not purchase a library material that has been   determined to contain sexually explicit material; and                 (2)     must require parental consent in accordance with   Section 35.005 for a library material determined to contain   sexually relevant material.           (e)     A school district or open-enrollment charter school   shall maintain documentation regarding each automated artificial   intelligence review conducted under this section.           (f)     The commissioner shall adopt and post on the agency's   Internet website a list of third parties approved to conduct an   automated artificial intelligence review under Subsection (a).   In   adopting the list, the commissioner:                 (1)     may not approve a third party that holds a   financial interest in a library material vendor;                 (2)     must require bias mitigation protocols and   cultural competency testing;                 (3)     must ensure the third party has received training   on the definitions of sexually explicit and sexually relevant   material under Section 35.001; and                 (4)     must require the third party to update the third   party's automated artificial intelligence review system at least   quarterly.           (g)     The agency shall conduct quarterly audits of not less   than five percent of library materials submitted for review under   Subsection (a) to ensure accuracy in ratings and compliance with   the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, Section 8,   Article I, Texas Constitution, other federal and state law, and   school district and open-enrollment charter school policies.   In   conducting audits under this subsection, the agency may establish   an oversight committee composed of educators, librarians, legal   experts, and community representatives to verify the accuracy of an   automated artificial intelligence review system.           (h)     The agency shall remove a third party from the list   adopted under Subsection (f) if the agency's audit under Subsection   (g) determines that the third party's automated artificial   intelligence review system has less than a 95 percent rate of   accuracy in rating library material as sexually explicit material   or sexually relevant material.           (i)     The agency shall assess an administrative penalty   against a school district or open-enrollment charter school that   violates Subsection (a) or (d)(1) in an amount not to exceed $10,000   for each library material acquired in violation of that provision.           (j)     If, based on automated artificial intelligence reviews   and audits conducted under this section, the commissioner   determines that a library material vendor has not rated or   incorrectly rated three or more library materials in violation of   this chapter, the commissioner shall place that library material   vendor on a list posted and maintained in a conspicuous place on the   agency's Internet website.   A school district or open-enrollment   charter school may not purchase library material from a library   material vendor on the list.           (k)     A parent of or person standing in parental relation to a   student enrolled in a school district or open-enrollment charter   school that violates this section may bring an action for   injunctive relief against the district or school to compel the   district or school to comply with this section.          SECTION 2.  Section 35.005, Education Code, is amended to   read as follows:          Sec. 35.005.  PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIRED FOR USE OF CERTAIN   LIBRARY MATERIALS.  A school district or open-enrollment charter   school may not allow a student enrolled in the district or school to   reserve, check out, or otherwise use outside the school library   library material the library material vendor or the automated   artificial intelligence review has rated as sexually relevant   material under Section 35.002(a) or 35.0022(a) unless the district   or school first obtains written consent from the student's parent   or person standing in parental relation.          SECTION 3.  Not later than the first day of the 2026-2027   school year, the commissioner of education shall adopt the list of   approved third parties as required under Section 35.0022(f),   Education Code, as added by this Act.          SECTION 4.  This Act applies beginning with the 2026-2027   school year.          SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.