Nonprofit compliance in Texas

Texas has no statewide mandate to screen every nonprofit volunteer, but several sector laws are strict. Public school districts, open-enrollment charter schools and shared services arrangements must obtain a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) criminal history check on every volunteer before they serve — unless the volunteer is a parent, guardian or grandparent of an enrolled student, will be accompanied by a district employee, or is volunteering for a single event (Tex. Educ. Code § 22.0835). Licensed child care, youth camps and some state-funded programs have their own rules, and state law lets nonprofit youth activity providers and certified volunteer centers obtain DPS records on their volunteers.

• Texas Education Code § 22.0835 — school volunteers (Tex. Educ. Code § 22.0835) — A school district, open-enrollment charter school or shared services arrangement shall obtain criminal history record information from DPS on every volunteer and written volunteer applicant — the statute has no student-contact limit — and may add a check from another criminal justice agency or an FCRA-regulated consumer reporting agency. A commercial check can be added on top of the DPS check but can't replace it. The volunteer must show a government photo ID and may not serve until both steps are done. Exempt: a parent, guardian or grandparent of an enrolled child; a volunteer accompanied by a district employee; and a single-event volunteer. Districts may still check exempt volunteers, and may charge volunteers the cost. Private schools may obtain records but aren't required to.
• HB 4123 (88th Legislature, 2023) (Acts 2023, 88th Leg., ch. 871 (H.B. 4123), § 2) — Part of a broader bill aligning state background-check statutes with FBI criteria for using and destroying criminal history information. For school volunteers it amended § 22.0835(f), which now lets a district obtain criminal history from DPS — not just from other law enforcement agencies — on volunteers who fall under the parent, accompanied or single-event exemptions. Effective June 13, 2023.
• Licensed child care — Human Resources Code § 42.056 (Tex. Hum. Res. Code § 42.056; 26 TAC § 745.605) — Licensed and registered child-care operations must submit people for background checks under HHSC Child Care Regulation rules, including a DFPS central registry check and a criminal history check (with FBI fingerprints for many roles). The rule reaches people 14 and older, volunteers included — for example, a volunteer who is regularly or frequently present at an operation (26 TAC § 745.605(a)(7)) — with limited exceptions, such as a parent who only supplements ratios on a field trip.
• Nonprofit access to DPS records — Government Code §§ 411.1401 and 411.126 (Tex. Gov't Code §§ 411.1401, 411.126) — A nonprofit program that regularly provides athletic, civic or cultural activities to people under 17 is entitled to obtain DPS criminal history on its volunteers and volunteer applicants — but may use it only to decide suitability, may not keep it in any file, and must destroy it promptly (§ 411.1401). DPS-certified volunteer centers that refer volunteers to other nonprofits have similar access (§ 411.126).
• HHSC Family Support Services grantees (Sept. 1, 2024) (HHSC Family Support Services, Background Checks: Overview of Changes and FAQ (Sept. 2024)) — Applies to grantees of HHSC's Family Support Services programs — not to every Texas HHS grantee; the HHS-wide grant terms contain no volunteer background-check requirement. Since Sept. 1, 2024, those grantees run their own name-based criminal history check and DFPS central registry check on every new hire and volunteer before direct contact with children or families, add an FBI fingerprint check for anyone who has lived outside Texas in the last five years, and renew at least every 24 months.
• Who it reaches: Every volunteer with a public school district, open-enrollment charter school or shared services arrangement, except parents, guardians and grandparents of enrolled students, volunteers accompanied by a district employee, and single-event volunteers (Tex. Educ. Code § 22.0835); Volunteers 14 and older at licensed child-care operations, including residential operations, under HHSC Child Care Regulation rules (26 TAC § 745.605); All adult staff and volunteers at licensed youth camps — annual criminal history and sex-offender registry checks on file before any unsupervised contact with campers (25 TAC § 265.12(f)); Volunteers of HHSC Family Support Services grantees who work with children or families; Volunteers in juvenile justice settings: TJJD facilities and contract facilities, with fingerprint-based state and FBI checks reviewed annually (Hum. Res. Code § 242.010(b)-(d)), and local juvenile probation programs and facilities where a volunteer may have unsupervised access to juveniles (37 TAC § 344.300).
• Check types in use: DPS criminal history — name-based through the public Conviction Name Search, or through DPS secure access for organizations the law entitles; Fingerprint-based DPS and FBI checks through IdentoGO (FAST) — required for many child-care roles; Texas public sex offender registry search (free, DPS); DFPS Child Abuse and Neglect Central Registry check — child care and some state-funded programs; A commercial check from an FCRA-regulated consumer reporting agency — permitted in addition to, not instead of, a required DPS check.
• Administered by: Texas Department of Public Safety (criminal history and sex offender registry); Health and Human Services Commission, Child Care Regulation (licensed child care); Department of State Health Services (youth camps); Department of Family and Protective Services (central registry and abuse reports); Texas Education Agency (schools).
• Typical processing: DPS Conviction Name Search: usually a few seconds online ($3 per search); fingerprint checks through IdentoGO: about 10 business days once DPS receives the request (per a DPS FAQ archived May 2026).

Yes. Texas names certain professionals AND requires any person to report, regardless of profession — so your volunteers are covered by the universal provision whatever role they hold. Confirm Texas's current statute before writing your policy — these are amended often.

• In every state, territory and the District of Columbia, ANY person is permitted to report suspected abuse even when not required to. A volunteer who is not a mandated reporter can still call, and should.
• The safest operating posture, whatever the statute says, is to train every volunteer on what to report and to whom — a policy that only trains "mandated" staff leaves the person most likely to witness something untrained.
• Reporting duties are personal. A volunteer who is a mandated reporter cannot discharge the duty by telling a supervisor and stopping there in most states.
• Screening and reporting are different obligations. Clearing a background check does not satisfy a reporting duty, and no reporting policy substitutes for screening.

Texas is one of the 39 states that generally require a charitable organization to register before soliciting contributions from its residents — typically before the first ask, not after the first gift, and usually with an annual renewal.

• Registration is generally required before soliciting, including by mail, phone, email, or a public donate page.
• Soliciting residents of other states can trigger registration in those states regardless of where you are based — an online donate button reaches all fifty.
• Exemptions exist in most registering states (small organizations, religious organizations, membership appeals) but they are specific and usually must be claimed rather than assumed.
• Confirm current requirements with your state charity office before relying on this — thresholds and exemptions are amended frequently.

These apply regardless of which state you operate in, and they are the ones most commonly missed by small organizations that assume state registration is the whole picture.

• Annual Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-N. Three consecutive years of non-filing revokes exempt status automatically — this is the single most common way small nonprofits lose their status.
• If you run background checks on volunteers, the Fair Credit Reporting Act applies to you as a user of consumer reports: a standalone written disclosure, separate written authorization, and the pre-adverse and adverse action sequence before acting on a result.
• Public disclosure: your exemption application and recent 990s must be made available on request.
• Employment obligations attach to paid staff regardless of exempt status — payroll tax, worker classification, and wage and hour law all apply.