123- Uvalde Strong Act Compliance

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I. Purpose

On May 24, 2022, 19 students and two teachers were fatally shot at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. On September 1, 2025, House Bill 33 (HB 33) — also known as the Uvalde Strong Act — went into effect. HB 33 laid out new responsibilities and standards for law enforcement preparedness, response coordination, and school-safety protocols.

This policy is intended to incorporate HB 33’s requirements into Harris County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) written directives.

II. Definitions

Active Attack/Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attacks Coordinator (CCTA Coordinator): The HCSO employee who serves as the liaison between HCSO and regional partners to provide communication, coordination, training, and threat-mitigation in a combined effort to prevent or reduce injuries and deaths resulting from an active-shooter incident.

Active-Shooter Incident: An event with one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area.

After-Action Review (AAR): A comprehensive post-incident evaluation of an exercise, incident, or other event for adherence to a response plan and examination of any problems or issues that arose during the exercise, incident, or other event for the purpose of improving future responses.

HB 33 Stakeholder: An organization or person with whom HCSO must work under the terms of HB 33. This includes Harris County school districts and law enforcement agencies, the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center (ALERRT), Texas Department of Emergency Management (TDEM), Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), and Texas School Safety Center (TSSC).

Law Enforcement Mutual Aid Agreement (MAA): A comprehensive mutual aid agreement among HB 33 stakeholders that is intended to prevent, mitigate, and respond to emergencies — including active-shooter incidents — at a district’s educational facilities.

Multihazard Emergency Operations Plan (EOP): A multifaceted plan required under section 37.108 of the Education Code for all school districts and public junior college districts.

Public Information Officer (PIO): An HCSO employee responsible for coordinating communications with the public.

Reasonably Likely Responder: An HB 33 stakeholder that employs first responders and is reasonably likely to respond to an active-shooter incident within a given school district.

School District: Any entity having responsibility for one or more educational facilities in Harris County to which HB 33 applies. This includes public primary and secondary schools, charter schools, and public junior colleges.

School District Police Department: Any school or campus law enforcement agency subject to HB 33.

School Hazard Liaison (Liaison): The person to whom the Sheriff’s statutory responsibilities under HB 33 are operationally delegated, namely, the Special Enforcement Bureau commander.

III. Policy

HCSO recognizes that active-shooter incidents on school campuses pose unique logistical difficulties and that effective coordination and collaboration with other entities — including school districts and law enforcement agencies — are vital to both prevention and mitigation of the damage those incidents cause.

IV. Procedure

  1. Operational Responsibility
    1. Liaison
      1. The liaison shall coordinate and facilitate the fulfillment of all of HCSO’s duties under HB33 and, in doing so, may request assistance from any command, bureau, or unit within HCSO.
      2. Any responsibility assigned to the liaison under this policy may be delegated — in whole or in part — to the CCTA coordinator, but the liaison bears the ultimate responsibility for ensuring that HCSO’s duties under HB 33 are fulfilled.
    2. PIO

      A PIO operating for purposes of this policy shall comply with TDEM procedures to be certified in emergency communications and regularly complete continuing education on emergency communications. This PIO shall provide records of their training to HCSO academy personnel.

      1. A PIO’s initial certification shall be obtained not later than the first anniversary of the date on which the PIO was hired or appointed to carry out duties related to HB 33.
      2. Once certified, a PIO shall complete required continuing education once during each 12-month period beginning on the date of their certification.

        Note: Records of PIO training compliance shall be maintained by the HCSO academy and submitted to TDEM upon receipt from the PIO.

    3. CCTA Coordinator

      The CCTA coordinator shall assist the liaison to the best of their abilities.

    4. Other HCSO Employees
      1. All HCSO employees shall comply with the training requirements of HB 33, including but not limited to:
        1. Training on responses to active-shooter incidents at school facilities in accordance with section 418.1877 of the Government Code and
        2. Training on incident response and command in accordance with section 1701.273 of the Occupations Code.

          Note: There are no exemptions to these requirements.

      2. Upon a request from the liaison for assistance under this policy, all HCSO employees shall assist the liaison to the best of their abilities.
      3. In the event that an employee other than the liaison or CCTA coordinator is informed of a meeting — either formal or informal — where HCSO is required to be under the terms of HB 33, that employee shall notify both the liaison and the CCTA coordinator as soon as possible of the meeting.
  2. Liaison Responsibilities
    1. Internal Point of Contact

      The liaison shall be the point of contact for HCSO with regard to operations related to HB 33. This includes but is not limited to the following:

      1. The liaison shall be the point of contact with all HB 33 stakeholders.
      2. The liaison shall be the point of contact for the MAA and any other agreements arising out of HB 33.
      3. The liaison shall be the point of contact for any grants awarded to HCSO in relation to HB 33 compliance.
    2. External Contact List

      The liaison shall develop, update, and maintain a list of

      1. All school districts,
      2. All reasonably likely responders for each school district, and
      3. All necessary information to maintain regular contact with the districts and stakeholders.
    3. Required Exercises

      In coordination with DPS, the liaison shall schedule and conduct with each school district and reasonably likely responder:

      1. A multiagency tabletop exercise relating to a hypothetical active-shooter incident at least once each odd-numbered year and
      2. An in-person drill relating to a hypothetical active-shooter incident at least once each even-numbered year.
    4. Annual School-Safety Meetings

      The liaison shall call and conduct at least one annual school-safety meeting.

      1. Given the size of Harris County and the number of required attendees, more than one meeting may be necessary. Accordingly, the liaison shall be responsible for calling and conducting all necessary meetings.
      2. The liaison shall coordinate with DPS on scheduling and conducting these meetings.

        Note: Individual HB 33 stakeholders may, and are encouraged to, hold additional, smaller discussions or meetings as necessary.

    5. Evaluation of Active-Shooter Incident Response

      The liaison shall evaluate and report on any HCSO response to an active-shooter incident in accordance with section 418.1873 of the Government Code.

      Note: Information obtained or created by the liaison or their designee in carrying out this duty is not public information subject to disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code, and any meetings between HCSO and DPS or TDEM are not subject to the open meeting requirements of Chapter 551 of the Government Code.

  3. Procedures for Annual School-Safety Meetings
    1. Required Attendance

      The Local Government Code requires certain HB 33 stakeholders to attend annual school safety meetings:

      1. For each school district, the following HB 33 stakeholders are required to attend:
        1. The superintendent, and
        2. A representative of the agency that provides law enforcement services to the school district. That is, either
      2. The school district’s police chief or their designee; or
      3. If the school district contracts with another entity for law enforcement services, that agency’s chief administrative officer or their designee.
      4. Any other person whom the liaison considers appropriate for the meeting shall also attend.

        This includes, but is not limited to, representatives from the following internal HCSO units:

        1. Criminal Investigations Bureau,
        2. Emergency Dispatch Center (EDC),
        3. Any HCSO patrol district in which one of the school districts attending has a facility, and
        4. Any additional units considered appropriate by the liaison.
      5. The liaison shall ensure that each of the above-listed individuals and organizations is given reasonable notice of a meeting once it is scheduled.
      6. As soon as practicable after an annual school-safety meeting is held, the liaison shall submit a report to TSSC identifying the attendees of the meeting and the subjects discussed. A record of this report shall be maintained by the Special Enforcement Bureau.
    2. Topics to be Covered

      Topics that shall be covered in the annual school-safety meeting include:

      1. General school-safety issues in the school district and coordinated law enforcement responses to school-violence incidents;
      2. Law enforcement agency capabilities;
      3. Available resources, including confirmation that each campus has at least one breaching tool and one ballistic shield available to first responders;
      4. Communications protocols and procedures for relevant entities, including measures to ensure reliable and useful emergency communications between those entities during an incident;
      5. Evidence-collection procedures for school-safety incidents,
      6. Resolution of any issues relating to jurisdictional boundaries during an incident, including the chain of command to be observed during any incident;
      7. Sharing emergency response equipment among relevant entities and confirmation that required assets are available or already present at a potential incident scene;
      8. Examination of a district’s EOP and related policies to determine how they would be implemented and ensure that they are reasonably standardized and compatible with the policies of reasonably likely responders;
      9. Coordination between the PIO and relevant officials from other agencies with similar responsibilities during an incident to ensure clear and accurate communication;
      10. Each relevant stakeholder’s emergency capabilities, processes, and expectations; and
      11. Any other subject raised by a meeting attendee.
  4. Procedures for Required Exercises

    The following procedures apply to both the tabletop exercises and in-person drills mandated by section 772.013 of the Government Code.

    1. The liaison shall invite representatives from DPS and all reasonably likely responders to attend.
    2. During each exercise, the soundness of the relevant MAA shall be evaluated along with the need for any updating and changes.
    3. For each exercise, an after-action review (AAR) will be completed with the attending stakeholders with a focus on lessons learned and how to improve future responses. Records of these AARs shall be maintained by the Special Enforcement Bureau and shall be confidential to the degree allowed by law.
  5. Mutual Aid
    1. Entering into Agreements
      1. No later than January 1, 2026, HCSO shall enter into MAAs with DPS, all school district police departments, and all law enforcement agencies determined to be reasonably likely responders.
      2. In the event that a new school district police department or law enforcement agency is created after that date, HCSO shall coordinate with DPS to enter into a mutual aid agreement with the new school district or relevant stakeholder as soon as practicable thereafter.
    2. Contents of Agreements
      1. Each MAA shall be designed for and oriented to the needs of a particular school district and consist of a mutual aid response plan among the relevant law enforcement agencies with all necessary operational and tactical details, including but not limited to:
        1. The provision of resources, personnel, facilities, equipment, and supplies in responses to critical incidents in a vertically integrated fashion.
        2. Any annexes required by a signatory to meet a specific need that cannot be addressed in the central plan, i.e. specific emergency response procedures for a unique campus for which other plan provisions might not be adequate.
      2. All MAA provisions shall use commonly understood language as specified by TSSC.
      3. Any MAA that HCSO becomes a party to shall comply with HCSO policies and relevant SOPs.
      4. An MAA need not contain every provision of HCSO’s plans and response to an event but should contain any provision necessary to ensure proper coordination among MAA signatories.
      5. HCSO may make non-substantive changes to an MAA as necessary and shall advise other signatories to any such changes as soon as possible after they are made.
  6. Evaluation of Active-Shooter Incident Response
    1. Within the relevant statutory timelines of an HCSO response to an active-shooter incident at a primary or secondary school facility, the liaison shall prepare and submit to ALERRTC, DPS, and TDEM a preliminary report using the template created by ALERRTC.
    2. After submission of the preliminary report — and while remaining within the relevant statutory timelines — the liaison shall finalize that report and submit the finalized report to ALERRTC, DPS, and TDEM.
    3. All details necessary for completeness, to include any needed input from other stakeholders, shall be included in the final report.
    4. If either the preliminary or final report is delayed, the liaison shall inform ALERRTC, DPS, and TDEM that the report is being delayed for cause and will be submitted as soon as possible.
    5. The liaison shall also inform the chief deputy of any delay in submission of either the preliminary or final report.
    6. The Special Enforcement Bureau shall keep records of all preliminary and final reports submitted under this section.
  7. Regular Communication with School Districts
    1. The liaison shall advise each school district that the core requirements of the MAA will be subject to the unique conditions and characteristics of their campuses, and the school district’s active and continuous participation will be necessary for the MAA to be useful.
    2. The liaison shall advise each school district that they should contact the liaison any time they conduct a security review or audit of one of their facilities in order for HCSO to review and revise the MAA if necessary.

References

Tex. Educ. Code § 37.108
Tex. Gov’t Code §§ 418.331, 418.1873, 418.1877; chs. 551, 552
Tex. Local Gov’t Code § 85.024
Tex. Occ. Code § 1701.273

Revision

This policy has been revised on the below listed dates:

July 22, 2026

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