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Are county employees and elected and appointed officials required by law to complete artificial intelligence (AI) training?
House Bill 3512 passed by the 89th Texas Legislature and effective Sept. 1, 2025, amended the Government Code to require local government employees and elected and appointed officials to complete annual AI awareness training if they have access to a local government computer system or database and use a computer to perform at least 25 percent of their required duties.
MAIN REFERENCE POINTS:
Texas Government Code
- Section 772.012
- Section 2054.003
- Section 2054.5191
- Section 2054.5193
TALKING POINTS:
- Senate Bill 1964 passed by the 89th Texas Legislature defines an artificial intelligence (AI) system as “a machine-based system that for explicit or implicit objectives infers from provided information a method to generate outputs, such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions, to influence a physical or virtual environment with varying levels of autonomy and adaptiveness after deployment.” (Section 2054.003)
- House Bill 3512 passed by the 89th Texas Legislature and effective Sept. 1, 2025, amended the Government Code to require local government employees and elected and appointed officials to complete annual AI awareness training if they have access to a local government computer system or database and use a computer to perform at least 25 percent of their required duties.
- This also applies to part-time employees if they meet the 25 percent requirement. (Section 2054.5191)
- In addition, artificial intelligence training compliance is required for criminal justice division grants. (Section 772.012)
- HB 3512 also requires the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) in consultation with the Public Sector Artificial Intelligence Systems Advisory Board to annually certify AI training programs for state and local government employees. (Section 2054.5193)
- Local governments must use a DIR-certified training program. There is not an exception for entities with a dedicated AI officer.
- A link to the certified programs is available at https://bit.ly/AI-awareness-training.
- According to the law, the county shall verify and report on the completion of an AI awareness training program by county officials and employees who require training, https://bit.ly/AI-certify, and require periodic audits to ensure compliance.
- There is no deadline for annual training to be complete, but the compliance report must be filed by Aug. 31 on an annual basis. For additional information, go to https://bit.ly/AI- awareness-training. – Meredith Noёl, Director of Applied Artificial Intelligence, Chief Artificial Intelligence and Innovation Office, Texas Department of Information Resources, contributed to this article.