Overview
- Senate Bill 8 restricts access to multi-occupancy restrooms, locker rooms and similar spaces in publicly owned facilities, including schools, universities and government buildings.
- Institutions, not individuals, face penalties of $25,000 for a first substantiated violation and $125,000 per day afterward, following a resident complaint, a three-day cure period and a 15-day window from the attorney general.
- UT San Antonio reports thirty students are reorganizing housing tied to shared-bathroom access, and the university says it is coordinating each transition.
- Private businesses are not covered by the statute and may set their own restroom policies, and exemptions allow entry for emergency aid, custodial work, law enforcement, assistance to another person and young children with an adult.
- The law mandates prison housing by sex assigned at birth and restricts certain family-violence shelters, though state officials have not clarified which shelters qualify and advocates signal potential legal challenges.