Texting in Texas: Texas AG Settlement Clarifies No Registration Needed for Consent-Based Text Messaging
Businesses that obtain consent prior to sending text marketing messages in Texas can breathe a cautious sigh of relief: the Texas Attorney General (Texas AG) has clarified that recent amendments to Texas’ telephone solicitation and telemarketing law enacted through Senate Bill 140 should not be interpreted to require such businesses to complete onerous registration requirements including posting of a $10,000 security bond and detailed disclosures about business owners, officers, directors and sales managers.
The Texas AG’s clarification came in response to an attempt to enjoin Senate Bill 140 from taking effect in a suit brought by an industry group and impacted businesses. In opposition, the Texas AG submitted a detailed textual interpretation of the Senate Bill 140 amendments that substantively aligned with plaintiffs’ goal: agreement that the amendments to existing text messaging law were not intended to apply to consent-based text messaging.
Soon thereafter, the parties settled and dismissed the suit, with the Texas Secretary of State agreeing to publish guidance on its website confirming that “any business that sends text messages with prior consent of the consumer is not required to complete the Telephone Solicitation Registration Statement.” The Secretary of State has already posted that guidance and has also included instructions about how entities that engage only in consented text messaging can withdraw registration statements submitted prior to this clarification regarding the scope of the statute. In addition, as part of the settlement, the Texas Secretary of State agreed to formally request that the Texas AG issue a published opinion reinforcing the interpretation of Senate Bill 140 as reflected on the Secretary of State’s website.
Given these developments, the risk of not registering under the Texas telephone solicitation law for consented text messages appears to be significantly lower. Nevertheless, there remains a reasonable likelihood that members of the plaintiffs’ bar will still attempt to argue amendments enacted by Senate Bill 140 should be interpreted to require registration for consented text messaging (contrary to the Texas AG’s position) and seek to enforce the law against non-registrants through the statute’s private right of action. In our view, the Texas AG’s robust textual analysis in opposition to the settled suit to enjoin, coupled with its guidance and possible forthcoming formal opinion on the scope of the amendments, should serve as a strong deterrent to such suits. In any event, the threat of class action litigation from the other new elements of the law (e.g., quiet hours) remains significant.
This serves as an update to, “Texting in Texas: The State Expands Telemarketing Registration Requirements to Include Text Marketers,” published to Data Matters on September 4, 2025.
This post is as of the posting date stated above. Sidley Austin LLP assumes no duty to update this post or post about any subsequent developments having a bearing on this post.
