Following an industry challenge to Texas Senate Bill 140’s new text marketing registration requirements, the Texas Attorney General submitted a detailed interpretation of the law agreeing that the registration requirements were not intended to apply to businesses that obtain prior consumer consent before sending marketing text messages. As part of a subsequent settlement, the Texas Secretary of State posted guidance on its website confirming that consent-based text senders are not required to complete the telemarketing registration process and agreed to formally request a published AG opinion reinforcing this interpretation. While this clarification significantly reduces the registration risk for businesses with proper consent practices, some litigation risk remains since plaintiffs’ attorneys may still attempt to assert the law’s private right of action and other requirements of the law, such as quiet hours restrictions, continue to apply.
