Texas attorney general launches complaints form for restroom, changing room use

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released an online form 
Wednesday for Texans to file complaints against publicly owned facilities, 
marking the first statewide step in enforcing Senate Bill 8.

The law requires state agencies and political subdivisions to take 
“reasonable steps” to ensure people only use government-owned, sex-
segregated private spaces that match their assigned sex at birth. It took 
effect Dec. 4.

DPS gives 1-year ban to 4 transgender women after Capitol rally against 
restroom law

An important caveat of SB 8 is that it doesn’t prohibit private 
individuals from using affected spaces, nor does it permit other private 
individuals to impede use of those spaces.

Instead, the law can lead to the Texas AG issuing fines to the entities 
after written complaints, if the facility’s managers don’t take steps to 
remedy the alleged offense.

The complaint process requires a person to have given a letter to the 
facility about its alleged violation of SB 8. That letter, along with the 
filer’s willingness to testify or sign an affidavit, are required before 
the Texas AG can take legal action.

The AG’s form asks for the filer’s name, contact info and home address. 
Beyond personal information, filers must also describe what they believe 
happened, when it was observed, where it happened, and a “description of 
evidence.”

The form also has upload fields for the letter and for photos.

https://www.kxan.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2025/12/snapshot-of-ag-
paxton-sb8-complaint-form-website.jpg?resize=640,360

Texas law still holds that invasive visual recording is a state jail 
felony. U.S. Fifth Circuit Court appellate judges issued a relevant ruling 
on Dec. 9 that taking photos of transgender women in restrooms is likely 
not protected under the First Amendment.

“It is highly unlikely, to say the least, that there is a First Amendment 
right to distribute, without their consent, images of a person’s genitalia 
or other anatomy … while utilizing bathroom facilities,” the judges wrote. 
“It is also far from clear that there is a First Amendment right to 
capture and distribute an image, without their permission, of a fully 
clothed adult while in a public bathroom.”

https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texas-attorney-general-launches-
complaints-form-for-restroom-changing-room-use/