Since September 1, 2025, Texas has treated a marketing text like a telemarketing call: Secretary of State registration with $10,000 in security unless you are exempt, a state no-call list that covers texts, and a statute that lets the recipient of an unlawful text sue. The Secretary of State's Form 3400 notice says businesses texting only with prior consent need not register. Here is the do-this list.
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Texas text message solicitation law changed September 1, 2025. SB 140 made marketing texts and images telephone solicitations. Sellers texting Texas buyers need a Secretary of State registration ($200 fee, $10,000 security) unless exempt. The Secretary of State says businesses texting only with prior consent need not register, and Texans can sue over texts that violate the federal TCPA.
Federal rules sit underneath all of it. Start with is it legal to text customers, then layer Texas on top below, or see the SMS marketing hub.
Last reviewed: October 2026.
Senate Bill 140 was signed on June 20, 2025 and took effect September 1, 2025. The change that matters to texters is one sentence in Business & Commerce Code chapter 302, the registration chapter.
Chapter 302 defined a telephone solicitation as a telephone call by a seller or salesperson to induce a person to purchase, rent, claim or receive an item. It did not mention texts.
It now reads "a call or other transmission, including a transmission of a text or graphic message or of an image." An SMS, an MMS picture or a graphic coupon counts when a seller sends it to make a sale.
A registration certificate, a fee and a security deposit before you solicit (chapter 302). Chapter 304's no-call list covers texts to mobile numbers, and chapter 305 lets a recipient sue in Texas over a text that violates the federal TCPA.
A seller may not make a telephone solicitation from a location in Texas, or to a purchaser located in Texas, without a registration certificate for the business location it is made from. An office in Ohio texting buyers in Dallas is inside the rule.
Register with the Texas Secretary of State. The filing fee is $200, and the registration statement must carry $10,000 in security as a bond, an irrevocable letter of credit or a certificate of deposit. It is renewed every year.
Chapter 302 exempts, among others: a business soliciting its former or current customers that has operated under the same name for at least two years; publicly traded companies; supervised financial institutions; insurance licensees; FCC-licensed persons; 501(c)(3) nonprofits and educational institutions; food sellers; and retailers with a two-year fixed retail location where most of their business happens.
The Secretary of State's Form 3400 notice says no. Citing the position the Attorney General and Secretary of State took in Ecommerce Marketers Alliance v. Texas (W.D. Tex. 2025) and an agreement among the parties, it states that a business sending texts with the consumer's prior consent is not required to complete the chapter 302 registration statement. A statement already filed can be withdrawn by written request if the office has not acted on it. The Secretary of State does not decide who must register, so confirm the fit with counsel and keep your consent records.
Texts count as calls under the TCPA's autodialer rules (FCC, 2003; Campbell-Ewald, 2016). Whether consumers can sue over texts under the do-not-call provision is now split (the Seventh Circuit said no in July 2026). State law adds to that layer and never replaces it.
| Rule | Federal (TCPA and FCC rules) | Texas (Business & Commerce Code) |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | Not a federal law: carriers require every business texting over 10DLC to register its brand and campaigns with The Campaign Registry through a messaging provider. | A Secretary of State registration certificate before soliciting from or into Texas: $200 fee, $10,000 security, renewed yearly, unless an exemption fits (chapter 302) or you text only with prior consent (Secretary of State Form 3400 notice). |
| Do-not-call lists | National Do-Not-Call Registry protections apply to texts (FCC, December 2023). Use a registry copy no more than 31 days old. | The Texas no-call list, run by the Public Utility Commission. A telephone call includes a text to a mobile number; stop within 60 days of a number appearing on the list (chapter 304). |
| Hours | No telephone solicitation before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., local time at the recipient's location (47 CFR 64.1200(c)(1) and (e)); consented messages fall outside that definition. | The calling-hours rule (301.051) is written for consumer telephone calls, and SB 140 did not amend it. Plan to the federal window. |
| Private suit | $500 per violation, up to $1,500 if a court finds it willful or knowing (47 U.S.C. 227(b)(3)). The do-not-call claim pays up to $500 and needs more than one call in 12 months. | The greater of $500 per violation or actual damages; up to $1,500 per violation or treble damages if knowing or intentional, for a text that violates the federal TCPA (305.053). |
Nine steps, in the order they come up.
The rules shift state by state: see the Florida text message law guide and the SMS TCPA compliance guide. Voicemail drops into Texas have their own page: is ringless voicemail legal in Texas.
As our own CSP and a TCR-registered provider, we register your brand and campaigns with The Campaign Registry. That is carrier-side registration; the Texas Secretary of State certificate stays with you and your counsel. Scrubbing, opt-outs and sending hours run inside the same SMS marketing account that sends your voicemail drops.
Scrub your list against national and state DNC registries and known-litigator data at import. Every blast is then checked against your own do-not-call list at send time, and you can upload suppression lists of your own.
If Texas is not worth a registration for this campaign, one switch at import removes numbers with Texas area codes. It goes by area code, not by where the person lives, so it reduces Texas exposure but cannot rule it out.
Stop, unsubscribe, cancel, end, quit and nine other default keywords opt the contact out automatically and stop their drips and chase follow-ups; add your own. Bulk campaigns default to 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. in each contact's local time.
This page is educational information about Texas and federal text message law as generally understood in October 2026, not legal advice; statutes, rules and court decisions change. Consult a qualified telecommunications attorney before launching any SMS campaign into Texas.
Sources: Texas SB 140 bill history and enrolled text; Texas Secretary of State, Form 3400 FAQ and notice; Texas Business & Commerce Code chapters 302, 304 and 305; 47 CFR 64.1200; 47 U.S.C. 227; FCC 03-153; FCC 23-107; FCC 26-67; Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez (2016); Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services (7th Cir. 2026); The Campaign Registry 10DLC introduction.
Texas SB 140 took effect September 1, 2025. It rewrote Business & Commerce Code chapter 302 so a telephone solicitation includes a text, graphic message or image a seller sends to induce a purchase. Sellers texting Texas buyers need a Secretary of State registration unless exempt; that office's Form 3400 notice says businesses texting only with prior consent need not register. Chapter 305 lets recipients of TCPA-violating texts sue in Texas.
Yes, if you send telephone solicitations from or into Texas and no chapter 302 exemption fits. The filing fee is $200, the registration carries $10,000 in security and it is renewed yearly. The Secretary of State's Form 3400 notice adds that a business texting with the consumer's prior consent is not required to file. Confirm your fit with counsel; the full exemption list is above.
Yes, when a seller or salesperson sends it to induce someone to purchase, rent, claim or receive an item. Since September 1, 2025, chapter 302 defines a telephone solicitation as "a call or other transmission, including a transmission of a text or graphic message or of an image." Chapter 304, the no-call chapter, counts texts to mobile numbers as calls.
Business & Commerce Code 305.053 lets anyone who receives a text that violates the federal TCPA or its rules sue in Texas for the greater of $500 per violation or actual damages. If the violation was knowing or intentional, the award can go up to $1,500 per violation or three times actual damages. The federal TCPA itself provides $500 per violation, up to $1,500 if willful or knowing.
Yes. Chapter 302 bars a telephone solicitation to a purchaser located in Texas without a registration certificate, wherever the seller sits. A company in another state texting buyers in Texas is covered. Check the exemptions first. The Secretary of State's Form 3400 notice says a business texting only with the consumer's prior consent need not register; confirm with counsel. If neither fits, register or leave Texas buyers out.
Texas's calling-hours rule (Business & Commerce Code 301.051) covers consumer telephone calls, and SB 140 did not amend it. Plan to the federal rule: no telephone solicitation outside 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the recipient's local time (47 CFR 64.1200(c)(1) and (e)). Consented messages fall outside it, but the window is the safe default. BestText bulk campaigns default to 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. in each contact's local time.
Bring your list and your questions to a free 30-minute demo. We walk through scrubbing, opt-outs, sending hours and 10DLC registration on your own use case. No signup required.