AUSTIN, Texas — At least 46 people in Texas have been charged with murder for allegedly providing deadly doses of fentanyl.
Lawmakers revealed that number Monday afternoon as they were briefed on the impact of House Bill 6, a law that took effect in September 2023 and paved the way for those prosecutions.
“If you haven’t been affected or you don’t know anyone that’s died of a fentanyl overdose or a poisoning, consider yourself lucky,” State Rep. Craig Goldman (R-Fort Worth) told the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee during the interim hearing Monday afternoon at the State Capitol.
Goldman was one of the authors of HB 6.
“Truly one of the most important bills I’ve passed,” he said.
HB 6 lets prosecutors charge anyone who makes or deals fentanyl with murder. It also classifies any fentanyl-related death in Texas as a “poisoning” on a death certificate instead of an “overdose”.
Lawmakers and advocates have said they made the latter change because the term “overdose” has a stigma, and most people who died after taking fentanyl don’t know it was laced in the drugs they took.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, poisonings by fentanyl kill an average of five Texans each day. The synthetic opioid, which is up to 50 times stronger than heroin, accounted for about 45% of all drug-related deaths in Texas in 2023.
During Monday’s hearing, the House committee also heard invited testimony from prosecutors, defense lawyers and law enforcement officials.
Overall, they agreed the law’s implementation has been going well.
“House Bill 6 has been a great tool for us, and we do look forward to going forward with it in the courtrooms,” said Sarah Bruner with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office.
Bruner expects to have her first cases head to trial in early 2025, around the same time the Texas Legislature reconvenes.
“Whatever the state can do to encourage more awareness in schools, it’d be one less case this panel would have to handle,” said Alan Place of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.
Shanna Redwine with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office testified that getting technology to get into dealers’ devices can be a challenge for prosecutors.
“The quicker we can get those devices, actually get into them and start doing that analysis, the better chance we have to avoid evidence destruction, to avoid witness tampering,” Redwine said.
But Redwine told lawmakers that forensic technology is expensive.
"Is there something that we still need to do in regards to, certainly, your role?" State Rep. Drew Darby (R-San Angelo) asked John Wilkerson of the Texas Municipal Police Association.
“If we would bring anything to you for improvement, it would be to open up some of that funding not just to not just sheriffs' offices but local small municipal police departments,” Wilkerson said.
Wilkerson told Darby that getting more Narcan, a drug that can reverse opioid overdoses, to law enforcement officers would also help.
State lawmakers cannot take action during interim hearings like Monday’s meeting. They can begin filing bills in November for the 89th legislative session, which starts in January.