On January 30, 2026, the Texas Department of Information Resources opened applications to certify AI awareness training programs for fiscal year 2025-26. The requirement comes from House Bill 3512, passed in 2025. It sits in Section 2054.5191 of the Texas Government Code, alongside the state’s existing cybersecurity training requirement.
The requirement is broad. It covers state agency employees who use a computer for at least 25 percent of their duties, plus the agency’s elected and appointed officers. It covers local government employees and officials who meet the same test and have access to a local government system. In school districts, only the cybersecurity coordinator must complete it, and the district decides who else does. The training is annual. Employees on certain extended leave are exempt.
The model is the state’s existing cybersecurity awareness training. DIR certifies programs in consultation with the Public Sector AI Systems Advisory Board, and must certify at least five. Vendors, state agencies, and local governments can all submit programs. A certified program must help employees understand how AI may apply to their duties and teach best practices for deploying and operating AI. Programs must match the length of certified cybersecurity training. Review is free, and certifications expire each August 31. DIR offers its own free certified course.
Compliance runs on self-certification. Each entity tracks training however it chooses and certifies compliance to DIR by August 31 each year. Entities do not submit training records, and DIR does not track completion, even for its own course.
The program has since moved one cycle. The first compliance deadline passed on August 31, 2026. In May 2026, DIR extended the 2025-26 certifications through August 31, 2027, with the criteria unchanged.
Texas made AI training an annual obligation for much of its public workforce. The proof of compliance is the employer’s own certification.
Why it matters
Texas made AI training a recurring legal requirement, not a policy statement. It reaches local governments, not just state agencies. That makes AI literacy a standing line in every covered employer’s compliance calendar.
The design puts the burden on employers. The certification criteria are two broad goals. DIR checks the program, not the learning, and it does not hold completion records. An employer that certifies compliance needs its own evidence that the right people took the training.
Awareness is also the floor. A course built to the length of cybersecurity awareness training introduces AI. It does not teach a caseworker or a procurement officer how to use a specific tool well.
Questions for your organization
- Who meets the 25 percent test, including elected and appointed officials?
- Which certified program will you use, and does it cover the AI tools your staff actually use?
- How will you document completion, since DIR does not track it?
- Who signs the annual certification, and what evidence backs it?
- Which roles need training beyond awareness, and who provides it?
A completion record shows someone took the course. Whether they can use AI well is still the employer’s job.
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