NIBRS 2025 for Texas law enforcement.

Texas is preparing for its next NIBRS specification transition. That does not mean Texas agencies should switch their submissions today.

On September 16, 2026, the Texas Incident Based Reporting Team notified agencies and vendors through the UCR/NIBRS Listserv that it expects to deploy NIBRS Technical Specification v2025 within the next few months. DPS said another Listserv notification will be sent when that Texas deployment occurs.

The FBI has already published the 2025.0 NIBRS Technical Specification, User Manual, XML Developer’s Guide, and the current 2025 XML package. Texas has announced its planned transition. The public DPS NIBRS Technical Documentation page still identifies the specification versions Texas currently accepts and states that DPS will update the page when its system can receive newer specifications.

FBI 2025 documentation is available. Texas has announced a planned deployment. Current Texas submissions still follow the versions DPS currently accepts.

This guide explains what Texas has announced, how the federal and Texas-specific specifications fit together, and what agencies should be asking their RMS vendors before deployment. It is the transition companion to the existing NIBRS Reporting for Texas Police Departments guide. That guide answers how a Texas agency should operate NIBRS reporting. This one answers what is changing in NIBRS 2025, what Texas is implementing, and what agencies and RMS vendors should do to prepare.

Need help with the normal Texas NIBRS reporting process? Use the NIBRS Reporting for Texas Police Departments guide.

Texas NIBRS 2025 status at a glance

This box is the living status for the Texas transition. Federal 2025 documents are already published. What Texas accepts today is still controlled by the DPS NIBRS Technical Documentation page. The September 16, 2026 Listserv announcement is how DPS described the planned deployment—not a replacement for that page.

Understand the two specifications Texas agencies have to follow

Texas NIBRS reporting combines federal NIBRS requirements and Texas-specific reporting requirements. A Texas agency cannot evaluate this transition by looking only at the FBI 2025 specification.

FBI NIBRS 2025
       ↓
Texas implementation decisions
       +
Texas-centric requirements
       ↓
RMS reporting engine
       ↓
Agency operational records
       ↓
Texas DPS submission

The federal specification describes the national incident-based record. Texas decides how it will receive that record, which values it will accept at first, and what additional state reporting still has to travel with it. The RMS reporting engine has to implement both layers. The agency still owns the operational record that becomes the submission.

The federal NIBRS specification

The FBI has published a 2025 document set. Each piece answers a different question.

• The 2025.0 NIBRS Technical Specification tells vendors how to build a valid NIBRS flat-file submission, including data elements, values, and business-rule edits.
• The 2025.0 NIBRS User Manual explains the reporting policies, offense definitions, and how agencies should classify and complete the data elements.
• The 2025.0 NIBRS XML Developer’s Guide tells vendors how to produce a valid XML submission.
• The current 2025.0.1 NIBRS XML IEPD supplies the schema, code tables, mappings, and samples used to generate and validate that XML.

Those documents are the federal source for what NIBRS 2025 contains. They are not, by themselves, a Texas go-live instruction.

Texas adds its own reporting requirements

Texas DPS maintains Texas-specific reporting requirements in addition to the national NIBRS specification. The UCR Texas-Centric Technical Specifications and Error Codes Manual is an addendum to the FBI technical specification. It is designed for Texas data and Texas law enforcement.

Texas-specific submissions include Family Violence, Drug Seizures, and Sexual Assault. Texas law mandates that law-enforcement agencies submit this state-specific data to DPS. In applicable flat-file reporting, Drug Seizures and Family Violence are represented in Segment Level 8, and Sexual Assault is represented in Segment Level 9. DPS notes that those Texas-specific segments are used for state reporting and are not forwarded to the FBI as standard NIBRS segments.

The Texas distinction remains the same as in ordinary NIBRS reporting. Federal NIBRS support is necessary. It is not sufficient.

Texas says its Texas-centric specification is not changing

Texas DPS announced on September 16, 2026 that the Texas-Centric Technical Specifications were not affected by the 2025 NIBRS version and that TX v2025 will match TX v2023 as the current guideline.

The practical significance is limited and specific. Agencies and vendors still need to account for Texas-specific reporting. DPS is not currently announcing a parallel substantive rewrite of the Texas-centric specification for this transition. The current published Texas-centric specification on the DPS Technical Documentation page remains the 2023 version, last listed as revised on July 10, 2026.

That is an implementation statement about this transition—not a statement that Texas-specific reporting no longer matters.

Know what Texas is implementing differently

The FBI 2025 specification is one thing. Texas’s initial implementation of that specification is another. The most important announced difference is Data Element 7.

Data Element 7 and the new Unfounded value

The FBI 2025.0 Technical Specification and User Manual update Data Element 7 from Offense Attempted/Completed to Offense Attempted/Completed/Unfounded. The valid values are A = Attempted, C = Completed, and U = Unfounded.

The FBI 2025 specification uses Data Element 7 to indicate whether each offense in the incident was attempted, completed, or unfounded. Agencies should report U = Unfounded when a previously reported offense was determined not to be a crime.

Texas DPS announced on September 16, 2026 that the Unfounded (U) value for Data Element 7 will not be implemented initially while DPS waits for clearer direction concerning its effect on NIBRS reporting. DPS said agencies will be notified if or when this changes. DPS also said all other specification updates will be in effect.

Other NIBRS 2025 changes

The FBI 2025 Technical Specification and User Manual also include other verified changes that can affect data entry, RMS structures, validation, and submissions. Texas DPS announced that, except for the Data Element 7 Unfounded value, the other specification updates will be in effect when Texas deploys v2025. Confirm each item against current Texas DPS guidance before treating it as a Texas production requirement.

The changes that most often reach agency work or RMS configuration are:

• Data Element 35 adds relationship values CO = Cohabitant (non-intimate relationship), FP = Victim was Foster Parent, and FC = Victim was Foster Child.
• Data Element 8 adds R = Drone/Unmanned aircraft system to Offender Suspected of Using.
• Data Element 13 expands 90 = Other for Type Weapon/Force Involved to include deadly, dangerous, or communicable diseases.
• Data Element 33 adds G = Gunshot Wound to Injury Type.
• Offense language updates “Fondling” to “Criminal Sexual Contact.”
• XML submissions move to the 2025 document set, including the 2025.0.1 IEPD. Texas DPS announced agencies may use a 2023 or 2025 header for XML purposes.
• Multiple federal validation messages change: some errors become warnings, some become inactive, and some messages are rewritten. Those edits matter to the reporting engine more than to the officer writing the original report.

This is not a substitute for the FBI change log. It is the set of 2025 changes that are visible enough to plan around. If a change exists only in schema, file layout, or edit-message text, the agency usually does not need to learn it line by line. The vendor does.

Separate changes for the officer from changes for the vendor

Some specification changes may affect only the vendor. Agency staff do not need to understand every XML or schema change.

Make sure your RMS is ready before Texas turns it on

The agency should not discover that its RMS is not ready when the first v2025 production file is rejected.

Ask which specification the software actually produces for Texas—not whether the brochure says it supports NIBRS.

Ask which specification the RMS actually produces

Agencies should ask: “Which NIBRS specification version is our RMS currently producing for Texas?” The answer should be a version, a submission method, and a Texas-centric specification—not “We support NIBRS.”

Then ask the follow-up that belongs to this transition: which version will it produce after Texas deploys v2025, and what has to change to get there.

Ask specifically about Texas

These are vendor-evaluation questions. A useful answer points to the federal 2025 documents, the current Texas-centric specification, and Texas DPS’s announced implementation choices. “We support NIBRS 2025” is not specific enough.

Test the output, not just the version label

A software version number or vendor statement alone does not prove successful reporting. A useful transition test should validate the whole path:

Operational record
        ↓
NIBRS data
        ↓
Applicable Texas data
        ↓
Generated submission
        ↓
Validation
        ↓
DPS testing or acceptance as applicable

Keep the distinction from ordinary Texas NIBRS reporting. The reporting engine should derive the submission from the operational record rather than requiring staff to rebuild the incident for NIBRS. If the first v2025 file can be produced only by re-keying incidents into a separate reporting screen, the transition is not ready—even if the file header says 2025.

Plan the transition without disrupting monthly reporting

The goal is continuity. Texas agencies are already required to report monthly NIBRS data. A specification transition should not create a gap in reporting.

Keep using the currently accepted version until Texas changes it

As long as Texas DPS’s current technical guidance identifies the existing versions as accepted and has not announced that v2025 is deployed, continue following current DPS submission guidance. Do not begin submitting NIBRS 2025 merely because the FBI documentation exists.

Prepare before deployment

The following sequence is a practical transition model. DPS has not published it as a mandated order of operations. It is a way to use the advance notice without switching early.

TODAY
Current Texas specification
       ↓
PREPARE
Vendor update + agency review
       ↓
TEST
Validation / certification as applicable
       ↓
DPS DEPLOYMENT
v2025 enabled
       ↓
VERIFY
First production submission

In more detail, that usually means: DPS announces the upcoming specification; the RMS vendor reviews the federal and Texas requirements; the software is updated; the agency reviews configuration; test data is generated; applicable certification or testing is performed; DPS announces deployment; the production submission moves to the supported version; the first submission is reviewed closely; and errors or warnings are corrected.

Understand certification and testing

Texas DPS publishes NIBRS Certification Procedures on the UCR Program overview. The current listing is NIBRS Certification Procedures 2025. The public procedure, as already used for Texas reporting, covers agencies transitioning to NIBRS, new UCR agencies, and agencies re-certifying because of a change in vendor and/or vendor product.

Under those current procedures, an agency working with a vendor that has previously successfully submitted Texas NIBRS data generally has a different test-file requirement from an agency working with a vendor that has not. The current procedure says agencies with certified vendors submit one whole month of test data, and agencies with vendors not certified for Texas UCR purposes submit three whole months of test files. Texas-mandated reporting is part of the certification process.

The September 16, 2026 Listserv announcement did not itself state that every already-certified agency must re-certify solely because Texas is moving to v2025. Whether additional testing, certification, or re-certification applies depends on the agency’s circumstances—especially a vendor change, a product change, a submission-format change, or specific DPS direction for the version transition.

Watch the first production submission

The transition is not finished merely because the software update installed successfully. A successful deployment is a reporting outcome, not merely a software release.

The agency and vendor should review DPS acceptance, errors, warnings, Texas-specific validation, unexpected changes in record counts, offense mapping, and applicable data completeness. If something looks different from a normal month, find out whether the difference is a real operational change or a mapping or validation change introduced by the new specification.

Prepare now without switching early

Texas has provided advance notice. Use that notice to prepare. Do not use it as a reason to begin submitting a specification Texas has not yet announced as live.

The checklist below organizes the work: confirm the current state, ask the RMS vendor, prepare the agency, test, and then go live only after DPS deploys v2025.

Texas NIBRS 2025 Readiness Checklist

A practical preparation checklist for chiefs, records personnel, NIBRS coordinators, RMS administrators, supervisors, IT personnel, and RMS vendors. Use it to organize the transition. It does not determine NIBRS compliance or certification.

Current reporting

• Confirm which NIBRS specification our RMS currently produces.
• Confirm which specification Texas DPS currently accepts.
• Confirm whether we submit XML, flat file, or another applicable method.
• Confirm which Texas-Centric specification our system uses.
• Confirm our current NIBRS certification/reporting status.
• Identify our agency NIBRS/UCR contact.
• Confirm someone receives Texas UCR Listserv updates.

RMS vendor

• Has the vendor reviewed the FBI 2025 Technical Specification?
• Has the vendor reviewed the FBI 2025 User Manual?
• Has the vendor reviewed the current XML specification if applicable?
• Is the vendor tracking Texas DPS’s v2025 implementation?
• Does the vendor understand Texas’s announced Data Element 7 exception?
• Will Texas-specific Segment 8/9 reporting remain supported?
• Are application/data-entry changes required?
• Are database/data-structure changes required?
• Are offense mappings affected?
• Are validation rules changing?
• Is an RMS update required?
• When will that update be available?
• What testing will the vendor perform?
• What agency testing is required?

Agency preparation

• Identify any new or changed fields visible to users.
• Identify affected report-entry workflows.
• Identify affected Records/NIBRS review workflows.
• Identify training needed before deployment.
• Review applicable offense mappings.
• Review Texas-specific reporting configuration.
• Identify any local integrations affected by schema/output changes.
• Establish who will validate the transition.

Testing

Where applicable:

• Generate representative v2025 test records.
• Include multiple offense types.
• Include victim/offender relationships.
• Include property.
• Include arrests.
• Include applicable Texas-specific Segment 8/9 scenarios.
• Validate XML/schema output if applicable.
• Review NIBRS business-rule validation.
• Review Texas-specific validation.
• Complete DPS testing/certification requirements where applicable.
• Resolve errors before production transition.

When Texas deploys v2025

• Confirm the official DPS deployment notice.
• Confirm v2025 appears in current Texas technical guidance as applicable.
• Confirm RMS production version is deployed.
• Confirm agency configuration.
• Confirm users know about applicable workflow changes.
• Generate first production submission.
• Confirm DPS acceptance.
• Review all errors and warnings.
• Correct the operational records where applicable.
• Resubmit as necessary.
• Document successful transition.

Watch Data Element 7

• Confirm current DPS guidance before enabling the value.
• Confirm how the RMS vendor handles the Texas exception.
• Do not assume federal support means Texas acceptance.
• Recheck this item when DPS publishes future guidance.

NIBRS 2025 Change Quick Reference

Only verified, material changes appear here. Texas implementation language is limited to what DPS has announced. Where Texas has not specifically addressed a federal change, the table says so rather than guessing.

The best time to prepare is before the specification changes

Texas has given agencies and vendors advance notice. That creates an opportunity to understand the changes, verify vendor readiness, test, train, and resolve problems before the first production submission under the new specification.

A specification transition should be a planned reporting change—not a month-end surprise.