HOUSTON — The days of Texas drivers needing to get their annual state inspections are numbered. Starting on January 1, 2025, Texans won’t need state inspections on non-commercial vehicles to get their registrations.
Tuesday was October 1, meaning in just three months, the new law goes into effect. House Bill 3291 was signed into law in 2023, which got rid of state inspections for non-commercial vehicles. While that goes away, you’ll see a slight increase of $7.50 on your registration to make up for it.
While you'll no longer need a state inspection, depending on where your vehicle is registered, your vehicle will still need to pass an emissions test. There are certain counties around the state where emissions tests are required.
Those are in and around the major metropolitan areas of Texas, including Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and El Paso for now. San Antonio comes later.
That means if you drive a non-commercial vehicle and live in Harris, Fort Bend, Galveston, Montgomery, Brazoria, Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, Travis, Williamson and El Paso counties, you WILL still need to get an emissions test every year. Bexar County, which covers San Antonio, will be added in 2026.
Commercial vehicles in the state will still be required to get safety inspections. That goes for all commercial vehicles in all counties.
Your questions
When we originally posted this story in August, we heard from many of you who had questions about the new law. One of the questions was if you're still required to get an emissions test, will you still need to pay the additional $7.50 that will be added to your registration?
Reporter Troy Kless got the answer to that question and other questions you had.