Lacey Hull: Bringing a Coercive Control Law to Texas

Connecticut wrote coercive control into its domestic violence statute in 2021. A state representative in Houston read about it and started working out what it would take to do the same thing in Texas.

Lacey Hull is a member of the Texas House of Representatives, serving part of the Houston area. She studied political science and history, was an ordinary voter for years, and got pulled into the process after her son was born, first volunteering for candidates, then testifying at the Capitol on bills she cared about, then running when the seat opened up. She reached out to Been There Got Out after finding Jennifers' Law, the Connecticut statute Lisa testified for.

In this episode, Hull and Lisa talk through what it takes to get this kind of legislation moving. Why abuse that is not named in the law leaves survivors without a path to justice, however clearly they can describe what happened. A domestic violence roundtable Hull convened with shelters and advocacy organizations to get the language right. The rhythm of a legislature that meets every other year, and why bill filing opens after the elections. Co-sponsors on both sides of the chamber, and a domestic violence resolution that every member of the Texas House put their name to.

They also cover what makes the conversation land with people who have never heard the term. Framing coercive control as a liberty issue, since it takes away a person's physical security, dignity, autonomy, and freedom to live their own life. The Women's Aid definition, which describes a pattern of assault, threats, humiliation, and intimidation used to punish or frighten, alongside controlling behavior designed to isolate someone and regulate their everyday life. The strategy the United Kingdom used to make the term familiar, including storylines written into popular soap operas with help from domestic violence experts. And the reason none of this is obvious: Lisa and Chris asked a police department with a dedicated domestic violence unit about coercive control, and were told nobody there had heard of it.

As always, this is strategic education, not legal or mental-health advice for your specific situation.

🎓 What you'll learn

• Why a form of abuse that is not defined in statute leaves survivors without a remedy
• How Connecticut's Jennifers' Law became the model another state started from
• The framing that makes coercive control land with a skeptical audience: liberty, dignity, and autonomy
• What the Women's Aid definition of coercive control actually covers
• How a bill moves in a legislature that only convenes every other year
• Why co-sponsors in both chambers change a bill's odds
• What people can do from outside politics: organizations, hearings, and their own legislators
• Why making the term a household word came before the law in the United Kingdom

⏱️ Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:00 From voter to volunteer to the Texas House
3:00 Why a Texas legislator went looking at Jennifers' Law
5:00 Abuse that is not in the statute, and survivors with no remedy
7:00 Where the Texas bill stands, and a legislature that meets every other year
9:00 Coercive control as a liberty issue, and the Women's Aid definition
11:00 What you can do: organizations, hearings, and your own legislators
13:00 Making it a household term, and the storylines that did it in the UK
15:00 Co-sponsors, and a resolution the whole Texas House signed
17:00 Why even trained officers have not heard the term

Keep going 💜
Book a free 30-minute discovery call and we'll help you map your next steps: https://beentheregotout.com/call
📘 Been There Got Out: Toxic Relationships, High-Conflict Divorce, and How to Stay Sane Under Insane Circumstances — https://www.amazon.com/dp/194627495X
📘 Been There Got Out: When Your Ex Turns the Kids Against You (our parental-alienation book) — https://www.amazon.com/dp/1967674183
🔗 Texas State Representative Lacey Hull, District 138: https://house.texas.gov/members/member-page/?district=138

About Been There Got Out
Chris Barry and Lisa Johnson are high-conflict divorce, custody, and co-parenting strategists, and the founders of Been There Got Out. They know these cases from the inside: both have successfully represented themselves in family court. Few attorneys have a playbook for a case like this — Chris and Lisa write yours with you, so you and your kids can get through it as unscathed as possible.