{
  "id": "BRD-172",
  "slug": "brd-172",
  "title": "Document every Texas exemption you rely on",
  "statement": "Where a Texas exemption is relied upon, the basis for it must be documented and retained.",
  "rationale": "Texas exemptions — publicly traded, insurer, supervised financial institution, FCC-regulated, non-profit, existing customer, majority brick-and-mortar — are affirmative defences, which means the burden of proving one sits with the business claiming it. An exemption that was true and undocumented is worth nothing at the point it is needed.",
  "layer": "BRAND",
  "layerSlug": "brand",
  "object": "Texas exemption evidence",
  "severity": "HIGH",
  "detectability": [
    "HUMAN"
  ],
  "failureClass": "TERMINAL_EVIDENCE",
  "authorities": [
    "Texas SB 140"
  ],
  "applicabilityText": "Applies to every 10DLC registration.",
  "universal": true,
  "remediation": "For each exemption relied on, keep a short written record: which exemption, why it applies, and the evidence — the licence number, the registration, the customer relationship. Review it annually, because several of the exemptions can lapse without anyone noticing.",
  "notes": "Nothing in a registration says which exemptions a business relies on. The user has to identify them and write the basis down while it is easy to establish — the exemptions are affirmative defences, so an undocumented one fails at exactly the moment it matters.",
  "phase": "approval",
  "automated": false,
  "attestation": {
    "question": "For each Texas exemption you rely on, is there a written record of which exemption, why it applies, and the evidence behind it?",
    "howToCheck": [
      "List the exemptions in play: publicly traded, insurer, supervised financial institution, FCC-regulated, non-profit, existing customer, majority brick-and-mortar.",
      "For each, write down the basis and the evidence — the licence number, the registration, the customer relationship — while it is still easy to establish.",
      "Review annually. Several of these lapse without anyone noticing."
    ],
    "failureLooksLike": "The exemption was true and undocumented. It is an affirmative defence, so the burden sits with you, and it fails at precisely the moment it is needed."
  },
  "url": "https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/brand/brd-172/",
  "markdown": "https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/brand/brd-172.md",
  "registry": "https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/",
  "updated": "2026-07-25",
  "licence": "CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}