Enrolled Bill Summary

House Bill 957 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to expand the definition of peace officers to include reserve deputies, reserve deputy constables, and reserve municipal police officers who hold a permanent peace officer license.

            The act amends the Local Government Code to authorize a sheriff, constable, or a chief of police to permit a reserve deputy sheriff, reserve deputy constable, or reserve police officer to either carry a weapon or act as a peace officer at all times, or to limit the authority of these reserve officers to carry a weapon or act as a peace officer only during the actual discharge of their official duties. It permits reserve deputies, reserve deputy constables, and members of a reserve police force who are not peace officers as defined in the Code of Criminal Procedure to serve as peace officers only during the actual discharge of official duties. The act makes reserve deputies, reserve deputy constables, and reserve police officers ineligible to participate in any program or pension fund that is considered a financial benefit of full-time employment. In addition, it requires reserve officers to abide by the Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies Act.