1-1 By: Hochberg (Senate Sponsor - Shelley) H.B. No. 161
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 1993;
1-3 April 27, 1993, read first time and referred to Committee on State
1-4 Affairs; May 10, 1993, reported favorably, as amended, by the
1-5 following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 10, 1993, sent to printer.)
1-6 COMMITTEE VOTE
1-7 Yea Nay PNV Absent
1-8 Harris of Dallas x
1-9 Rosson x
1-10 Carriker x
1-11 Henderson x
1-12 Leedom x
1-13 Lucio x
1-14 Luna x
1-15 Nelson x
1-16 Patterson x
1-17 Shelley x
1-18 Sibley x
1-19 West x
1-20 Whitmire x
1-21 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1 By: Shelley
1-22 Amend H.B. 161 by deleting lines 51 through 53 on page 2 and
1-23 substituting the following:
1-24 (12) a registered professional engineer <engineers> practicing in
1-25 accordance with the provisions of the Texas Engineering Practice
1-26 Act that does not install or service detection devices, does not
1-27 conduct investigations, and is not a security services contractor;
1-28 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 2 By: Shelley
1-29 Amend H.B. 161 as follows:
1-30 1. On page 4, line 11, strike "or".
1-31 2. On page 4, line 21, strike the period and add the
1-32 following:
1-33 ; or (30) a person engaged in the business of psychological
1-34 testing or other testing and interviewing services (to include but
1-35 not limited to attitudes, honesty, intelligence, personality and
1-36 skills) for preemployment purposes, if the person does not perform
1-37 any other service that requires a license under this Act.
1-38 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-39 AN ACT
1-40 relating to the Private Investigators and Private Security
1-41 Agencies Act and to exceptions for certain nonprofit organizations
1-42 and the definition of certain companies.
1-43 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-44 SECTION 1. Section 2(5), Private Investigators and Private
1-45 Security Agencies Act (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil
1-46 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-47 (5) "Alarm systems company" means any person that
1-48 sells, installs, services, monitors, or responds to burglar alarm
1-49 signal devices, burglar alarms, television cameras, still cameras
1-50 or any other electrical, mechanical, or electronic device used:
1-51 (A) to prevent or detect burglary, theft,
1-52 shoplifting, pilferage, or other losses of that type;
1-53 (B) to prevent or detect intrusion; or
1-54 (C) primarily to detect or <and> summon aid for
1-55 other emergencies.
1-56 SECTION 2. Section 3(a), Private Investigators and Private
1-57 Security Agencies Act (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil
1-58 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-59 (a) This Act does not apply to:
1-60 (1) a person employed exclusively and regularly by one
1-61 employer in connection with the affairs of an employer only and
1-62 where there exists an employer-employee relationship; provided,
1-63 however, any person who shall carry a firearm in the course of his
1-64 employment shall be required to obtain a private security officer
1-65 commission under the provisions of this Act;
1-66 (2) except as provided by Subsection (d) of this
1-67 Section, an officer or employee of the United States of America, or
1-68 of this State or political subdivision of either, while the
2-1 employee or officer is engaged in the performance of official
2-2 duties;
2-3 (3) a person who has full-time employment as a peace
2-4 officer as defined by Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, who
2-5 receives compensation for private employment on an individual or an
2-6 independent contractor basis as a patrolman, guard, or watchman if
2-7 such person is:
2-8 (A) employed in an employee-employer
2-9 relationship; or
2-10 (B) employed on an individual contractual basis;
2-11 (C) not in the employ of another peace officer;
2-12 and
2-13 (D) not a reserve peace officer;
2-14 (4) a person engaged exclusively in the business of
2-15 obtaining and furnishing information for purposes of credit
2-16 worthiness or collecting debts or ascertaining the financial
2-17 responsibility of applicants for property insurance and for
2-18 indemnity or surety bonds, with respect to persons, firms, and
2-19 corporations;
2-20 (5) an attorney-at-law in performing his duties;
2-21 (6) admitted insurers, insurance adjusters, agents,
2-22 and insurance brokers licensed by the State, performing duties in
2-23 connection with insurance transacted by them;
2-24 (7) a person who engages exclusively in the business
2-25 of repossessing property that is secured by a mortgage or other
2-26 security interest;
2-27 (8) a locksmith who does not install or service
2-28 detection devices, does not conduct investigations, and is not a
2-29 security service contractor;
2-30 (9) a person who owns and installs burglar detection
2-31 or alarm devices on his own property or, if he does not charge for
2-32 the device or its installation, installs it for the protection of
2-33 his personal property located on another's property, and does not
2-34 install the devices as a normal business practice on the property
2-35 of another;
2-36 (10) an employee of a cattle association who is
2-37 engaged in inspection of brands of livestock under the authority
2-38 granted to that cattle association by the Packers and Stockyards
2-39 Division of the United States Department of Agriculture;
2-40 (11) the provisions of this Act shall not apply to
2-41 common carriers by rail engaged in interstate commerce and
2-42 regulated by state and federal authorities and transporting
2-43 commodities essential to the national defense and to the general
2-44 welfare and safety of the community;
2-45 (12) registered professional engineers practicing in
2-46 accordance with the provisions of the Texas Engineering Practice
2-47 Act;
2-48 (13) a person whose sale of burglar alarm signal
2-49 devices, burglary alarms, television cameras, still cameras, or
2-50 other electrical, mechanical, or electronic devices used for
2-51 preventing or detecting burglary, theft, shoplifting, pilferage, or
2-52 other losses is exclusively over-the-counter or by mail order;
2-53 (14) a person who holds a license or other form of
2-54 permission issued by an incorporated city or town to practice as an
2-55 electrician and who installs fire or smoke detectors in no building
2-56 other than a single family or multifamily residence;
2-57 (15) a person or organization in the business of
2-58 building construction that installs electrical wiring and devices
2-59 that may include in part the installation of a burglar alarm or
2-60 detection device if:
2-61 (A) the person or organization is a party to a
2-62 contract that provides that the installation will be performed
2-63 under the direct supervision of and inspected and certified by a
2-64 person or organization licensed to install and certify such an
2-65 alarm or detection device and that the licensee assumes full
2-66 responsibility for the installation of the alarm or detection
2-67 device; and
2-68 (B) the person or organization does not service
2-69 or maintain burglar alarms or detection devices;
2-70 (16) a reserve peace officer while the reserve officer
3-1 is performing guard, patrolman, or watchman duties for a county and
3-2 is being compensated solely by that county;
3-3 (17) response to a burglar alarm or detection device
3-4 by a law enforcement agency or by a law enforcement officer acting
3-5 in an official capacity;
3-6 (18) a person who, by education, experience, or
3-7 background has specialized expertise or knowledge such as that
3-8 which would qualify or tend to qualify such person as an expert
3-9 witness, authorized to render opinions in proceedings conducted in
3-10 a court, administrative agency, or governing body of this state or
3-11 of the United States, in accordance with applicable rules and
3-12 regulations and who does not perform any other service for which a
3-13 license is required by provisions of this Act;
3-14 (19) an officer, employee, or agent of a common
3-15 carrier, as defined by Section 153(h), Communications Act of 1934
3-16 (47 U.S.C.A. Sec. 151 et seq.), while protecting the carrier or a
3-17 user of the carrier's long-distance services from a fraudulent,
3-18 unlawful, or abusive use of those long-distance services;
3-19 (20) a person who sells or installs automobile burglar
3-20 alarm devices;
3-21 (21) a manufacturer, or a manufacturer's authorized
3-22 distributor, who sells to the holder of a license under this Act
3-23 equipment used in the operations for which the holder is required
3-24 to be licensed;
3-25 (22) a person employed as a noncommissioned security
3-26 officer by a political subdivision of this state;
3-27 (23) a person whose activities are regulated under
3-28 Article 5.43-2, Insurance Code, except to the extent that those
3-29 activities are specifically regulated under this Act;
3-30 (24) a landman performing activities in the course and
3-31 scope of the landman's business;
3-32 (25) a hospital or a wholly owned subsidiary or
3-33 affiliate of a hospital that provides medical alert services for
3-34 persons who are sick or disabled, if the hospital, subsidiary, or
3-35 affiliate is licensed under Chapter 241, Health and Safety Code,
3-36 and the hospital does not perform any other service that requires a
3-37 license under this Act;
3-38 (26) a charitable, nonprofit organization that
3-39 provides medical alert services for persons who are sick or
3-40 disabled, if the organization:
3-41 (A) is exempt from taxation under Section
3-42 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
3-43 (B) has its monitoring services provided by a
3-44 licensed person or hospital or a wholly owned subsidiary or
3-45 affiliate of a hospital licensed under Chapter 241, Health and
3-46 Safety Code; and
3-47 (C) does not perform any other service that
3-48 requires a license under his Act; <or>
3-49 (27) a person engaged in the business of electronic
3-50 monitoring of a person as a condition of that person's probation,
3-51 parole, mandatory supervision, or release on bail, if the person
3-52 does not perform any other service that requires a license under
3-53 this Act;
3-54 (28) a nonprofit business or civic organization that:
3-55 (A) employs one or more peace officers meeting
3-56 the qualifications of Subdivision (3) of this subsection as
3-57 patrolmen, guards, or watchmen;
3-58 (B) provides the services of these peace
3-59 officers only to:
3-60 (i) its members; or
3-61 (ii) if the organization does not have
3-62 members, the members of the communities served by the organization
3-63 as described in its articles of incorporation or other
3-64 organizational documents;
3-65 (C) devotes the net receipts from all charges
3-66 for the services exclusively to the cost of providing the services
3-67 or to the costs of other services for the enhancement of the
3-68 security or safety of:
3-69 (i) its members; or
3-70 (ii) if the organization does not have
4-1 members, the members of the communities served by the organization
4-2 as described in its articles of incorporation or other
4-3 organizational documents; and
4-4 (D) does not perform any other service that
4-5 requires a license under this Act; or
4-6 (29) a charitable, nonprofit organization that
4-7 maintains a system of records to aid in the location of missing
4-8 children if the organization:
4-9 (A) is exempt from federal taxation under
4-10 Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and its
4-11 subsequent amendments;
4-12 (B) exclusively provides services related to
4-13 locating missing children; and
4-14 (C) does not perform any other service that
4-15 requires a license under this Act.
4-16 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-17 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-18 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-19 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-20 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-21 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-22 passage, and it is so enacted.
4-23 * * * * *
4-24 Austin,
4-25 Texas
4-26 May 10, 1993
4-27 Hon. Bob Bullock
4-28 President of the Senate
4-29 Sir:
4-30 We, your Committee on State Affairs to which was referred H.B. No.
4-31 161, have had the same under consideration, and I am instructed to
4-32 report it back to the Senate with the recommendation that it do
4-33 pass, as amended, and be printed.
4-34 Harris of
4-35 Dallas, Chairman
4-36 * * * * *
4-37 WITNESSES
4-38 FOR AGAINST ON
4-39 ___________________________________________________________________
4-40 Name: Bob Leonard Jr x
4-41 Representing: Tx Burglar & Fire Alarm Assn
4-42 City: Austin
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