H.B. No. 372
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to peace officers of hospitals in certain municipalities.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 311, Health and Safety
1-5 Code, is amended by adding Section 311.004 to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 311.004. PEACE OFFICERS OF HOSPITALS IN CERTAIN
1-7 MUNICIPALITIES. (a) A hospital in a municipality with a
1-8 population of 50,000 or more may employ and commission a peace
1-9 officer to protect the hospital.
1-10 (b) A hospital that commissions a peace officer under this
1-11 section shall pay all certification or licensing fees for the peace
1-12 officer license that are charged by the Commission on Law
1-13 Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.
1-14 (c) The primary jurisdiction of a peace officer commissioned
1-15 by a hospital under this section includes:
1-16 (1) the property of the hospital; and
1-17 (2) any public street or alley that is contiguous to
1-18 hospital property but not extending beyond the hospital property.
1-19 (d) Within a peace officer's primary jurisdiction, a peace
1-20 officer commissioned under this section:
1-21 (1) is vested with all the powers, privileges, and
1-22 immunities of peace officers;
1-23 (2) may, in accordance with Chapter 14, Code of
1-24 Criminal Procedure, arrest without a warrant any person who
2-1 violates a law of the state; and
2-2 (3) may enforce all traffic laws on streets and
2-3 highways.
2-4 (e) Outside a peace officer's primary jurisdiction a peace
2-5 officer commissioned under this section is vested with all the
2-6 powers, privileges, and immunities of peace officers and may arrest
2-7 any person who violates any law of the state if the peace officer:
2-8 (1) is summoned by a law enforcement agency to provide
2-9 assistance; or
2-10 (2) is assisting a law enforcement agency.
2-11 (f) In this section, "hospital" has the meaning assigned by
2-12 Section 311.031.
2-13 SECTION 2. Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
2-14 amended to read as follows:
2-15 Art. 2.12. WHO ARE PEACE OFFICERS. The following are peace
2-16 officers:
2-17 (1) sheriffs and their deputies;
2-18 (2) constables and deputy constables;
2-19 (3) marshals or police officers of an incorporated
2-20 city, town, or village;
2-21 (4) rangers and officers commissioned by the Public
2-22 Safety Commission and the Director of the Department of Public
2-23 Safety;
2-24 (5) investigators of the district attorneys', criminal
2-25 district attorneys', and county attorneys' offices;
2-26 (6) law enforcement agents of the Texas Alcoholic
2-27 Beverage Commission;
3-1 (7) each member of an arson investigating unit
3-2 commissioned by a city, a county, or the state;
3-3 (8) officers commissioned under Subchapter E, Chapter
3-4 51, Education Code;
3-5 (9) officers commissioned by the <State Purchasing
3-6 and> General Services Commission;
3-7 (10) law enforcement officers commissioned by the
3-8 Parks and Wildlife Commission;
3-9 (11) airport police officers commissioned by a city
3-10 with a population of more than one million, according to the most
3-11 recent federal census, that operates an airport that serves
3-12 commercial air carriers;
3-13 (12) airport security personnel commissioned as peace
3-14 officers by the governing body of any political subdivision of this
3-15 state, other than a city described by Subdivision (11), that
3-16 operates an airport that serves commercial air carriers;
3-17 (13) municipal park and recreational patrolmen and
3-18 security officers;
3-19 (14) security officers commissioned as peace officers
3-20 by the State Treasurer;
3-21 (15) officers commissioned by a water control and
3-22 improvement district under Section 51.132, Water Code;
3-23 (16) officers commissioned by a board of trustees
3-24 under Chapter 341, Acts of the 57th Legislature, Regular Session,
3-25 1961 (Article 1187f, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes);
3-26 (17) investigators commissioned by the Texas State
3-27 Board of Medical Examiners;
4-1 (18) officers commissioned by the board of managers of
4-2 the Dallas County Hospital District, the Tarrant County Hospital
4-3 District, or the Bexar County Hospital District under
4-4 Section 281.057, Health and Safety Code;
4-5 (19) county park rangers commissioned under Subchapter
4-6 E, Chapter 351, Local Government Code;
4-7 (20) investigators employed by the Texas Racing
4-8 Commission;
4-9 (21) officers commissioned by the State Board of
4-10 Pharmacy;
4-11 (22) officers commissioned by the governing body of a
4-12 metropolitan rapid transit authority under Section 13, Chapter 141,
4-13 Acts of the 63rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 1118x,
4-14 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), or by a regional transportation
4-15 authority under Section 10, Chapter 683, Acts of the 66th
4-16 Legislature, Regular Session, 1979 (Article 1118y, Vernon's Texas
4-17 Civil Statutes);
4-18 (23) officers commissioned by the Texas High-Speed
4-19 Rail Authority;
4-20 (24) investigators commissioned by the attorney
4-21 general under Section 402.009, Government Code; <and>
4-22 (25) security officers and investigators commissioned
4-23 as peace officers under the State Lottery Act; and
4-24 (26) officers commissioned by a hospital under
4-25 Section 311.004, Health and Safety Code.
4-26 SECTION 3. Section 51.214, Education Code, is repealed.
4-27 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
5-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-5 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-6 passage, and it is so enacted.