BILL ANALYSIS H.B. 552 By: Hunter, B. (Sims) Criminal Justice 05-17-95 Senate Committee Report (Amended) BACKGROUND Currently, teaching hospitals or hospitals which qualify as institutions of higher learning are authorized to commission peace officers under Chapter 51, Education Code. Hospitals which reside in a municipality of greater than 1,200,000, are also authorized to commission peace officers. PURPOSE As proposed, H.B. 552 authorizes hospitals to employ persons as commissioned peace officers. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 311A, Health and Safety Code, by adding Section 311.004, as follows: Sec. 311.004. PEACE OFFICERS OF HOSPITALS IN CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES. (a) Authorizes the governing board of a hospital in a municipality with a population of 45,000 or more to employ and commission peace officers to protect the hospital. (b) Requires a hospital that commissions a peace officer under this section to pay all certification or licensing fees for the peace officer license that are charged by the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education. (c) Sets forth the primary jurisdiction of a peace officer commissioned by a hospital under this section. (d) Sets forth the authorized actions of a peace officer commissioned under this section in the officer's primary jurisdiction. (e) Provides that outside a peace officer's primary jurisdiction, a peace officer commissioned under this section is vested with all the powers, privileges, and immunities of peace officers, and may arrest any person who violates any law of the state if the peace officer is summoned by a law enforcement agency to provide assistance or is assisting a law enforcement agency. (f) Provides that this section does not apply to a hospital in a municipality located in a county with a population of more than 2.8 million. (g) Defines "hospital." SECTION 2. Amends Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, to include officers commissioned by a hospital under Section 311.004, Health and Safety Code, among persons who are considered peace officers. Makes conforming changes. SECTION 3. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.