By Chisum H.B. No. 361
74R2592 GWK-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to cooperation between the federal government and state
1-3 and local law enforcement agencies and peace officers.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the Law
1-6 Enforcement Cooperation Act.
1-7 SECTION 2. PURPOSE. The purpose of this legislation is to:
1-8 (1) promote maximum cooperation between federal
1-9 employees and state and local law enforcement agencies and peace
1-10 officers;
1-11 (2) ensure that federal arrests and searches or
1-12 seizures made in this state are made with the benefit of the best
1-13 local law enforcement knowledge and expertise available; and
1-14 (3) prevent misadventure resulting from a lack of
1-15 cooperation or communication between federal employees operating in
1-16 this state and state and local law enforcement agencies and peace
1-17 officers from affecting citizens of this state and their rights.
1-18 SECTION 3. PERMISSION FROM SHERIFF. (a) Except as provided
1-19 by Subsection (b) of this section, a federal employee not listed
1-20 under Article 2.122, Code of Criminal Procedure, may make an
1-21 arrest, search a person or the person's property, or seize an asset
1-22 of a person in this state only if the federal employee has written
1-23 permission to do so from the sheriff of the county in which the
1-24 activity occurs or by a designee of the sheriff.
2-1 (b) Subsection (a) of this section does not apply to:
2-2 (1) an arrest, search, or seizure taking place on a
2-3 federal enclave where jurisdiction has been actively ceded to the
2-4 federal government by this state;
2-5 (2) an arrest made by a federal employee who witnesses
2-6 the commission of a crime the nature of which requires an immediate
2-7 arrest;
2-8 (3) an arrest made by United States Customs or the
2-9 Immigration and Naturalization Service that is consistent with
2-10 state law on close pursuit; or
2-11 (4) an arrest, search, or seizure if the subject of
2-12 the arrest, search, or seizure is an employee of a sheriff's
2-13 department or a person elected to public office.
2-14 (c) A federal employee requesting permission to take an
2-15 action described by Subsection (a) of this section must make the
2-16 request in writing to the sheriff or the designee of the sheriff.
2-17 The request must contain:
2-18 (1) the name of the intended subject of the arrest,
2-19 search, or seizure; and
2-20 (2) a clear statement of probable cause for arrest,
2-21 search, or seizure or a federal arrest, search, or seizure warrant
2-22 that includes:
2-23 (A) a statement of the intended date and time of
2-24 the arrest, search, or seizure, and an address or location where
2-25 the intended arrest, search, or seizure will be attempted; and
2-26 (B) a description of specific assets or goods to
2-27 be seized, if applicable.
3-1 (d) Permission granted under this section is valid only if
3-2 countersigned by the sheriff or the sheriff's designee and only for
3-3 48 hours after the time of signing by the sheriff or designee. A
3-4 sheriff or sheriff's designee may refuse to sign a request for
3-5 permission under this section for any reason.
3-6 SECTION 4. PERMISSION FROM ATTORNEY GENERAL. A federal
3-7 employee may not take an action described by Section 3(b)(4) of
3-8 this Act without the written permission of the attorney general of
3-9 the State of Texas, unless the delay necessary to receive the
3-10 written permission would result in serious harm to an individual or
3-11 the community or flight to avoid prosecution by the person subject
3-12 to the action.
3-13 SECTION 5. PROSECUTION OF VIOLATION. (a) An arrest,
3-14 search, or seizure attempted in violation of this Act is unlawful,
3-15 and an individual taking part in an unlawful arrest, search, or
3-16 seizure may be prosecuted for kidnapping, trespass, theft, or any
3-17 other penal law of this state, as appropriate, and if the action
3-18 results in the death of another, for murder or manslaughter.
3-19 (b) In prosecuting an offense described by Subsection (a)
3-20 of this section, the attorney representing the state in the
3-21 prosecution of the offense shall attempt to make whole any citizen
3-22 who has been the subject of an illegal arrest, search, or seizure.
3-23 SECTION 6. CONFLICT OF LAW. Pursuant to the Tenth Amendment
3-24 to the United States Constitution, a federal law purporting to give
3-25 a federal employee the authority of a sheriff in this state is not
3-26 recognizable in this state.
3-27 SECTION 7. DUTY OF ATTORNEY GENERAL. An attorney
4-1 representing the state in a county in which a violation of this Act
4-2 occurs shall bring a prosecution in the case and may not refuse to
4-3 prosecute as an exercise of prosecutorial discretion. An attorney
4-4 representing the state who fails to bring a prosecution as required
4-5 by this section engages in official misconduct and is subject to
4-6 removal from office.
4-7 SECTION 8. EMERGENCY. The importance of this legislation
4-8 and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-12 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-13 passage, and it is so enacted.