By Hunter of Taylor, Kamel H.B. No. 552
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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) The governing board of a hospital in a
1-8 municipality with a population of 45,000 or more may employ and
1-9 commission peace officers 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 owned or controlled by the hospital;
1-17 and
1-18 (2) the part of any public street or alley that is
1-19 contiguous to hospital property.
1-20 (d) Within a peace officer's primary jurisdiction, a peace
1-21 officer commissioned under this section:
1-22 (1) is vested with all the powers, privileges, and
1-23 immunities of peace officers;
2-1 (2) may, in accordance with Chapter 14, Code of
2-2 Criminal Procedure, arrest without a warrant any person who
2-3 violates a law of the state; and
2-4 (3) may enforce all traffic laws on streets and
2-5 highways.
2-6 (e) Outside a peace officer's primary jurisdiction a peace
2-7 officer commissioned under this section is vested with all the
2-8 powers, privileges, and immunities of peace officers and may arrest
2-9 any person who violates any law of the state if the peace officer:
2-10 (1) is summoned by a law enforcement agency to provide
2-11 assistance; or
2-12 (2) is assisting a law enforcement agency.
2-13 (f) In this section, "hospital" has the meaning assigned by
2-14 Section 311.031.
2-15 SECTION 2. Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
2-16 amended by Chapters 339, 695, and 912, Acts of the 73rd
2-17 Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, is amended to read as follows:
2-18 Art. 2.12. WHO ARE PEACE OFFICERS. The following are peace
2-19 officers:
2-20 (1) sheriffs and their deputies;
2-21 (2) constables and deputy constables;
2-22 (3) marshals or police officers of an incorporated
2-23 city, town, or village;
2-24 (4) rangers and officers commissioned by the Public
2-25 Safety Commission and the Director of the Department of Public
3-1 Safety;
3-2 (5) investigators of the district attorneys', criminal
3-3 district attorneys', and county attorneys' offices;
3-4 (6) law enforcement agents of the Texas Alcoholic
3-5 Beverage Commission;
3-6 (7) each member of an arson investigating unit
3-7 commissioned by a city, a county, or the state;
3-8 (8) officers commissioned under Section 21.483,
3-9 Education Code, or Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Education Code;
3-10 (9) officers commissioned by the General Services
3-11 Commission;
3-12 (10) law enforcement officers commissioned by the
3-13 Parks and Wildlife Commission;
3-14 (11) airport police officers commissioned by a city
3-15 with a population of more than one million, according to the most
3-16 recent federal census, that operates an airport that serves
3-17 commercial air carriers;
3-18 (12) airport security personnel commissioned as peace
3-19 officers by the governing body of any political subdivision of this
3-20 state, other than a city described by Subdivision (11), that
3-21 operates an airport that serves commercial air carriers;
3-22 (13) municipal park and recreational patrolmen and
3-23 security officers;
3-24 (14) security officers commissioned as peace officers
3-25 by the State Treasurer;
4-1 (15) officers commissioned by a water control and
4-2 improvement district under Section 51.132, Water Code;
4-3 (16) officers commissioned by a board of trustees
4-4 under Chapter 341, Acts of the 57th Legislature, Regular Session,
4-5 1961 (Article 1187f, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes);
4-6 (17) investigators commissioned by the Texas State
4-7 Board of Medical Examiners;
4-8 (18) officers commissioned by the board of managers of
4-9 the Dallas County Hospital District, the Tarrant County Hospital
4-10 District, or the Bexar County Hospital District under Section
4-11 281.057, Health and Safety Code;
4-12 (19) county park rangers commissioned under Subchapter
4-13 E, Chapter 351, Local Government Code;
4-14 (20) investigators employed by the Texas Racing
4-15 Commission;
4-16 (21) officers commissioned by the State Board of
4-17 Pharmacy;
4-18 (22) officers commissioned by the governing body of a
4-19 metropolitan rapid transit authority under Section 13, Chapter 141,
4-20 Acts of the 63rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 1118x,
4-21 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), or by a regional transportation
4-22 authority under Section 10, Chapter 683, Acts of the 66th
4-23 Legislature, Regular Session, 1979 (Article 1118y, Vernon's Texas
4-24 Civil Statutes);
4-25 (23) officers commissioned by the Texas High-Speed
5-1 Rail Authority;
5-2 (24) investigators commissioned by the attorney
5-3 general under Section 402.009, Government Code;
5-4 (25) security officers and investigators commissioned
5-5 as peace officers under Chapter 466, Government Code; <and>
5-6 (26) an officer employed by the Texas Department of
5-7 Health under Section 431.2471, Health and Safety Code;<.>
5-8 (27) <(26)> officers appointed by an appellate court
5-9 under Subchapter F, Chapter 53, Government Code;<.>
5-10 (28) <(26)> officers commissioned by the state fire
5-11 marshal under Chapter 417, Government Code; and
5-12 (29) officers commissioned by a hospital under
5-13 Section 311.004, Health and Safety Code.
5-14 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
5-15 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-16 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-17 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-18 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-19 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-20 passage, and it is so enacted.