By Oakley H.B. No. 713
74R1166 CAG-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of private investigators and private
1-3 security agencies; creating a criminal penalty.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 3(a), Private Investigators and Private
1-6 Security Agencies Act (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil
1-7 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-8 (a) This Act does not apply to:
1-9 (1) a person employed exclusively and regularly by one
1-10 employer in connection with the affairs of an employer only and
1-11 where there exists an employer-employee relationship; provided,
1-12 however, any person who shall carry a firearm in the course of his
1-13 employment shall be required to obtain a private security officer
1-14 commission under the provisions of this Act;
1-15 (2) except as provided by Subsection (d) of this
1-16 Section, an officer or employee of the United States of America, or
1-17 of this State or political subdivision of either, while the
1-18 employee or officer is engaged in the performance of official
1-19 duties;
1-20 (3) a person who has full-time employment as a peace
1-21 officer as defined by Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, who
1-22 receives compensation for private employment on an individual or an
1-23 independent contractor basis as a patrolman, guard, or watchman if
1-24 such person is:
2-1 (A) employed in an employee-employer
2-2 relationship; or
2-3 (B) employed on an individual contractual basis;
2-4 (C) not in the employ of another peace officer;
2-5 and
2-6 (D) not a reserve peace officer;
2-7 (4) a person engaged exclusively in the business of
2-8 obtaining and furnishing information for purposes of credit
2-9 worthiness or collecting debts or ascertaining the financial
2-10 responsibility of applicants for property insurance and for
2-11 indemnity or surety bonds, with respect to persons, firms, and
2-12 corporations;
2-13 (5) an attorney engaged in the practice of law or an
2-14 employee of the attorney or the attorney's law firm who is employed
2-15 and paid only by the attorney or law firm <attorney-at-law in
2-16 performing his duties>;
2-17 (6) admitted insurers, insurance adjusters, agents,
2-18 and insurance brokers licensed by the State, performing duties in
2-19 connection with insurance transacted by them;
2-20 (7) a person who engages exclusively in the business
2-21 of repossessing property that is secured by a mortgage or other
2-22 security interest;
2-23 (8) a locksmith who does not install or service
2-24 detection devices, does not conduct investigations, and is not a
2-25 security service contractor;
2-26 (9) a person who owns and installs burglar detection
2-27 or alarm devices on his own property or, if he does not charge for
3-1 the device or its installation, installs it for the protection of
3-2 his personal property located on another's property, and does not
3-3 install the devices as a normal business practice on the property
3-4 of another;
3-5 (10) an employee of a cattle association who is
3-6 engaged in inspection of brands of livestock under the authority
3-7 granted to that cattle association by the Packers and Stockyards
3-8 Division of the United States Department of Agriculture;
3-9 (11) the provisions of this Act shall not apply to
3-10 common carriers by rail engaged in interstate commerce and
3-11 regulated by state and federal authorities and transporting
3-12 commodities essential to the national defense and to the general
3-13 welfare and safety of the community;
3-14 (12) a registered professional engineer practicing in
3-15 accordance with the provisions of the Texas Engineering Practice
3-16 Act that does not install or service detection devices, does not
3-17 conduct investigations, and is not a security services contractor;
3-18 (13) a person whose sale of burglar alarm signal
3-19 devices, burglary alarms, television cameras, still cameras, or
3-20 other electrical, mechanical, or electronic devices used for
3-21 preventing or detecting burglary, theft, shoplifting, pilferage, or
3-22 other losses is exclusively over-the-counter or by mail order;
3-23 (14) a person who holds a license or other form of
3-24 permission issued by an incorporated city or town to practice as an
3-25 electrician and who installs fire or smoke detectors in no building
3-26 other than a single family or multifamily residence;
3-27 (15) a person or organization in the business of
4-1 building construction that installs electrical wiring and devices
4-2 that may include in part the installation of a burglar alarm or
4-3 detection device if:
4-4 (A) the person or organization is a party to a
4-5 contract that provides that the installation will be performed
4-6 under the direct supervision of and inspected and certified by a
4-7 person or organization licensed to install and certify such an
4-8 alarm or detection device and that the licensee assumes full
4-9 responsibility for the installation of the alarm or detection
4-10 device; and
4-11 (B) the person or organization does not service
4-12 or maintain burglar alarms or detection devices;
4-13 (16) a reserve peace officer while the reserve officer
4-14 is performing guard, patrolman, or watchman duties for a county and
4-15 is being compensated solely by that county;
4-16 (17) response to a burglar alarm or detection device
4-17 by a law enforcement agency or by a law enforcement officer acting
4-18 in an official capacity;
4-19 (18) a person who, by education, experience, or
4-20 background has specialized expertise or knowledge such as that
4-21 which would qualify or tend to qualify such person as an expert
4-22 witness, authorized to render opinions in proceedings conducted in
4-23 a court, administrative agency, or governing body of this state or
4-24 of the United States, in accordance with applicable rules and
4-25 regulations and who does not perform any other service for which a
4-26 license is required by provisions of this Act;
4-27 (19) an officer, employee, or agent of a common
5-1 carrier, as defined by Section 153(h), Communications Act of 1934
5-2 (47 U.S.C.A. Sec. 151 et seq.), while protecting the carrier or a
5-3 user of the carrier's long-distance services from a fraudulent,
5-4 unlawful, or abusive use of those long-distance services;
5-5 (20) a person who sells or installs automobile burglar
5-6 alarm devices;
5-7 (21) a manufacturer, or a manufacturer's authorized
5-8 distributor, who sells to the holder of a license under this Act
5-9 equipment used in the operations for which the holder is required
5-10 to be licensed;
5-11 (22) a person employed as a noncommissioned security
5-12 officer by a political subdivision of this state;
5-13 (23) a person whose activities are regulated under
5-14 Article 5.43-2, Insurance Code, except to the extent that those
5-15 activities are specifically regulated under this Act;
5-16 (24) a landman performing activities in the course and
5-17 scope of the landman's business;
5-18 (25) a hospital or a wholly owned subsidiary or
5-19 affiliate of a hospital that provides medical alert services for
5-20 persons who are sick or disabled, if the hospital, subsidiary, or
5-21 affiliate is licensed under Chapter 241, Health and Safety Code,
5-22 and the hospital does not perform any other service that requires a
5-23 license under this Act;
5-24 (26) a charitable, nonprofit organization that
5-25 provides medical alert services for persons who are sick or
5-26 disabled, if the organization:
5-27 (A) is exempt from taxation under Section
6-1 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
6-2 (B) has its monitoring services provided by a
6-3 licensed person or hospital or a wholly owned subsidiary or
6-4 affiliate of a hospital licensed under Chapter 241, Health and
6-5 Safety Code; and
6-6 (C) does not perform any other service that
6-7 requires a license under this Act;
6-8 (27) a person engaged in the business of electronic
6-9 monitoring of a person as a condition of that person's probation,
6-10 parole, mandatory supervision, or release on bail, if the person
6-11 does not perform any other service that requires a license under
6-12 this Act;
6-13 (28) a nonprofit business or civic organization that:
6-14 (A) employs one or more peace officers meeting
6-15 the qualifications of Subdivision (3) of this subsection as
6-16 patrolmen, guards, or watchmen;
6-17 (B) provides the services of these peace
6-18 officers only to:
6-19 (i) its members; or
6-20 (ii) if the organization does not have
6-21 members, the members of the communities served by the organization
6-22 as described in its articles of incorporation or other
6-23 organizational documents;
6-24 (C) devotes the net receipts from all charges
6-25 for the services exclusively to the cost of providing the services
6-26 or to the costs of other services for the enhancement of the
6-27 security or safety of:
7-1 (i) its members; or
7-2 (ii) if the organization does not have
7-3 members, the members of the communities served by the organization
7-4 as described in its articles of incorporation or other
7-5 organizational documents; and
7-6 (D) does not perform any other service that
7-7 requires a license under this Act;
7-8 (29) a charitable, nonprofit organization that
7-9 maintains a system of records to aid in the location of missing
7-10 children if the organization:
7-11 (A) is exempt from federal taxation under
7-12 Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and its
7-13 subsequent amendments;
7-14 (B) exclusively provides services related to
7-15 locating missing children; and
7-16 (C) does not perform any other service that
7-17 requires a license under this Act; or
7-18 (30) a person engaged in the business of psychological
7-19 testing or other testing and interviewing services (to include but
7-20 not limited to attitudes, honesty, intelligence, personality, and
7-21 skills) for preemployment purposes, if the person does not perform
7-22 any other service that requires a license under this Act.
7-23 SECTION 2. Section 11(d), Private Investigators and Private
7-24 Security Agencies Act (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil
7-25 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
7-26 (d) The board shall <may> recognize, prepare, or administer
7-27 continuing education programs for persons regulated by the board
8-1 under this Act. The board shall set the minimum number of hours
8-2 that must be completed and the types of programs that may be
8-3 offered for persons regulated by the board. A person regulated by
8-4 the board shall submit evidence of compliance with the board's
8-5 continuing education requirements in a manner prescribed by the
8-6 board. <Participation in the programs is voluntary.>
8-7 SECTION 3. Section 44, Private Investigators and Private
8-8 Security Agencies Act (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil
8-9 Statutes), is amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding
8-10 Subsection (f) to read as follows:
8-11 (c) Any person who violates any provision of this Act for
8-12 which a specific penalty is not prescribed commits an offense. An
8-13 offense under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor. If it is
8-14 shown at the trial of an offense under this subsection that the
8-15 defendant has been previously convicted of an offense under this
8-16 subsection, the offense is a felony of the third degree.
8-17 (f) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly
8-18 hires, contracts with, or employs a person who is required to hold
8-19 a registration, certificate, license, or commission under this Act
8-20 but does not hold the required registration, certificate, license,
8-21 or commission or who otherwise, at the time of hire, contract, or
8-22 employment, is in violation of this Act. An offense under this
8-23 subsection is a Class A misdemeanor.
8-24 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
8-25 SECTION 5. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
8-26 only to the punishment of an offense committed on or after the
8-27 effective date of this Act. For purposes of this section, an
9-1 offense is committed before the effective date of this Act if any
9-2 element of the offense occurs before the effective date.
9-3 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
9-4 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
9-5 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
9-6 SECTION 6. The Texas Board of Private Investigators and
9-7 Private Security Agencies shall adopt rules relating to required
9-8 continuing education programs not later than March 1, 1996.
9-9 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
9-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
9-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
9-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
9-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.