By Lewis of Orange H.B. No. 2534
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to security devices in certain rental dwellings; and
1-3 declaring an emergency.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Amend Section 92.151(6), Property Code to read as
1-6 follows:
1-7 (6) "Keyless bolting device" means a door lock not in
1-8 the doorknob that locks:
1-9 (A) with a bolt into a strike plate screwed into
1-10 the portion of the doorjamb surface that faces the edge of the door
1-11 when the door is closed or into a metal doorjamb that serves as the
1-12 strike plate, operable only by knob or lever from the door's
1-13 interior and not in any manner from the door's exterior, and that
1-14 is commonly known as a keyless dead bolt;
1-15 (B) by a drop bolt system operated by placing a
1-16 central metal plate over a metal doorjamb restraint that protrudes
1-17 from the doorjamb and that is affixed to the doorjamb frame by
1-18 means of three case-hardened screws at least three inches in
1-19 length. One-half of the central plate must overlap the interior
1-20 surface of the door and the other half of the central plate must
1-21 overlap the doorjamb when the plates is placed over the doorjamb
1-22 restraint. The drop bolt system must prevent the door from being
1-23 opened unless the central plate is lifted off of the doorjamb
2-1 restraint by a person who is on the interior side of the door.
2-2 The term "keyless bolting device" does not include a chain
2-3 latch, flip latch, surface-mounted slide bolt, mortise door bolt,
2-4 surface-mounted barrel bolt, surface-mounted swing bar door guard,
2-5 spring-loaded nightlatch, foot bolt, or other lock or latch; or
2-6 (C) by a metal bar or metal tube that is placed
2-7 across the entire interior side of the door and secured in place at
2-8 each end of the bar or tube by heavy-duty metal screw hooks. The
2-9 screw hooks must be at least three inches in length and must be
2-10 screwed into the door frame stud or wall stud on each side of the
2-11 door. The bar or tube must be capable of being secured to both of
2-12 the screw hooks and must be permanently attached in some way to the
2-13 door frame stud or wall stud. When secured to the screw hooks, the
2-14 bar or tube must prevent the door from being opened unless the bar
2-15 or tube is removed by a person who is on the interior side of the
2-16 door.
2-17 (D) By a steel bar that is placed in a steel
2-18 sleeve in the floor, on the inside of an in swinging door, two
2-19 inches in from the center of the door with a kick plate installed
2-20 with screws and a storage bracket on the inside of the door. When
2-21 the steel bar is inserted into its hole in the floor it must be
2-22 capable of preventing the door from moving inward. The steel bar
2-23 must be additionally capable of being adjusted from the inside so
2-24 that the door can be opened from the inside two inches to serve as
2-25 a viewing space while still preventing the door from being opened
3-1 inwardly further than two inches.
3-2 SECTION 2. Amend Section 92.154, Property Code to read as
3-3 follows:
3-4 (a) A keyed dead bolt or a keyless bolting device required
3-5 by this subchapter must be installed at a height:
3-6 (1) not lower than 36 inches from the floor; and
3-7 (2) not higher than:
3-8 (A) 54 inches from the floor, if installed
3-9 before September 1, 1993; or
3-10 (B) 48 inches from the floor, if installed on or
3-11 after September 1, 1993.
3-12 (C) or in conformance with 92.151(6)(D).
3-13 (b) A keyed dead bolt or a keyless bolting device described
3-14 in Section 92.151(6)(A) or (B) in a dwelling must:
3-15 (1) have a strike plate screwed into the portion of
3-16 the doorjamb surface that faces the edge of the door when the door
3-17 is closed; or
3-18 (2) be installed i a door with a metal doorjamb that
3-19 serves as the strike plate.
3-20 (c) A keyed dead bolt or keyless dead bolt, as described by
3-21 Section 92.151(6)(A), installed in a dwelling on or after September
3-22 1, 1993, must have a dead bolt with a throw of not less than one
3-23 inch.
3-24 (d) The requirements of this section do not apply to a keyed
3-25 dead bolt or a keyless bolting device in one door of a pair of
4-1 French doors that is installed in accordance with the requirements
4-2 of Section 92.153(b)(1) or (2).
4-3 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
4-4 SECTION 4. EMERGENCY CLAUSE. The importance of this
4-5 legislation and the crowded condition of the calendars in both
4-6 houses create an emergency and an imperative public necessity that
4-7 the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-8 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.