By Wentworth S.B. No. 254
74R3544 GWK-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to authorizing community supervision and corrections
1-3 departments to employ and commission as peace officers field unit
1-4 officers.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 4, Article 42.131, Code of Criminal
1-7 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 4. Department Director. (a) The district judge or
1-9 judges shall appoint a department director who must meet, at a
1-10 minimum, the eligibility requirements for officers established
1-11 under Section 5 of this article. The department director shall
1-12 employ a sufficient number of officers and other employees to
1-13 perform the professional and clerical work of the department.
1-14 (b) The department director may employ and commission as
1-15 peace officers not more than 20 field unit officers. A field unit
1-16 officer shall observe activities of defendants and report these
1-17 observations to an officer who supervises defendants in order to
1-18 verify the defendants' compliance with conditions of community
1-19 supervision. A field unit officer may carry a weapon and may pay
1-20 unannounced visits at any time to a defendant's home.
1-21 SECTION 2. Section 5, Article 42.131, Code of Criminal
1-22 Procedure, is amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding
1-23 Subsection (e) to read as follows:
1-24 (c) A person employed as a peace officer is not eligible for
2-1 appointment as a department supervision <an> officer or department
2-2 residential officer under this section.
2-3 (e) A field unit officer is subject to all licensing,
2-4 testing, and educational requirements and psychological and
2-5 physical examination requirements under Chapter 415, Government
2-6 Code.
2-7 SECTION 3. Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
2-8 amended by Chapters 339, 695, and 912, Acts of the 73rd
2-9 Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, is amended to read as follows:
2-10 Art. 2.12. WHO ARE PEACE OFFICERS. The following are peace
2-11 officers:
2-12 (1) sheriffs and their deputies;
2-13 (2) constables and deputy constables;
2-14 (3) marshals or police officers of an incorporated
2-15 city, town, or village;
2-16 (4) rangers and officers commissioned by the Public
2-17 Safety Commission and the Director of the Department of Public
2-18 Safety;
2-19 (5) investigators of the district attorneys', criminal
2-20 district attorneys', and county attorneys' offices;
2-21 (6) law enforcement agents of the Texas Alcoholic
2-22 Beverage Commission;
2-23 (7) each member of an arson investigating unit
2-24 commissioned by a city, a county, or the state;
2-25 (8) officers commissioned under Section 21.483,
2-26 Education Code, or Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Education Code;
2-27 (9) officers commissioned by the General Services
3-1 Commission;
3-2 (10) law enforcement officers commissioned by the
3-3 Parks and Wildlife Commission;
3-4 (11) airport police officers commissioned by a city
3-5 with a population of more than one million, according to the most
3-6 recent federal census, that operates an airport that serves
3-7 commercial air carriers;
3-8 (12) airport security personnel commissioned as peace
3-9 officers by the governing body of any political subdivision of this
3-10 state, other than a city described by Subdivision (11), that
3-11 operates an airport that serves commercial air carriers;
3-12 (13) municipal park and recreational patrolmen and
3-13 security officers;
3-14 (14) security officers commissioned as peace officers
3-15 by the State Treasurer;
3-16 (15) officers commissioned by a water control and
3-17 improvement district under Section 51.132, Water Code;
3-18 (16) officers commissioned by a board of trustees
3-19 under Chapter 341, Acts of the 57th Legislature, Regular Session,
3-20 1961 (Article 1187f, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes);
3-21 (17) investigators commissioned by the Texas State
3-22 Board of Medical Examiners;
3-23 (18) officers commissioned by the board of managers of
3-24 the Dallas County Hospital District, the Tarrant County Hospital
3-25 District, or the Bexar County Hospital District under Section
3-26 281.057, Health and Safety Code;
3-27 (19) county park rangers commissioned under Subchapter
4-1 E, Chapter 351, Local Government Code;
4-2 (20) investigators employed by the Texas Racing
4-3 Commission;
4-4 (21) officers commissioned by the State Board of
4-5 Pharmacy;
4-6 (22) officers commissioned by the governing body of a
4-7 metropolitan rapid transit authority under Section 13, Chapter 141,
4-8 Acts of the 63rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 1118x,
4-9 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), or by a regional transportation
4-10 authority under Section 10, Chapter 683, Acts of the 66th
4-11 Legislature, Regular Session, 1979 (Article 1118y, Vernon's Texas
4-12 Civil Statutes);
4-13 (23) officers commissioned by the Texas High-Speed
4-14 Rail Authority;
4-15 (24) investigators commissioned by the attorney
4-16 general under Section 402.009, Government Code;
4-17 (25) security officers and investigators commissioned
4-18 as peace officers under Chapter 466, Government Code; <and>
4-19 (26) an officer employed by the Texas Department of
4-20 Health under Section 431.2471, Health and Safety Code; <.>
4-21 (27) <(26)> officers appointed by an appellate court
4-22 under Subchapter F, Chapter 53, Government Code; <.>
4-23 (28) <(26)> officers commissioned by the state fire
4-24 marshal under Chapter 417, Government Code; and
4-25 (29) field unit officers commissioned by directors of
4-26 community supervision and corrections departments.
4-27 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
5-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-5 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-6 passage, and it is so enacted.