By Henderson S.B. No. 813
74R4280 CAG-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the exemption of certain peace officers from the
1-3 requirements of the Private Investigators and Private Security
1-4 Agencies Act.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 2, Private Investigators and Private
1-7 Security Agencies Act (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil
1-8 Statutes), is amended by adding Subdivision (34) to read as
1-9 follows:
1-10 (34) "Peace officer" has the meaning assigned by
1-11 Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure.
1-12 SECTION 2. Section 3(a), Private Investigators and Private
1-13 Security Agencies Act (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil
1-14 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-15 (a) This Act does not apply to:
1-16 (1) a person employed exclusively and regularly by one
1-17 employer in connection with the affairs of an employer only and
1-18 where there exists an employer-employee relationship; provided,
1-19 however, any person who shall carry a firearm in the course of his
1-20 employment shall be required to obtain a private security officer
1-21 commission under the provisions of this Act;
1-22 (2) except as provided by Subsection (d) of this
1-23 Section, an officer or employee of the United States of America, or
1-24 of this State or political subdivision of either, while the
2-1 employee or officer is engaged in the performance of official
2-2 duties;
2-3 (3) a person who has full-time employment as a peace
2-4 officer and <as defined by Article 2.12, Code of Criminal
2-5 Procedure,> who receives compensation for private employment on an
2-6 individual or an independent contractor basis as a patrolman,
2-7 guard, or watchman if the officer <such person is>:
2-8 (A) is employed in an employee-employer
2-9 relationship<;> or
2-10 <(B)> employed on an individual contractual
2-11 basis;
2-12 (B) is <(C)> not in the employ of another peace
2-13 officer; <and>
2-14 (C) is <(D)> not a reserve peace officer; and
2-15 (D) works as a peace officer on the average of
2-16 at least 32 hours a week, is compensated by the state or a
2-17 political subdivision of the state at the rate of the minimum wage
2-18 or higher, and is entitled to all employee benefits offered to a
2-19 peace officer by the state or political subdivision;
2-20 (4) a person engaged exclusively in the business of
2-21 obtaining and furnishing information for purposes of credit
2-22 worthiness or collecting debts or ascertaining the financial
2-23 responsibility of applicants for property insurance and for
2-24 indemnity or surety bonds, with respect to persons, firms, and
2-25 corporations;
2-26 (5) an attorney-at-law in performing his duties;
2-27 (6) admitted insurers, insurance adjusters, agents,
3-1 and insurance brokers licensed by the State, performing duties in
3-2 connection with insurance transacted by them;
3-3 (7) a person who engages exclusively in the business
3-4 of repossessing property that is secured by a mortgage or other
3-5 security interest;
3-6 (8) a locksmith who does not install or service
3-7 detection devices, does not conduct investigations, and is not a
3-8 security service contractor;
3-9 (9) a person who owns and installs burglar detection
3-10 or alarm devices on his own property or, if he does not charge for
3-11 the device or its installation, installs it for the protection of
3-12 his personal property located on another's property, and does not
3-13 install the devices as a normal business practice on the property
3-14 of another;
3-15 (10) an employee of a cattle association who is
3-16 engaged in inspection of brands of livestock under the authority
3-17 granted to that cattle association by the Packers and Stockyards
3-18 Division of the United States Department of Agriculture;
3-19 (11) the provisions of this Act shall not apply to
3-20 common carriers by rail engaged in interstate commerce and
3-21 regulated by state and federal authorities and transporting
3-22 commodities essential to the national defense and to the general
3-23 welfare and safety of the community;
3-24 (12) a registered professional engineer practicing in
3-25 accordance with the provisions of the Texas Engineering Practice
3-26 Act that does not install or service detection devices, does not
3-27 conduct investigations, and is not a security services contractor;
4-1 (13) a person whose sale of burglar alarm signal
4-2 devices, burglary alarms, television cameras, still cameras, or
4-3 other electrical, mechanical, or electronic devices used for
4-4 preventing or detecting burglary, theft, shoplifting, pilferage, or
4-5 other losses is exclusively over-the-counter or by mail order;
4-6 (14) a person who holds a license or other form of
4-7 permission issued by an incorporated city or town to practice as an
4-8 electrician and who installs fire or smoke detectors in no building
4-9 other than a single family or multifamily residence;
4-10 (15) a person or organization in the business of
4-11 building construction that installs electrical wiring and devices
4-12 that may include in part the installation of a burglar alarm or
4-13 detection device if:
4-14 (A) the person or organization is a party to a
4-15 contract that provides that the installation will be performed
4-16 under the direct supervision of and inspected and certified by a
4-17 person or organization licensed to install and certify such an
4-18 alarm or detection device and that the licensee assumes full
4-19 responsibility for the installation of the alarm or detection
4-20 device; and
4-21 (B) the person or organization does not service
4-22 or maintain burglar alarms or detection devices;
4-23 (16) a reserve peace officer while the reserve officer
4-24 is performing guard, patrolman, or watchman duties for a county and
4-25 is being compensated solely by that county;
4-26 (17) response to a burglar alarm or detection device
4-27 by a law enforcement agency or by a law enforcement officer acting
5-1 in an official capacity;
5-2 (18) a person who, by education, experience, or
5-3 background has specialized expertise or knowledge such as that
5-4 which would qualify or tend to qualify such person as an expert
5-5 witness, authorized to render opinions in proceedings conducted in
5-6 a court, administrative agency, or governing body of this state or
5-7 of the United States, in accordance with applicable rules and
5-8 regulations and who does not perform any other service for which a
5-9 license is required by provisions of this Act;
5-10 (19) an officer, employee, or agent of a common
5-11 carrier, as defined by Section 153(h), Communications Act of 1934
5-12 (47 U.S.C.A. Sec. 151 et seq.), while protecting the carrier or a
5-13 user of the carrier's long-distance services from a fraudulent,
5-14 unlawful, or abusive use of those long-distance services;
5-15 (20) a person who sells or installs automobile burglar
5-16 alarm devices;
5-17 (21) a manufacturer, or a manufacturer's authorized
5-18 distributor, who sells to the holder of a license under this Act
5-19 equipment used in the operations for which the holder is required
5-20 to be licensed;
5-21 (22) a person employed as a noncommissioned security
5-22 officer by a political subdivision of this state;
5-23 (23) a person whose activities are regulated under
5-24 Article 5.43-2, Insurance Code, except to the extent that those
5-25 activities are specifically regulated under this Act;
5-26 (24) a landman performing activities in the course and
5-27 scope of the landman's business;
6-1 (25) a hospital or a wholly owned subsidiary or
6-2 affiliate of a hospital that provides medical alert services for
6-3 persons who are sick or disabled, if the hospital, subsidiary, or
6-4 affiliate is licensed under Chapter 241, Health and Safety Code,
6-5 and the hospital does not perform any other service that requires a
6-6 license under this Act;
6-7 (26) a charitable, nonprofit organization that
6-8 provides medical alert services for persons who are sick or
6-9 disabled, if the organization:
6-10 (A) is exempt from taxation under Section
6-11 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
6-12 (B) has its monitoring services provided by a
6-13 licensed person or hospital or a wholly owned subsidiary or
6-14 affiliate of a hospital licensed under Chapter 241, Health and
6-15 Safety Code; and
6-16 (C) does not perform any other service that
6-17 requires a license under this Act;
6-18 (27) a person engaged in the business of electronic
6-19 monitoring of a person as a condition of that person's probation,
6-20 parole, mandatory supervision, or release on bail, if the person
6-21 does not perform any other service that requires a license under
6-22 this Act;
6-23 (28) a nonprofit business or civic organization that:
6-24 (A) employs one or more peace officers meeting
6-25 the qualifications of Subdivision (3) of this subsection as
6-26 patrolmen, guards, or watchmen;
6-27 (B) provides the services of these peace
7-1 officers only to:
7-2 (i) its members; or
7-3 (ii) if the organization does not have
7-4 members, the members of the communities served by the organization
7-5 as described in its articles of incorporation or other
7-6 organizational documents;
7-7 (C) devotes the net receipts from all charges
7-8 for the services exclusively to the cost of providing the services
7-9 or to the costs of other services for the enhancement of the
7-10 security or safety of:
7-11 (i) its members; or
7-12 (ii) if the organization does not have
7-13 members, the members of the communities served by the organization
7-14 as described in its articles of incorporation or other
7-15 organizational documents; and
7-16 (D) does not perform any other service that
7-17 requires a license under this Act;
7-18 (29) a charitable, nonprofit organization that
7-19 maintains a system of records to aid in the location of missing
7-20 children if the organization:
7-21 (A) is exempt from federal taxation under
7-22 Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and its
7-23 subsequent amendments;
7-24 (B) exclusively provides services related to
7-25 locating missing children; and
7-26 (C) does not perform any other service that
7-27 requires a license under this Act; or
8-1 (30) a person engaged in the business of psychological
8-2 testing or other testing and interviewing services (to include but
8-3 not limited to attitudes, honesty, intelligence, personality, and
8-4 skills) for preemployment purposes, if the person does not perform
8-5 any other service that requires a license under this Act.
8-6 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
8-7 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
8-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
8-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
8-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
8-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.