By: Moncrief S.B. No. 1342 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT 1-1 relating to an exemption from regulation under the Private 1-2 Investigators and Private Security Agencies Act for certain 1-3 providers of medical alert services and other electronic monitoring 1-4 services. 1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-6 SECTION 1. Section 3(a), Private Investigators and Private 1-7 Security Agencies Act (Article 4413 (29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil 1-8 Statutes), is amended to read as follows: 1-9 (a) This Act does not apply to: 1-10 (1) a person employed exclusively and regularly by one 1-11 employer in connection with the affairs of an employer only and 1-12 where there exists an employer-employee relationship; provided, 1-13 however, any person who shall carry a firearm in the course of his 1-14 employment shall be required to obtain a private security officer 1-15 commission under the provisions of this Act; 1-16 (2) except as provided by Subsection (d) of this 1-17 Section, an officer or employee of the United States of America, or 1-18 of this State or a political subdivision of either, while the 1-19 employee or officer is engaged in the performance of official 1-20 duties; 1-21 (3) a person who has full-time employment as a peace 1-22 officer as defined by Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, who 1-23 receives compensation for private employment on an individual or an 2-1 independent contractor basis as a patrolman, guard, or watchman if 2-2 such person is: 2-3 (A) employed in an employee-employer 2-4 relationship; or 2-5 (B) employed on an individual contractual basis; 2-6 (C) not in the employ of another peace officer; 2-7 and 2-8 (D) not a reserve peace officer; 2-9 (4) a person engaged exclusively in the business of 2-10 obtaining and furnishing information for purposes of credit 2-11 worthiness or collecting debts or ascertaining the financial 2-12 responsibility of applicants for property insurance and for 2-13 indemnity or surety bonds, with respect to persons, firms, and 2-14 corporations; 2-15 (5) an attorney-at-law in performing his duties; 2-16 (6) admitted insurers, insurance adjusters, agents, 2-17 and insurance brokers licensed by the State, performing duties in 2-18 connection with insurance transacted by them; 2-19 (7) a person who engages exclusively in the business 2-20 of repossessing property that is secured by a mortgage or other 2-21 security interest; 2-22 (8) a locksmith who does not install or service 2-23 detection devices, does not conduct investigations, and is not a 2-24 security service contractor; 2-25 (9) a person who owns and installs burglar detection 3-1 or alarm devices on his property or, if he does not charge for the 3-2 device or its installation, install it for the protection of user 3-3 of the carrier's long-distance services from a fraudulent, 3-4 unlawful, or abusive use of those long-distance services; 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 4-1 other than a single family or multifamily residence; 4-2 (15) a person or organization in the business of 4-3 building construction that installs electrical wiring and devices 4-4 that may include in part the installation of a burglar alarm 4-5 detection device if: 4-6 (A) the person or organization is a party to a 4-7 contract that provides that the installation will be performed 4-8 under the direct supervision of and inspected and certified by a 4-9 person or organization licensed to install and certify such an 4-10 alarm or detection device and that the licensee assumes full 4-11 responsibility for the installation of the alarm or detection 4-12 device; and 4-13 (B) the person or organization does not service 4-14 or maintain burglar alarms or detection devices; 4-15 (16) a reserve peace officer while the reserve officer 4-16 is performing guard, patrolman, or watchman duties for a county and 4-17 is being compensated solely by that county; 4-18 (17) response to a burglar alarm or detection device 4-19 by a law enforcement agency or by a law enforcement officer acting 4-20 in an official capacity; 4-21 (18) a person who, by education, experience, or 4-22 background has specialized expertise or knowledge such as that 4-23 which would qualify or tend to qualify such person as an expert 4-24 witness, authorized to render opinions in proceedings conducted in 4-25 a court, administrative agency, or governing body of this state or 5-1 of the United States, in accordance with applicable rules and 5-2 regulations and who does not perform any other service for which a 5-3 license is required by provisions of this Act; 5-4 (19) an officer, employee, or agent of a common 5-5 carrier, as defined by Section 153(h), Communications Act of 1934 5-6 (47 U.S.C.A. Sec. 151 et seq.), while protecting the carrier or a 5-7 user of the carrier's long-distance services from a fraudulent, 5-8 unlawful, or abusive use of those long-distance services; 5-9 (20) a person who sells or installs automobile burglar 5-10 alarm devices; 5-11 (21) a manufacturer, or a manufacturer's authorized 5-12 distributor, who sells to the holder of a license under this Act 5-13 equipment used in the operations for which the holder is required 5-14 to be licensed; 5-15 (22) a person employed as a noncommissioned security 5-16 officer by a political subdivision of this state; 5-17 (23) a person whose activities are regulated under 5-18 Article 5.43-2, Insurance Code, except to the extent that those 5-19 activities are specifically regulated under this Act; 5-20 (24) a landman performing activities in the course and 5-21 scope of the landman's business; 5-22 (25) a hospital or a wholly owned subsidiary or 5-23 affiliate of a hospital that provides medical alert services for 5-24 persons who are sick or disabled, if the hospital, subsidiary, or 5-25 affiliate is licensed under Chapter 241, Health and Safety Code, 6-1 and the hospital does not perform any other service that requires a 6-2 license under this Act; 6-3 (26) a charitable, nonprofit organization that 6-4 provides medical alert services for persons who are sick or 6-5 disabled, if the organization: 6-6 (A) is exempt from taxation under Section 6-7 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 6-8 (B) has its monitoring services provided by a 6-9 licensed person or hospital or a wholly owned subsidiary or 6-10 affiliate of a hospital licensed under Chapter 241, Health and 6-11 Safety Code; and 6-12 (C) does not perform any other service that 6-13 requires a license under this Act; or 6-14 (27) a person engaged in the business of electronic 6-15 monitoring of a person as a condition of that person's probation, 6-16 parole, mandatory supervision, or release on bail, if the person 6-17 does not perform any other service that requires a license under 6-18 this Act. 6-19 (28) a nonprofit business or civic organization that: 6-20 (A) employs one or more peace officers meeting 6-21 the qualifications of Subdivision (3) of this subsection as 6-22 patrolmen, guards, or watchmen; 6-23 (B) provides the services of these peace 6-24 officers only to: 6-25 (i) its members; or 7-1 (ii) if the organization does not have 7-2 members, the members of the communities served by the organization 7-3 as described in its articles of incorporation or other 7-4 organizational documents; 7-5 (C) devotes the net receipts from all charges 7-6 for the services exclusively to the cost of providing the services 7-7 or to the costs of other services for the enhancement of the 7-8 security or safety of: 7-9 (i) its members; or 7-10 (ii) if the organization does not have 7-11 members, the members of the communities served by the organization 7-12 as described in its articles of incorporation or other 7-13 organizational documents; and 7-14 (D) does not perform any other service that 7-15 requires a license under this Act; 7-16 (29) a charitable, nonprofit organization that 7-17 maintains a system of records to aid in the location of missing 7-18 children if the organization: 7-19 (A) is exempt from federal taxation under 7-20 Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and its 7-21 subsequent amendments; 7-22 (B) exclusively provides services related to 7-23 locating missing children; and 7-24 (C) does not perform any other service that 7-25 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 pre-employment purposes, if the person does not perform 8-5 any other service that requires a license under this Act. 8-6 (b) Licensees and employees of licensees under the 8-7 provisions of this Act shall not be required to obtain any 8-8 authorization, permit, franchise, or license from or pay any other 8-9 fee or franchise tax to or post a bond in any city, county, or 8-10 other political subdivision of this State to engage in business or 8-11 perform any service authorized under this Act. 8-12 (c) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this 8-13 subsection, no city, county, or other political subdivision of this 8-14 State shall impose any charge, service charge, fee, or any other 8-15 type of payment for the use of city, county, or other public 8-16 facilities in connection with businesses or services rendered by 8-17 the licensees under this Act, except that any city or town may levy 8-18 and collect reasonable charges for the use of central alarm 8-19 installations located in a police office, that is owned, operated, 8-20 or monitored by such city or town. Provided further, that any city 8-21 or town may require discontinuation of service of any alarm signal 8-22 device which, because of mechanical malfunction or faulty 8-23 equipment, causes at least five false alarms in any 12-month 8-24 period. Such city or town may cause the disconnection of any such 8-25 device until the same is repaired to the satisfaction of the 9-1 appropriate municipal official, and the city or town may levy and 9-2 collect reasonable inspection and reinspection fees in connection 9-3 therewith. "Mechanical malfunction" and "faulty equipment" shall 9-4 not relate, for the purposes of this section, to false alarms 9-5 caused by human error or an act of God. 9-6 (d) Although under the provisions of this Act the security 9-7 department of a private business that hires or employs an 9-8 individual in the capacity of a private security officer to possess 9-9 a firearm in the course and scope of his duties is required to make 9-10 application for a security officer commission for the individual 9-11 according to the provisions of this Act, the security department of 9-12 a private business shall not be required to make application to the 9-13 board for any license under this Act. 9-14 (e) The provisions of this Act relating to security officer 9-15 commissions apply to a person employed by a political subdivision 9-16 whose duties include serving as a security guard, security 9-17 watchman, or security patrolman on property owned or operated by 9-18 the political subdivision if the governing body of the political 9-19 subdivision files a written request with the board for the board to 9-20 commission the political subdivision's employees with those duties. 9-21 The board may not charge a fee for commissioning those officers. 9-22 The board shall issue the officer a pocket card designating the 9-23 political subdivision employing him. The commission expires when 9-24 the officer's employment as a security officer by the political 9-25 subdivision is terminated. The board may approve a security 10-1 officer training program conducted by the political subdivision 10-2 under the provisions of Section 20 of this Act applicable to 10-3 approval of a private business' training program; or 10-4 (31) Proprietary providers of medical alert services 10-5 and other electronic monitoring services to elderly individuals in 10-6 their own homes. 10-7 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the 10-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 10-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 10-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 10-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended, 10-12 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its 10-13 passage, and it is so enacted.