By Zaffirini S.B. No. 1484
74R6531 PEP-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to commissions for certain retired peace officers and the
1-3 authority of those officers to carry certain weapons.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 415, Government Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Section 415.067 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 415.067. SPECIAL RETIRED PEACE OFFICERS. (a) The
1-8 commission may appoint as a special retired peace officer a retired
1-9 officer of the Department of Public Safety or a local law
1-10 enforcement agency who:
1-11 (1) is honorably retired after not less than 15 years
1-12 of service as a commissioned officer; and
1-13 (2) satisfies the weapons proficiency requirement of
1-14 Section 415.0351.
1-15 (b) A special retired peace officer is subject to the orders
1-16 of the commission, the governor, and the agency from which the
1-17 officer retired for special duty to the same extent as other law
1-18 enforcement officers, except that a special retired peace officer
1-19 may not arrest a person for a violation of the Uniform Act
1-20 Regulating Traffic on Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil
1-21 Statutes).
1-22 (c) Before issuance of a commission to a special retired
1-23 peace officer, the officer shall enter into a good and sufficient
1-24 bond that is executed by a surety company authorized to do business
2-1 in the state in the amount of $2,500, that is approved by the
2-2 commission, and that indemnifies all persons against damages
2-3 resulting from an unlawful act of the officer.
2-4 (d) A special retired peace officer is not entitled to
2-5 compensation from the state for service as a special retired peace
2-6 officer.
2-7 (e) A special retired peace officer commission expires
2-8 January 1 of the first odd-numbered year after appointment and is
2-9 renewed automatically on resubmission of a bond as required under
2-10 Subsection (c). The commission may revoke a special retired peace
2-11 officer commission at any time for cause.
2-12 SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 415, Government Code, is
2-13 amended by adding Section 415.0351 to read as follows:
2-14 Sec. 415.0351. WEAPONS PROFICIENCY FOR CERTAIN RETIRED PEACE
2-15 OFFICERS. (a) The Department of Public Safety or a local law
2-16 enforcement agency shall allow an honorably retired commissioned
2-17 officer of the department or agency an opportunity to demonstrate
2-18 annually weapons proficiency as defined by the commission under
2-19 Section 415.035 if the chief law enforcement officer of the agency
2-20 from which the officer retired provides the officer with a written
2-21 statement indicating that:
2-22 (1) the officer's license as a commissioned officer
2-23 was not revoked or suspended for any period during the officer's
2-24 term of service as a commissioned officer; and
2-25 (2) the officer has no psychological or physical
2-26 disability that would interfere with the officer's proper handling
2-27 of a handgun.
3-1 (b) The department or agency shall issue a certificate of
3-2 proficiency to a retired officer who satisfactorily demonstrates
3-3 weapons proficiency under Subsection (a). The department or agency
3-4 shall maintain records of any retired officer who holds a
3-5 certificate issued under this section. A certificate issued under
3-6 this section expires on the first anniversary of the date the
3-7 certificate was issued.
3-8 (c) The commission shall adopt rules for the administration
3-9 of this section and set fees that the department or agency may
3-10 collect to recover the expenses the department or agency incurs in
3-11 performing duties under this section.
3-12 SECTION 3. Section 46.02, Penal Code, is amended by adding
3-13 Subsection (g) to read as follows:
3-14 (g) It is a defense to prosecution under this section for
3-15 the offense of carrying a handgun that the actor was, at the time
3-16 of the commission of the offense, a retired peace officer who is
3-17 the holder of a certificate issued under Section 415.0351,
3-18 Government Code.
3-19 SECTION 4. Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
3-20 amended by Chapters 339, 695, and 912, Acts of the 73rd
3-21 Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, is amended to read as follows:
3-22 Art. 2.12. Who are peace officers. The following are peace
3-23 officers:
3-24 (1) sheriffs and their deputies;
3-25 (2) constables and deputy constables;
3-26 (3) marshals or police officers of an incorporated
3-27 city, town, or village;
4-1 (4) rangers and officers commissioned by the Public
4-2 Safety Commission and the Director of the Department of Public
4-3 Safety;
4-4 (5) investigators of the district attorneys', criminal
4-5 district attorneys', and county attorneys' offices;
4-6 (6) law enforcement agents of the Texas Alcoholic
4-7 Beverage Commission;
4-8 (7) each member of an arson investigating unit
4-9 commissioned by a city, a county, or the state;
4-10 (8) officers commissioned under Section 21.483,
4-11 Education Code, or Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Education Code;
4-12 (9) officers commissioned by the General Services
4-13 Commission;
4-14 (10) law enforcement officers commissioned by the
4-15 Parks and Wildlife Commission;
4-16 (11) airport police officers commissioned by a city
4-17 with a population of more than one million, according to the most
4-18 recent federal census, that operates an airport that serves
4-19 commercial air carriers;
4-20 (12) airport security personnel commissioned as peace
4-21 officers by the governing body of any political subdivision of this
4-22 state, other than a city described by Subdivision (11), that
4-23 operates an airport that serves commercial air carriers;
4-24 (13) municipal park and recreational patrolmen and
4-25 security officers;
4-26 (14) security officers commissioned as peace officers
4-27 by the State Treasurer;
5-1 (15) officers commissioned by a water control and
5-2 improvement district under Section 51.132, Water Code;
5-3 (16) officers commissioned by a board of trustees
5-4 under Chapter 341, Acts of the 57th Legislature, Regular Session,
5-5 1961 (Article 1187f, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes);
5-6 (17) investigators commissioned by the Texas State
5-7 Board of Medical Examiners;
5-8 (18) officers commissioned by the board of managers of
5-9 the Dallas County Hospital District, the Tarrant County Hospital
5-10 District, or the Bexar County Hospital District under Section
5-11 281.057, Health and Safety Code;
5-12 (19) county park rangers commissioned under Subchapter
5-13 E, Chapter 351, Local Government Code;
5-14 (20) investigators employed by the Texas Racing
5-15 Commission;
5-16 (21) officers commissioned by the State Board of
5-17 Pharmacy;
5-18 (22) officers commissioned by the governing body of a
5-19 metropolitan rapid transit authority under Section 13, Chapter 141,
5-20 Acts of the 63rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 1118x,
5-21 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), or by a regional transportation
5-22 authority under Section 10, Chapter 683, Acts of the 66th
5-23 Legislature, Regular Session, 1979 (Article 1118y, Vernon's Texas
5-24 Civil Statutes);
5-25 (23) officers commissioned by the Texas High-Speed
5-26 Rail Authority;
5-27 (24) investigators commissioned by the attorney
6-1 general under Section 402.009, Government Code;
6-2 (25) security officers and investigators commissioned
6-3 as peace officers under Chapter 466, Government Code; <and>
6-4 (26) an officer employed by the Texas Department of
6-5 Health under Section 431.2471, Health and Safety Code;<.>
6-6 (27) <(26)> officers appointed by an appellate court
6-7 under Subchapter F, Chapter 53, Government Code;<.>
6-8 (28) <(26)> officers commissioned by the state fire
6-9 marshal under Chapter 417, Government Code; and
6-10 (29) special retired peace officers commissioned under
6-11 Section 415.067, Government Code.
6-12 SECTION 5. The Commission on Law Enforcement Officer
6-13 Standards and Education shall adopt the rules and establish the
6-14 fees required by Section 415.0351, Government Code, as added by
6-15 this Act, not later than January 1, 1996.
6-16 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
6-17 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
6-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.