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.