By: Turner S.B. No. 1542
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the summary suspension or summary denial of a
1-2 registration or commission issued by, or an application submitted
1-3 to, the Texas Board of Private Investigators and Private Security
1-4 Agencies; creating a criminal offense.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 11B, 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 Sec. 11B. REVOCATION, SUSPENSION, AND SUMMARY SUSPENSION
1-10 <ETC>. (a) The board shall revoke or suspend any registration,
1-11 license, or security officer commission, reprimand any registrant,
1-12 licensee, or commissioned security officer, or deny an application
1-13 for a registration, license, or security officer commission, or
1-14 renewal thereof, or may place on probation a person whose
1-15 registration, license, or security officer commission has been
1-16 suspended, on proof:
1-17 (1) that the applicant, licensee, commissioned
1-18 security officer, or registrant has violated any provisions of this
1-19 Act or of the rules and regulations promulgated under this Act;
1-20 (2) that the applicant, licensee, commissioned
1-21 security officer, or registrant has committed any act resulting in
1-22 conviction of a felony;
1-23 (3) that the applicant, licensee, commissioned
1-24 security officer, or registrant has committed an act after the date
2-1 of application for a registration, license, or security officer
2-2 commission that results in a conviction of a misdemeanor involving
2-3 moral turpitude;
2-4 (4) that the applicant, licensee, commissioned
2-5 security officer, or registrant has practiced fraud, deceit, or
2-6 misrepresentation; or
2-7 (5) that the applicant, licensee, commissioned
2-8 security officer, or registrant has made a material misstatement in
2-9 the application for or renewal of a license, registration, or
2-10 security officer commission.
2-11 (b) Subject to Section 11D of this Act, the board may
2-12 summarily suspend a registration or security officer commission
2-13 issued to an individual under this Act on receiving written
2-14 notification from the Department of Public Safety of the State of
2-15 Texas or any other law enforcement agency that the individual has
2-16 been arrested for or charged with a misdemeanor involving moral
2-17 turpitude or a felony. <If the board proposes to refuse a person's
2-18 application for a registration, license, or security officer
2-19 commission, to suspend or revoke a person's registration, license,
2-20 or security officer commission, or to place on probation a person
2-21 whose registration, license, or security officer commission has
2-22 been suspended, the person is entitled to a hearing before the
2-23 board.>
2-24 (c) Subject to Section 11D of this Act, the board may
2-25 summarily deny an application for registration or for a security
2-26 officer commission of an individual on receiving written
2-27 notification from the Department of Public Safety of the State of
3-1 Texas or any other law enforcement agency that the individual has
3-2 been arrested for or charged with a misdemeanor involving moral
3-3 turpitude or a felony.
3-4 (d) In this section, a person is considered to be convicted
3-5 of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or a felony if a court
3-6 of competent jurisdiction enters a judgment against the person for
3-7 committing a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or a felony
3-8 under the laws of this state, another state, or the United States,
3-9 including:
3-10 (1) a conviction in which a person was placed on
3-11 probation or community supervision and the person is subsequently
3-12 discharged from probation or community supervision; or
3-13 (2) a conviction that is pardoned, unless the pardon
3-14 is granted expressly because of the proof of a person's innocence.
3-15 (e) The dismissal of a complaint, information, or indictment
3-16 or an acquittal releases the individual from any summary suspension
3-17 of a registration or commission or automatic grounds for summary
3-18 denial of an application under this section.
3-19 (f) Proceedings for the refusal, suspension, or revocation
3-20 of a registration, license, or security officer commission or for
3-21 the probation of a person are governed by Chapter 2001, Government
3-22 Code. Proceedings for the summary suspension of a registration or
3-23 security officer commission or summary denial of an application
3-24 under this Act are governed by Section 11D of this Act <the
3-25 Administrative Procedure and Texas Register Act, as amended
3-26 (Article 6252-13a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)>.
3-27 (g) <(e)> If the board is authorized to suspend a license
4-1 under this Act, the board may give the licensee the opportunity to
4-2 pay a civil penalty rather than have the license suspended. The
4-3 amount of the civil penalty may not be more than $200 for each day
4-4 the license was to have been suspended. If the licensee does not
4-5 pay the penalty before the sixth day after the board notifies him
4-6 of the amount, he loses the opportunity to pay it and the board
4-7 shall impose the suspension.
4-8 SECTION 2. The Private Investigators and Private Security
4-9 Agencies Act (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) is
4-10 amended by adding Section 11D to read as follows:
4-11 Sec. 11D. SUMMARY SUSPENSION OR DENIAL REVIEW. (a) The
4-12 board may summarily suspend a registration or security officer
4-13 commission or summarily deny an application under Section 11B of
4-14 this Act if the individual whose registration or commission was
4-15 summarily suspended or whose application was summarily denied is
4-16 informed of the right to a preliminary hearing before the board.
4-17 (b) At a preliminary hearing, the individual whose
4-18 registration or commission was summarily suspended or whose
4-19 application was summarily denied must show cause why the
4-20 registration or commission should not remain suspended or why the
4-21 application should not remain summarily denied pending a final
4-22 hearing on the suspension or denial.
4-23 (c) A final hearing may be scheduled at a time after the
4-24 final resolution of the matters resulting in the summary suspension
4-25 or summary denial. Chapter 2001, Government Code, does not apply
4-26 to the board in the administration and enforcement of the summary
4-27 suspension of a registration or commission or the summary denial of
5-1 an application under this section. The rules governing a hearing
5-2 on any other suspension or denial under this Act govern a final
5-3 administrative hearing under this section.
5-4 (d) To initiate a proceeding to summarily suspend a
5-5 registration or commission or to summarily deny an application, the
5-6 board must serve notice to the individual informing the individual
5-7 of the right to a preliminary hearing before the board. The notice
5-8 must be personally served on the individual or sent by certified or
5-9 registered mail, return receipt requested, to the individual's
5-10 mailing address as it appears in the board's records. The notice
5-11 must state the alleged violations that constitute grounds for
5-12 summary suspension. The suspension is effective at the time notice
5-13 is served. If notice is served in person, the individual shall
5-14 immediately surrender to the board the registration, commission,
5-15 pocket card, or other identification issued by the board. If
5-16 notice is served by mail, the individual shall immediately return
5-17 to the board the registration, commission, pocket card, or other
5-18 identification issued by the board.
5-19 SECTION 3. Section 44, Private Investigators and Private
5-20 Security Agencies Act (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil
5-21 Statutes), is amended by adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
5-22 (f) A person commits an offense if the person does not
5-23 surrender or immediately return to the board the person's
5-24 registration, commission, pocket card, or other identification
5-25 issued to the person by the board on notification of a summary
5-26 suspension or summary denial under Section 11D of this Act. An
5-27 offense under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor.
6-1 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately, except that
6-2 Section 3 takes effect September 1, 1995.
6-3 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
6-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-8 and that this Act take effect and be in force according to its
6-9 terms, and it is so enacted.