1-1 By: Turner S.B. No. 1542
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 13, 1995; March 21, 1995, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
1-4 April 11, 1995, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-5 Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 13, Nays 0; April 11, 1995,
1-6 sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1542 By: Luna
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to the summary suspension or summary denial of a
1-11 registration or commission issued by, or an application submitted
1-12 to, the Texas Board of Private Investigators and Private Security
1-13 Agencies; creating a criminal offense.
1-14 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-15 SECTION 1. Section 11B, Private Investigators and Private
1-16 Security Agencies Act (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil
1-17 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-18 Sec. 11B. REVOCATION, SUSPENSION, AND SUMMARY SUSPENSION
1-19 <ETC>. (a) The board shall revoke or suspend any registration,
1-20 license, or security officer commission, reprimand any registrant,
1-21 licensee, or commissioned security officer, or deny an application
1-22 for a registration, license, or security officer commission, or
1-23 renewal thereof, or may place on probation a person whose
1-24 registration, license, or security officer commission has been
1-25 suspended, on proof:
1-26 (1) that the applicant, licensee, commissioned
1-27 security officer, or registrant has violated any provisions of this
1-28 Act or of the rules and regulations promulgated under this Act;
1-29 (2) that the applicant, licensee, commissioned
1-30 security officer, or registrant has committed any act resulting in
1-31 conviction of a felony;
1-32 (3) that the applicant, licensee, commissioned
1-33 security officer, or registrant has committed an act after the date
1-34 of application for a registration, license, or security officer
1-35 commission that results in a conviction of a misdemeanor involving
1-36 moral turpitude;
1-37 (4) that the applicant, licensee, commissioned
1-38 security officer, or registrant has practiced fraud, deceit, or
1-39 misrepresentation; or
1-40 (5) that the applicant, licensee, commissioned
1-41 security officer, or registrant has made a material misstatement in
1-42 the application for or renewal of a license, registration, or
1-43 security officer commission.
1-44 (b) Subject to Section 11D of this Act, the board shall
1-45 summarily suspend a registration or security officer commission
1-46 issued to an individual under this Act on receiving written
1-47 notification from the Department of Public Safety of the State of
1-48 Texas or any other law enforcement agency that the individual has
1-49 been arrested for or charged with a misdemeanor involving moral
1-50 turpitude or a felony. <If the board proposes to refuse a person's
1-51 application for a registration, license, or security officer
1-52 commission, to suspend or revoke a person's registration, license,
1-53 or security officer commission, or to place on probation a person
1-54 whose registration, license, or security officer commission has
1-55 been suspended, the person is entitled to a hearing before the
1-56 board.>
1-57 (c) Subject to Section 11D of this Act, the board shall
1-58 summarily deny an application for registration or for a security
1-59 officer commission of an individual on receiving written
1-60 notification from the Department of Public Safety of the State of
1-61 Texas or any other law enforcement agency that the individual has
1-62 been arrested for or charged with a misdemeanor involving moral
1-63 turpitude or a felony.
1-64 (d) In this section, a person is considered to be convicted
1-65 of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or a felony if a court
1-66 of competent jurisdiction enters a judgment against the person for
1-67 committing a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or a felony
1-68 under the laws of this state, another state, or the United States,
2-1 including:
2-2 (1) a conviction in which a person was placed on
2-3 probation or community supervision and the person is subsequently
2-4 discharged from probation or community supervision; or
2-5 (2) a conviction that is pardoned, unless the pardon
2-6 is granted expressly because of the proof of a person's innocence.
2-7 (e) The dismissal of a complaint, information, or indictment
2-8 or an acquittal releases the individual from any summary suspension
2-9 of a registration or commission or automatic grounds for summary
2-10 denial of an application under this section.
2-11 (f) Proceedings for the refusal, suspension, or revocation
2-12 of a registration, license, or security officer commission or for
2-13 the probation of a person are governed by Chapter 2001, Government
2-14 Code. Proceedings for the summary suspension of a registration or
2-15 security officer commission or summary denial of an application
2-16 under this Act are governed by Section 11D of this Act <the
2-17 Administrative Procedure and Texas Register Act, as amended
2-18 (Article 6252-13a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)>.
2-19 (g) <(e)> If the board is authorized to suspend a license
2-20 under this Act, the board may give the licensee the opportunity to
2-21 pay a civil penalty rather than have the license suspended. The
2-22 amount of the civil penalty may not be more than $200 for each day
2-23 the license was to have been suspended. If the licensee does not
2-24 pay the penalty before the sixth day after the board notifies him
2-25 of the amount, he loses the opportunity to pay it and the board
2-26 shall impose the suspension.
2-27 SECTION 2. The Private Investigators and Private Security
2-28 Agencies Act (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) is
2-29 amended by adding Section 11D to read as follows:
2-30 Sec. 11D. SUMMARY SUSPENSION OR DENIAL REVIEW. (a) The
2-31 board may summarily suspend a registration or security officer
2-32 commission or summarily deny an application under Section 11B of
2-33 this Act if proceedings for a preliminary hearing before the board
2-34 are initiated simultaneously with the summary suspension or summary
2-35 denial. The preliminary hearing shall be set for a date not later
2-36 than the 10th day after the date of the summary suspension or
2-37 summary denial, unless the parties agree to a later date.
2-38 (b) At the preliminary hearing, the individual whose
2-39 registration or commission was summarily suspended or whose
2-40 application was summarily denied must show cause why the
2-41 registration or commission should not remain suspended or why the
2-42 application should not remain summarily denied pending a final
2-43 hearing on the suspension or denial.
2-44 (c) A final hearing may be scheduled at a time after the
2-45 final resolution of the matters resulting in the summary suspension
2-46 or summary denial. Chapter 2001, Government Code, does not apply
2-47 to the board in the administration and enforcement of the summary
2-48 suspension of a registration or commission or the summary denial of
2-49 an application under this section. The rules governing a hearing
2-50 on any other suspension or denial under this Act govern a final
2-51 administrative hearing under this section.
2-52 (d) To initiate a proceeding to summarily suspend a
2-53 registration or commission or to summarily deny an application, the
2-54 board must serve notice to the individual informing the individual
2-55 of the right to a preliminary hearing before the board and of the
2-56 time and place of the preliminary hearing. The notice must be
2-57 personally served on the individual or sent by certified or
2-58 registered mail, return receipt requested, to the individual's
2-59 mailing address as it appears in the board's records. The notice
2-60 must state the alleged violations that constitute grounds for
2-61 summary suspension. The suspension is effective at the time notice
2-62 is served. If notice is served in person, the individual shall
2-63 immediately surrender to the board the registration, commission,
2-64 pocket card, or other identification issued by the board. If
2-65 notice is served by mail, the individual shall immediately return
2-66 to the board the registration, commission, pocket card, or other
2-67 identification issued by the board.
2-68 SECTION 3. Section 44, Private Investigators and Private
2-69 Security Agencies Act (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil
2-70 Statutes), is amended by adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
3-1 (f) A person commits an offense if the person does not
3-2 surrender or immediately return to the board the person's
3-3 registration, commission, pocket card, or other identification
3-4 issued to the person by the board on notification of a summary
3-5 suspension or summary denial under Section 11D of this Act. An
3-6 offense under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor.
3-7 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately, except that
3-8 Section 3 takes effect September 1, 1995.
3-9 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
3-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-14 and that this Act take effect and be in force according to its
3-15 terms, and it is so enacted.
3-16 * * * * *