By: Harris S.B. No. 1593
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the provision of measures for the protection of
1-2 employees, invitees, tenants and customers at certain retail
1-3 establishments.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Title 4, Civil Practices and Remedies Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Chapter 96 to read as follows:
1-7 CHAPTER 96. OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE SECURITY MEASURES
1-8 AT CERTAIN RETAIL ESTABLISHMENTS
1-9 Sec. 96.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-10 (1) "multilevel shopping mall" means an enclosed
1-11 multilevel retail center, including its exterior grounds, surface
1-12 parking lots, multilevel parking garages, office buildings and
1-13 other associated structures and premises that:
1-14 (A) contains more than 1,200,000 square feet of
1-15 gross leasable area for retail purposes; and
1-16 (B) includes one or more multilevel parking
1-17 garages.
1-18 (2) "owner or operator of a multilevel shopping mall"
1-19 means the owner or operator of a multilevel shopping mall and the
1-20 employees and agents of such owner or operator.
1-21 Sec. 96.002. SECURITY MEASURES. (a) An owner or operator
1-22 of a multilevel shopping mall may establish and implement a
1-23 security plan that provides the following measures for the
2-1 protection of employees, invitees, tenants and customers at that
2-2 multilevel shopping mall:
2-3 (1) one peace officer on premises during regular
2-4 business hours;
2-5 (2) one security officer on premises per each 600,000
2-6 square feet of gross leasable area during regular business hours;
2-7 (3) one security officer on premises per each 1,000
2-8 parking spaces contained in a multilevel parking garage during
2-9 regular business hours;
2-10 (4) one security officer on premises per each 1,000
2-11 parking spaces contained in a multilevel parking garage during
2-12 regular business hours who is available upon request to escort
2-13 employees, invitees, tenants and customers;
2-14 (5) one security vehicle available for patrolling each
2-15 2,500 parking spaces contained in a multilevel parking structure;
2-16 (6) a communications system in effect 24 hours per
2-17 day, seven days a week; and
2-18 (7) a security advisory newsletter, designed to
2-19 communicate safety advice to employees, invitees, tenants and
2-20 customers, to be distributed or posted by the owner or operator of
2-21 the multilevel shopping mall at least once every three months; for
2-22 the purposes of this subsection, "peace officer" shall have the
2-23 same meaning as such term is defined in Article 2.12, Texas Code of
2-24 Criminal Procedure, as amended; "security officer" shall have the
2-25 same meaning as such term is defined in Article 4413 (29bb),
3-1 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes, as amended; and "regular business
3-2 hours" shall mean those hours of business adopted by the owner or
3-3 operator of a multilevel shopping mall for that mall.
3-4 (b) Any owner or operator of a multilevel shopping mall that
3-5 establishes a security plan under the provisions of this subsection
3-6 shall file a copy of such plan with both the police chief of any
3-7 municipality in which such mall is located and the sheriff of the
3-8 county in which such mall is located. Such filings are proof of
3-9 the establishment of a plan for the purposes of this Act.
3-10 Sec. 96.003. AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE FOR MULTILEVEL SHOPPING
3-11 MALLS: EVIDENCE OF SAFETY MEASURES. It is an affirmative defense
3-12 in a cause of action that alleges that the owner or operator of a
3-13 multilevel shopping mall is liable for failure to provide adequate
3-14 security that at the time of the incident that is the basis for the
3-15 cause of action the owner or operator of the multilevel shopping
3-16 mall had established and substantially implemented the security
3-17 plan described by Section 96.002.
3-18 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
3-19 Chapter 96, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, as added by the Act,
3-20 applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after January
3-21 1, 1996. A cause of action that accrues before that date is
3-22 governed by the law in effect on the date that the cause accrued,
3-23 and the former law is continued in effect for the purpose.
3-24 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-25 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.