JWW H.B. 1546 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS


PUBLIC SAFETY
H.B. 1546
By: Chavez
4-7-97
Committee Report (Unamended)



BACKGROUND 

The El Paso County Hospital District and its operating hospital, Thomason
General Hospital, currently use a private security company to provide
security to the hospital.  The hospital district has expressed interest in
staffing Thomason with peace officers. Often, the El Paso Sheriff's
Department or El Paso Police Department take an inmate or person under
arrest to the hospital for medical treatment.  Those officers must then
stay with that individual until the prisoner is released from care by a
physician, returned to jail, or until replacement officers arrive to take
over custody.  This creates a staffing problem for law enforcement
agencies and detracts from the officer's primary function.  If allowed to
employ its own peace officers, the hospital could take custody of
prisoners needing medical treatment and release them back into police or
sheriff custody once that treatment is completed 

PURPOSE

This bill will add the El Paso County Hospital District to Section
281.057, Health and Safety Code, and add officers commissioned by the
hospital district to the definition of peace officers under Article 2.12,
Code of Criminal Procedure. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any
additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or
institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1 Section 281.057, Health and Safety Code, is amended as follows:

  (a)  adds the El Paso County Hospital District to the list of hospital
districts   authorized to employ peace officers. 

SECTION 2 Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure is amended as follows:

  (18)  adds the El Paso County Hospital District to the list of hospital
districts   listed in Section 281.057, Health and Safety Code.  

  (22) replaces "Section 13, Chapter 141, Acts of the 63rd Legislature,
Regular Session, 1973 (article 1118x, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)" with
"Section 451.108", and replaces "Section 10, Chapter 683, Acts of the
66th Legislature, Regular Session, 1979 (Article 1118y, Vernon's Texas
Civil   Statutes)" with "Section 452.110, Transportation Code." 
   
  (23) deletes "officers commissioned under the Texas High Speed Rail Act
(Article 6674v.2, Revised Statutes) and replaces it with the previous
(24). 
   
  (24-28) subsection numbers changed to reflect wording deleted in (23).
   
SECTION 3 Emergency Clause.