By Wilson                                               H.B. No. 57

      75R705 PEP-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the authority of active and retired judicial officers

 1-3     to carry certain weapons.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 46.15, Penal Code, is amended to read as

 1-6     follows:

 1-7           Sec. 46.15.  Nonapplicability to Peace Officers, JUDICIAL

 1-8     OFFICERS.  (a)  Sections 46.02 and 46.03 do not apply to peace

 1-9     officers and neither section prohibits a peace officer from

1-10     carrying a weapon in this state, regardless of whether the officer

1-11     is engaged in the actual discharge of the officer's duties while

1-12     carrying the weapon.

1-13           (b)  Sections 46.02 and 46.03 do not apply to active or

1-14     retired judicial officers and neither section prohibits an active

1-15     or retired judicial officer from carrying a weapon in this state,

1-16     regardless of whether the officer is engaged in the actual

1-17     discharge of the officer's duties while carrying the weapon.

1-18           (c)  In this section:

1-19                 (1)  "Active judicial officer" means a person serving

1-20     as a judge or justice of the supreme court, the court of criminal

1-21     appeals, a court of appeals, a district court, a criminal district

1-22     court, a constitutional county court, a statutory county court, a

1-23     justice court, or a municipal court.

1-24                 (2)  "Retired judicial officer" means:

 2-1                       (A)  a special judge appointed under Section

 2-2     26.023 or 26.024, Government Code; or

 2-3                       (B)  a senior judge designated under Section

 2-4     75.001, Government Code, or a judicial officer as designated or

 2-5     defined by Section 75.001, 831.001, or 836.001, Government Code.

 2-6           SECTION 2.  Section 30, Article 4413(29ee), Revised Statutes,

 2-7     is repealed.

 2-8           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

 2-9           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-10     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-11     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-12     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-13     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.