By Longoria H.B. No. 182
75R945 PEP-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to commissions for certain retired peace officers and the
1-3 authority of those officers to carry certain weapons.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 415, Government Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Section 415.067 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 415.067. SPECIAL RETIRED PEACE OFFICERS. (a) The
1-8 commission may appoint as a special retired peace officer a retired
1-9 officer of the Department of Public Safety or a local law
1-10 enforcement agency who:
1-11 (1) is honorably retired after not less than 15 years
1-12 of service as a commissioned officer; and
1-13 (2) satisfies the weapons proficiency requirement of
1-14 Section 415.0351.
1-15 (b) A special retired peace officer is subject to the orders
1-16 of the commission, the governor, and the agency from which the
1-17 officer retired for special duty to the same extent as other law
1-18 enforcement officers, except that a special retired peace officer
1-19 may not arrest a person for a violation of Subtitle C, Title 7,
1-20 Transportation Code.
1-21 (c) Before issuance of a commission to a special retired
1-22 peace officer, the officer shall enter into a good and sufficient
1-23 bond that is executed by a surety company authorized to do business
1-24 in the state in the amount of $2,500, that is approved by the
2-1 commission, and that indemnifies all persons against damages
2-2 resulting from an unlawful act of the officer.
2-3 (d) A special retired peace officer is not entitled to
2-4 compensation from the state for service as a special retired peace
2-5 officer.
2-6 (e) A special retired peace officer commission expires
2-7 January 1 of the first odd-numbered year after appointment and is
2-8 renewed automatically on resubmission of a bond as required under
2-9 Subsection (c). The commission may revoke a special retired peace
2-10 officer commission at any time for cause.
2-11 SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 415, Government Code, is
2-12 amended by adding Section 415.0351 to read as follows:
2-13 Sec. 415.0351. WEAPONS PROFICIENCY FOR CERTAIN RETIRED PEACE
2-14 OFFICERS. (a) The Department of Public Safety or a local law
2-15 enforcement agency shall allow an honorably retired commissioned
2-16 officer of the department or agency an opportunity to demonstrate
2-17 annually weapons proficiency as defined by the commission under
2-18 Section 415.035 if the chief law enforcement officer of the agency
2-19 from which the officer retired provides the officer with a written
2-20 statement indicating that:
2-21 (1) the officer's license as a commissioned officer
2-22 was not revoked or suspended for any period during the officer's
2-23 term of service as a commissioned officer; and
2-24 (2) the officer has no psychological or physical
2-25 disability that would interfere with the officer's proper handling
2-26 of a handgun.
2-27 (b) The department or agency shall issue a certificate of
3-1 proficiency to a retired officer who satisfactorily demonstrates
3-2 weapons proficiency under Subsection (a). The department or agency
3-3 shall maintain records of any retired officer who holds a
3-4 certificate issued under this section. A certificate issued under
3-5 this section expires on the first anniversary of the date the
3-6 certificate was issued.
3-7 (c) The commission shall adopt rules for the administration
3-8 of this section and set fees that the department or agency may
3-9 collect to recover the expenses the department or agency incurs in
3-10 performing duties under this section.
3-11 SECTION 3. Section 46.02, Penal Code, is amended by adding
3-12 Subsection (g) to read as follows:
3-13 (g) It is a defense to prosecution under this section for
3-14 the offense of carrying a handgun that the actor was, at the time
3-15 of the commission of the offense, the holder of a certificate
3-16 issued under Section 415.0351, Government Code.
3-17 SECTION 4. Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
3-18 amended by Chapters 260, 621, and 729, Acts of the 74th
3-19 Legislature, Regular Session, 1995, is amended to read as follows:
3-20 Art. 2.12. WHO ARE PEACE OFFICERS. The following are peace
3-21 officers:
3-22 (1) sheriffs and their deputies;
3-23 (2) constables and deputy constables;
3-24 (3) marshals or police officers of an incorporated
3-25 city, town, or village;
3-26 (4) rangers and officers commissioned by the Public
3-27 Safety Commission and the Director of the Department of Public
4-1 Safety;
4-2 (5) investigators of the district attorneys', criminal
4-3 district attorneys', and county attorneys' offices;
4-4 (6) law enforcement agents of the Texas Alcoholic
4-5 Beverage Commission;
4-6 (7) each member of an arson investigating unit
4-7 commissioned by a city, a county, or the state;
4-8 (8) officers commissioned under Section 37.081,
4-9 Education Code, or Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Education Code;
4-10 (9) officers commissioned by the General Services
4-11 Commission;
4-12 (10) law enforcement officers commissioned by the
4-13 Parks and Wildlife Commission;
4-14 (11) airport police officers commissioned by a city
4-15 with a population of more than one million, according to the most
4-16 recent federal census, that operates an airport that serves
4-17 commercial air carriers;
4-18 (12) airport security personnel commissioned as peace
4-19 officers by the governing body of any political subdivision of this
4-20 state, other than a city described by Subdivision (11), that
4-21 operates an airport that serves commercial air carriers;
4-22 (13) municipal park and recreational patrolmen and
4-23 security officers;
4-24 (14) security officers commissioned as peace officers
4-25 by the State Treasurer;
4-26 (15) officers employed [commissioned] by a water
4-27 control and improvement district under Section 49.216 [51.132],
5-1 Water Code;
5-2 (16) officers commissioned by a board of trustees
5-3 under Chapter 341, Acts of the 57th Legislature, Regular Session,
5-4 1961 (Article 1187f, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes);
5-5 (17) investigators commissioned by the Texas State
5-6 Board of Medical Examiners;
5-7 (18) officers commissioned by the board of managers of
5-8 the Dallas County Hospital District, the Tarrant County Hospital
5-9 District, or the Bexar County Hospital District under Section
5-10 281.057, Health and Safety Code;
5-11 (19) county park rangers commissioned under Subchapter
5-12 E, Chapter 351, Local Government Code;
5-13 (20) investigators employed by the Texas Racing
5-14 Commission;
5-15 (21) officers commissioned by the State Board of
5-16 Pharmacy;
5-17 (22) officers commissioned by the governing body of a
5-18 metropolitan rapid transit authority under Section 451.108,
5-19 Transportation Code [13, Chapter 141, Acts of the 63rd Legislature,
5-20 Regular Session, 1973 (Article 1118x, Vernon's Texas Civil
5-21 Statutes)], or by a regional transportation authority under Section
5-22 452.110, Transportation Code [10, Chapter 683, Acts of the 66th
5-23 Legislature, Regular Session, 1979 (Article 1118y, Vernon's Texas
5-24 Civil Statutes)];
5-25 (23) [officers commissioned under the Texas High-Speed
5-26 Rail Act (Article 6674v.2, Revised Statutes);]
5-27 [(24)] investigators commissioned by the attorney
6-1 general under Section 402.009, Government Code;
6-2 (24) [(25)] security officers and investigators
6-3 commissioned as peace officers under Chapter 466, Government Code;
6-4 (25) [(26)] an officer employed by the Texas
6-5 Department of Health under Section 431.2471, Health and Safety
6-6 Code;
6-7 (26) [(27)] officers commissioned [appointed] by an
6-8 appellate court under Subchapter F, Chapter 53, Government Code;
6-9 (27) [(28)] officers commissioned by the state fire
6-10 marshal under Chapter 417, Government Code; [and]
6-11 (28) [(29)] an investigator commissioned by the
6-12 commissioner of insurance under Article 1.10D, Insurance Code;[.]
6-13 (29) apprehension specialists commissioned by the
6-14 Texas Youth Commission as officers under Section 61.0931, Human
6-15 Resources Code; and
6-16 (30) special retired peace officers commissioned under
6-17 Section 415.067, Government Code.
6-18 SECTION 5. The Commission on Law Enforcement Officer
6-19 Standards and Education shall adopt the rules and establish the
6-20 fees required by Section 415.0351, Government Code, as added by
6-21 this Act, not later than January 1, 1998.
6-22 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
6-23 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
6-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-26 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-27 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.