By Van de Putte H.B. No. 865
75R3732 CLG-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the powers and duties of peace officers commissioned by
1-3 certain hospital districts.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 281.057, Health and Safety Code, is
1-6 amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (c)-(f)
1-7 to read as follows:
1-8 (b) The primary jurisdiction of a peace officer commissioned
1-9 under this section includes:
1-10 (1) all property owned, leased, or otherwise under the
1-11 control of the district that employs the peace officer; and
1-12 (2) any part of a public street or highway that passes
1-13 through or borders the property of the district.
1-14 (c) In the peace officer's primary jurisdiction, a [A]
1-15 district peace officer:
1-16 (1) is vested with all the powers, privileges, and
1-17 immunities of peace officers;
1-18 (2) may, in accordance with Chapter 14, Code of
1-19 Criminal Procedure, [make an] arrest without a warrant a person who
1-20 violates a law of the state; and
1-21 (3) may enforce all traffic laws on streets and
1-22 highways [if:]
1-23 [(1) the arrest is necessary to prevent or abate the
1-24 commission of a criminal offense and the offense or threatened
2-1 offense occurs on any land, easement, right-of-way, or other
2-2 property owned and controlled by the district; or]
2-3 [(2) the offense involves injury or harm to any
2-4 property owned or controlled by the district].
2-5 (d) Outside a peace officer's primary jurisdiction, a peace
2-6 officer commissioned under this section is vested with all the
2-7 powers, privileges, and immunities of peace officers and may arrest
2-8 a person who violates a law of the state if the peace officer:
2-9 (1) is summoned by another law enforcement agency to
2-10 provide assistance;
2-11 (2) is assisting another law enforcement agency; or
2-12 (3) is otherwise performing the officer's duties as a
2-13 peace officer for the district that employs the officer.
2-14 (e) A peace officer assigned to duty and commissioned under
2-15 this section shall take and file the oath required of peace
2-16 officers, and shall execute and file a bond in the sum of $1,000,
2-17 payable to the district, with two or more sureties, conditioned
2-18 that the peace officer will fairly, impartially, and faithfully
2-19 perform all duties that may be required of the peace officer by
2-20 law. The bond may be sued on in the name of any person injured
2-21 until the whole amount of the bond is recovered.
2-22 (f) A peace officer commissioned under this section must
2-23 obtain a license as a peace officer from the Commission on Law
2-24 Enforcement Officer Standards and Education under Chapter 415,
2-25 Government Code.
2-26 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
2-27 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-4 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-5 passage, and it is so enacted.