By: Haywood, Fraser, Ellis S.B. No. 270
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to peace officers of hospitals in certain municipalities.
1-2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-3 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 311, Health and Safety
1-4 Code, is amended by adding Section 311.004 to read as follows:
1-5 Sec. 311.004. PEACE OFFICERS OF HOSPITALS IN CERTAIN
1-6 MUNICIPALITIES. (a) The governing board of a nonprofit hospital
1-7 or hospital district in a municipality with a population of 45,000
1-8 or more may employ and commission peace officers to protect the
1-9 hospital.
1-10 (b) A hospital that commissions a peace officer under this
1-11 section shall pay all certification or licensing fees for the peace
1-12 officer license that are charged by the Commission on Law
1-13 Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.
1-14 (c) The primary jurisdiction of a peace officer commissioned
1-15 by a hospital under this section includes:
1-16 (1) the property owned or controlled by the hospital;
1-17 and
1-18 (2) the part of any public street or alley that is
1-19 contiguous to hospital property.
1-20 (d) Within a peace officer's primary jurisdiction, a peace
1-21 officer commissioned under this section:
1-22 (1) is vested with all the powers, privileges, and
1-23 immunities of peace officers;
2-1 (2) may, in accordance with Chapter 14, Code of
2-2 Criminal Procedure, arrest without a warrant any person who
2-3 violates a law of this state; and
2-4 (3) may enforce all traffic laws on streets and
2-5 highways.
2-6 (e) Outside a peace officer's primary jurisdiction, a peace
2-7 officer commissioned under this section is vested with all the
2-8 powers, privileges, and immunities of peace officers and may arrest
2-9 any person who violates any law of this state if the peace officer:
2-10 (1) is summoned by a law enforcement agency to provide
2-11 assistance; or
2-12 (2) is assisting a law enforcement agency.
2-13 SECTION 2. Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
2-14 amended by Chapters 621 and 729, Acts of the 74th Legislature,
2-15 1995, is amended to read as follows:
2-16 Art. 2.12. WHO ARE PEACE OFFICERS. The following are peace
2-17 officers:
2-18 (1) sheriffs and their deputies;
2-19 (2) constables and deputy constables;
2-20 (3) marshals or police officers of an incorporated
2-21 city, town, or village;
2-22 (4) rangers and officers commissioned by the Public
2-23 Safety Commission and the Director of the Department of Public
2-24 Safety;
2-25 (5) investigators of the district attorneys', criminal
3-1 district attorneys', and county attorneys' offices;
3-2 (6) law enforcement agents of the Texas Alcoholic
3-3 Beverage Commission;
3-4 (7) each member of an arson investigating unit
3-5 commissioned by a city, a county, or the state;
3-6 (8) officers commissioned under Section 37.081,
3-7 Education Code, or Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Education Code;
3-8 (9) officers commissioned by the General Services
3-9 Commission;
3-10 (10) law enforcement officers commissioned by the
3-11 Parks and Wildlife Commission;
3-12 (11) airport police officers commissioned by a city
3-13 with a population of more than one million, according to the most
3-14 recent federal census, that operates an airport that serves
3-15 commercial air carriers;
3-16 (12) airport security personnel commissioned as peace
3-17 officers by the governing body of any political subdivision of this
3-18 state, other than a city described by Subdivision (11), that
3-19 operates an airport that serves commercial air carriers;
3-20 (13) municipal park and recreational patrolmen and
3-21 security officers;
3-22 (14) security officers commissioned as peace officers
3-23 by the State Treasurer;
3-24 (15) peace officers employed [commissioned] by a water
3-25 control and improvement district under Section 49.216 [51.132],
4-1 Water Code;
4-2 (16) officers commissioned by a board of trustees
4-3 under Chapter 341, Acts of the 57th Legislature, Regular Session,
4-4 1961 (Article 1187f, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes);
4-5 (17) investigators commissioned by the Texas State
4-6 Board of Medical Examiners;
4-7 (18) officers commissioned by the board of managers of
4-8 the Dallas County Hospital District, the Tarrant County Hospital
4-9 District, or the Bexar County Hospital District under Section
4-10 281.057, Health and Safety Code;
4-11 (19) county park rangers commissioned under Subchapter
4-12 E, Chapter 351, Local Government Code;
4-13 (20) investigators employed by the Texas Racing
4-14 Commission;
4-15 (21) officers commissioned by the State Board of
4-16 Pharmacy;
4-17 (22) officers commissioned by the governing body of a
4-18 metropolitan rapid transit authority under Section 451.108,
4-19 Transportation Code [13, Chapter 141, Acts of the 63rd Legislature,
4-20 Regular Session, 1973 (Article 1118x, Vernon's Texas Civil
4-21 Statutes)], or by a regional transportation authority under Section
4-22 452.110, Transportation Code [10, Chapter 683, Acts of the 66th
4-23 Legislature, Regular Session, 1979 (Article 1118y, Vernon's Texas
4-24 Civil Statutes)];
4-25 (23) [officers commissioned under the Texas High-Speed
5-1 Rail Act (Article 6674v.2, Revised Statutes);]
5-2 [(24)] investigators commissioned by the attorney
5-3 general under Section 402.009, Government Code;
5-4 (24) [(25)] security officers and investigators
5-5 commissioned as peace officers under Chapter 466, Government Code;
5-6 (25) [(26)] an officer employed by the Texas
5-7 Department of Health under Section 431.2471, Health and Safety
5-8 Code;
5-9 (26) [(27)] officers commissioned [appointed] by an
5-10 appellate court under Subchapter F, Chapter 53, Government Code;
5-11 (27) [(28)] officers commissioned by the state fire
5-12 marshal under Chapter 417, Government Code; [and]
5-13 (28) [(29)] an investigator commissioned by the
5-14 commissioner of insurance under Article 1.10D, Insurance Code;[.]
5-15 (29) apprehension specialists commissioned by the
5-16 Texas Youth Commission as officers under Section 61.0931, Human
5-17 Resources Code; and
5-18 (30) officers commissioned by a hospital under Section
5-19 311.004, Health and Safety Code.
5-20 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
5-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-25 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-1 passage, and it is so enacted.