By Haywood S.B. No. 270
75R425 DLF-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to peace officers of hospitals in certain municipalities.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 311, Health and Safety
1-5 Code, is amended by adding Section 311.004 to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 311.004. PEACE OFFICERS OF HOSPITALS IN CERTAIN
1-7 MUNICIPALITIES. (a) The governing board of a hospital in a
1-8 municipality with a population of 45,000 or more may employ and
1-9 commission peace officers to protect the 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;
1-24 (2) may, in accordance with Chapter 14, Code of
2-1 Criminal Procedure, arrest without a warrant any person who
2-2 violates a law of this state; and
2-3 (3) may enforce all traffic laws on streets and
2-4 highways.
2-5 (e) 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 any person who violates any law of this state if the peace officer:
2-9 (1) is summoned by a law enforcement agency to provide
2-10 assistance; or
2-11 (2) is assisting a law enforcement agency.
2-12 (f) In this section, "hospital" has the meaning assigned by
2-13 Section 311.031.
2-14 SECTION 2. Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
2-15 amended by Chapters 621 and 729, Acts of the 74th Legislature,
2-16 Regular Session, 1995, is amended to read as follows:
2-17 Art. 2.12. WHO ARE PEACE OFFICERS. The following are peace
2-18 officers:
2-19 (1) sheriffs and their deputies;
2-20 (2) constables and deputy constables;
2-21 (3) marshals or police officers of an incorporated
2-22 city, town, or village;
2-23 (4) rangers and officers commissioned by the Public
2-24 Safety Commission and the Director of the Department of Public
2-25 Safety;
2-26 (5) investigators of the district attorneys', criminal
2-27 district attorneys', and county attorneys' offices;
3-1 (6) law enforcement agents of the Texas Alcoholic
3-2 Beverage Commission;
3-3 (7) each member of an arson investigating unit
3-4 commissioned by a city, a county, or the state;
3-5 (8) officers commissioned under Section 37.081,
3-6 Education Code, or Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Education Code;
3-7 (9) officers commissioned by the General Services
3-8 Commission;
3-9 (10) law enforcement officers commissioned by the
3-10 Parks and Wildlife Commission;
3-11 (11) airport police officers commissioned by a city
3-12 with a population of more than one million, according to the most
3-13 recent federal census, that operates an airport that serves
3-14 commercial air carriers;
3-15 (12) airport security personnel commissioned as peace
3-16 officers by the governing body of any political subdivision of this
3-17 state, other than a city described by Subdivision (11), that
3-18 operates an airport that serves commercial air carriers;
3-19 (13) municipal park and recreational patrolmen and
3-20 security officers;
3-21 (14) security officers commissioned as peace officers
3-22 by the State Treasurer;
3-23 (15) officers employed [commissioned] by a water
3-24 control and improvement district under Section 49.216 [51.132],
3-25 Water Code;
3-26 (16) officers commissioned by a board of trustees
3-27 under Chapter 341, Acts of the 57th Legislature, Regular Session,
4-1 1961 (Article 1187f, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes);
4-2 (17) investigators commissioned by the Texas State
4-3 Board of Medical Examiners;
4-4 (18) officers commissioned by the board of managers of
4-5 the Dallas County Hospital District, the Tarrant County Hospital
4-6 District, or the Bexar County Hospital District under Section
4-7 281.057, Health and Safety Code;
4-8 (19) county park rangers commissioned under Subchapter
4-9 E, Chapter 351, Local Government Code;
4-10 (20) investigators employed by the Texas Racing
4-11 Commission;
4-12 (21) officers commissioned by the State Board of
4-13 Pharmacy;
4-14 (22) officers commissioned by the governing body of a
4-15 metropolitan rapid transit authority under Section 451.108,
4-16 Transportation Code [13, Chapter 141, Acts of the 63rd Legislature,
4-17 Regular Session, 1973 (Article 1118x, Vernon's Texas Civil
4-18 Statutes)], or by a regional transportation authority under Section
4-19 452.110, Transportation Code [10, Chapter 683, Acts of the 66th
4-20 Legislature, Regular Session, 1979 (Article 1118y, Vernon's Texas
4-21 Civil Statutes)];
4-22 (23) [officers commissioned under the Texas High-Speed
4-23 Rail Act (Article 6674v.2, Revised Statutes);]
4-24 [(24)] investigators commissioned by the attorney
4-25 general under Section 402.009, Government Code;
4-26 (24) [(25)] security officers and investigators
4-27 commissioned as peace officers under Chapter 466, Government Code;
5-1 (25) [(26)] an officer employed by the Texas
5-2 Department of Health under Section 431.2471, Health and Safety
5-3 Code;
5-4 (26) [(27)] officers commissioned [appointed] by an
5-5 appellate court under Subchapter F, Chapter 53, Government Code;
5-6 (27) [(28)] officers commissioned by the state fire
5-7 marshal under Chapter 417, Government Code; [and]
5-8 (28) [(29)] an investigator commissioned by the
5-9 commissioner of insurance under Article 1.10D, Insurance Code;[.]
5-10 (29) apprehension specialists commissioned by the
5-11 Texas Youth Commission as officers under Section 61.0931, Human
5-12 Resources Code; and
5-13 (30) officers commissioned by a hospital under Section
5-14 311.004, Health and Safety Code.
5-15 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
5-16 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-17 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-18 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-19 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-20 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-21 passage, and it is so enacted.