By Patterson                                     S.B. No. 491

      75R4487 ESH-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the provision of bulletproof vests for certain

 1-3     municipal police officers.

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

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 411, Government Code, is

 1-6     amended by adding Section 411.0203 to read as follows:

 1-7           Sec. 411.0203.  PROVISION OF BULLETPROOF VESTS FOR MUNICIPAL

 1-8     POLICE OFFICERS.  (a)  The department shall use money allocated to

 1-9     the department under Article 59.06(j), Code of Criminal Procedure,

1-10     to provide bulletproof vests for municipal police officers.

1-11           (b)  A municipal police department may furnish a bulletproof

1-12     vest provided under this section only to a police officer who is

1-13     engaged in a high-risk activity.  For purposes of this subsection,

1-14     "high-risk activity" includes the investigation and arrest of a

1-15     person suspected of a felony under Chapter 481 or 483, Health and

1-16     Safety Code.

1-17           (c)  The director shall allocate bulletproof vests purchased

1-18     under this section to municipal police departments based on:

1-19                 (1)  the number of high-risk activities engaged in by a

1-20     department's police officers, as determined by the director from

1-21     the information on the nature and number of offenses in the

1-22     municipality reported under Section 411.042; and

1-23                 (2)  the number of police officers in the department.

1-24           (d)  The department may not charge a municipal police

 2-1     department a fee in connection with the provision of bulletproof

 2-2     vests under this section.

 2-3           (e)  The department shall ensure that each bulletproof vest

 2-4     provided under this section is replaced after five years of use by

 2-5     a municipal police department.

 2-6           SECTION 2.  Article 59.06, Code of Criminal Procedure, is

 2-7     amended by adding Subsection (j) to read as follows:

 2-8           (j)  As a specific exception to the requirement of

 2-9     Subsections (c)(1) through (3) of this article, each year on or

2-10     before the date specified by the director of the Department of

2-11     Public Safety, the attorney representing the state or the head of a

2-12     municipal or county law enforcement agency shall send to the

2-13     comptroller for deposit to the state treasury an amount equal to 10

2-14     percent of the gross amount credited to the attorney's or agency's

2-15     fund in the preceding calendar year.  Amounts deposited under this

2-16     subsection may be appropriated only to the Department of Public

2-17     Safety for the purchase of bulletproof vests for municipal police

2-18     officers as provided by Section 411.0203, Government Code.

2-19           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect January 1, 1998.

2-20           SECTION 4.  Article 59.06(j), Code of Criminal Procedure, as

2-21     added by this Act, applies only to funds deposited to the account

2-22     of an attorney representing the state or a municipal or county law

2-23     enforcement agency under Article 59.06, Code of Criminal Procedure,

2-24     on or after January 1, 1998.

2-25           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-26     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-27     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 3-1     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 3-2     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.