By Galloway S.B. No. 732
75R4253 CLG-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to granting a housing authority the authority to employ
1-3 and commission peace officers.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 392, Local Government Code,
1-6 is amended by adding Section 392.066 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 392.066. SECURITY PERSONNEL; PEACE OFFICERS. (a) An
1-8 authority may employ security personnel and may commission its
1-9 security personnel as peace officers for the purpose of protecting:
1-10 (1) occupants of a housing project that is located in
1-11 the territorial boundaries of the authority and operated by the
1-12 authority; and
1-13 (2) the property of a housing project described by
1-14 Subsection (a)(1).
1-15 (b) The primary jurisdiction of a peace officer commissioned
1-16 under this section includes:
1-17 (1) the property of a housing project that is located
1-18 in the territorial boundaries of the authority and operated by the
1-19 authority; and
1-20 (2) the part of a public street or alley that is
1-21 contiguous to the property of a housing project described by
1-22 Subsection (b)(1) and that does not extend beyond the boundaries of
1-23 the property.
1-24 (c) In the peace officer's primary jurisdiction, a peace
2-1 officer commissioned under this section:
2-2 (1) has all the powers, privileges, and immunities of
2-3 a peace officer;
2-4 (2) may, in accordance with Chapter 14, Code of
2-5 Criminal Procedure, arrest without a warrant a person who violates
2-6 a law of the state; and
2-7 (3) may enforce all traffic laws on streets and
2-8 highways.
2-9 (d) Outside a peace officer's primary jurisdiction, a peace
2-10 officer commissioned under this section has the powers, privileges,
2-11 and immunities of a peace officer and may arrest a person who
2-12 violates a law of the state if the peace officer:
2-13 (1) is summoned by another law enforcement agency to
2-14 provide assistance; or
2-15 (2) is assisting another law enforcement agency.
2-16 (e) A person employed as security personnel may not be
2-17 commissioned as a peace officer under this section unless the
2-18 person obtains a license as a peace officer from the Commission on
2-19 Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education under Chapter 415,
2-20 Government Code.
2-21 SECTION 2. Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
2-22 amended to read as follows:
2-23 Art. 2.12. WHO ARE PEACE OFFICERS. The following are peace
2-24 officers:
2-25 (1) sheriffs and their deputies;
2-26 (2) constables and deputy constables;
2-27 (3) marshals or police officers of an incorporated
3-1 city, town, or village;
3-2 (4) rangers and officers commissioned by the Public
3-3 Safety Commission and the Director of the Department of Public
3-4 Safety;
3-5 (5) investigators of the district attorneys', criminal
3-6 district attorneys', and county attorneys' offices;
3-7 (6) law enforcement agents of the Texas Alcoholic
3-8 Beverage Commission;
3-9 (7) each member of an arson investigating unit
3-10 commissioned by a city, a county, or the state;
3-11 (8) officers commissioned under Section 37.081,
3-12 Education Code, or Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Education Code;
3-13 (9) officers commissioned by the General Services
3-14 Commission;
3-15 (10) law enforcement officers commissioned by the
3-16 Parks and Wildlife Commission;
3-17 (11) airport police officers commissioned by a city
3-18 with a population of more than one million, according to the most
3-19 recent federal census, that operates an airport that serves
3-20 commercial air carriers;
3-21 (12) airport security personnel commissioned as peace
3-22 officers by the governing body of any political subdivision of this
3-23 state, other than a city described by Subdivision (11), that
3-24 operates an airport that serves commercial air carriers;
3-25 (13) municipal park and recreational patrolmen and
3-26 security officers;
3-27 (14) security officers commissioned as peace officers
4-1 by the State Treasurer;
4-2 (15) officers commissioned by a water control and
4-3 improvement district under Section 51.132, Water Code;
4-4 (16) officers commissioned by a board of trustees
4-5 under Chapter 341, Acts of the 57th Legislature, Regular Session,
4-6 1961 (Article 1187f, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes);
4-7 (17) investigators commissioned by the Texas State
4-8 Board of Medical Examiners;
4-9 (18) officers commissioned by the board of managers of
4-10 the Dallas County Hospital District, the Tarrant County Hospital
4-11 District, or the Bexar County Hospital District under Section
4-12 281.057, Health and Safety Code;
4-13 (19) county park rangers commissioned under Subchapter
4-14 E, Chapter 351, Local Government Code;
4-15 (20) investigators employed by the Texas Racing
4-16 Commission;
4-17 (21) officers commissioned by the State Board of
4-18 Pharmacy;
4-19 (22) officers commissioned by the governing body of a
4-20 metropolitan rapid transit authority under Section 451.108,
4-21 Transportation Code [13, Chapter 141, Acts of the 63rd Legislature,
4-22 Regular Session, 1973 (Article 1118x, Vernon's Texas Civil
4-23 Statutes)], or by a regional transportation authority under Section
4-24 452.110, Transportation Code [10, Chapter 683, Acts of the 66th
4-25 Legislature, Regular Session, 1979 (Article 1118y, Vernon's Texas
4-26 Civil Statutes)];
4-27 (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 appointed by an appellate court
5-10 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) security personnel commissioned as peace officers
5-19 under Chapter 392, Local Government 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
5-26 passage, and it is so enacted.