1-1 By: Galloway S.B. No. 732
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed February 24, 1997; February 26, 1997,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
1-4 April 23, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 5,
1-5 Nays 1; April 23, 1997, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to granting a housing authority the authority to employ
1-9 and commission peace officers.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 392, Local Government Code,
1-12 is amended by adding Section 392.066 to read as follows:
1-13 Sec. 392.066. SECURITY PERSONNEL; PEACE OFFICERS. (a) An
1-14 authority may employ security personnel and may commission its
1-15 security personnel as peace officers for the purpose of protecting:
1-16 (1) occupants of a housing project that is located in
1-17 the territorial boundaries of the authority and operated by the
1-18 authority; and
1-19 (2) the property of a housing project described by
1-20 Subsection (a)(1).
1-21 (b) The primary jurisdiction of a peace officer commissioned
1-22 under this section includes:
1-23 (1) the property of a housing project that is located
1-24 in the territorial boundaries of the authority and operated by the
1-25 authority; and
1-26 (2) the part of a public street or alley that is
1-27 contiguous to the property of a housing project described by
1-28 Subsection (b)(1) and that does not extend beyond the boundaries of
1-29 the property.
1-30 (c) In the peace officer's primary jurisdiction, a peace
1-31 officer commissioned under this section:
1-32 (1) has all the powers, privileges, and immunities of
1-33 a peace officer;
1-34 (2) may, in accordance with Chapter 14, Code of
1-35 Criminal Procedure, arrest without a warrant a person who violates
1-36 a law of the state; and
1-37 (3) may enforce all traffic laws on streets and
1-38 highways.
1-39 (d) Outside a peace officer's primary jurisdiction, a peace
1-40 officer commissioned under this section has the powers, privileges,
1-41 and immunities of a peace officer and may arrest a person who
1-42 violates a law of the state if the peace officer:
1-43 (1) is summoned by another law enforcement agency to
1-44 provide assistance; or
1-45 (2) is assisting another law enforcement agency.
1-46 (e) Persons employed as security personnel may not be
1-47 commissioned as peace officers under this section unless such
1-48 persons obtain licenses as peace officers from the Commission on
1-49 Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education under Chapter 415,
1-50 Government Code.
1-51 SECTION 2. Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-52 amended to read as follows:
1-53 Art. 2.12. WHO ARE PEACE OFFICERS. The following are peace
1-54 officers:
1-55 (1) sheriffs and their deputies;
1-56 (2) constables and deputy constables;
1-57 (3) marshals or police officers of an incorporated
1-58 city, town, or village;
1-59 (4) rangers and officers commissioned by the Public
1-60 Safety Commission and the Director of the Department of Public
1-61 Safety;
1-62 (5) investigators of the district attorneys', criminal
1-63 district attorneys', and county attorneys' offices;
1-64 (6) law enforcement agents of the Texas Alcoholic
2-1 Beverage Commission;
2-2 (7) each member of an arson investigating unit
2-3 commissioned by a city, a county, or the state;
2-4 (8) officers commissioned under Section 37.081,
2-5 Education Code, or Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Education Code;
2-6 (9) officers commissioned by the General Services
2-7 Commission;
2-8 (10) law enforcement officers commissioned by the
2-9 Parks and Wildlife Commission;
2-10 (11) airport police officers commissioned by a city
2-11 with a population of more than one million, according to the most
2-12 recent federal census, that operates an airport that serves
2-13 commercial air carriers;
2-14 (12) airport security personnel commissioned as peace
2-15 officers by the governing body of any political subdivision of this
2-16 state, other than a city described by Subdivision (11), that
2-17 operates an airport that serves commercial air carriers;
2-18 (13) municipal park and recreational patrolmen and
2-19 security officers;
2-20 (14) security officers commissioned as peace officers
2-21 by the State Treasurer;
2-22 (15) officers commissioned by a water control and
2-23 improvement district under Section 51.132, Water Code;
2-24 (16) officers commissioned by a board of trustees
2-25 under Chapter 341, Acts of the 57th Legislature, Regular Session,
2-26 1961 (Article 1187f, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes);
2-27 (17) investigators commissioned by the Texas State
2-28 Board of Medical Examiners;
2-29 (18) officers commissioned by the board of managers of
2-30 the Dallas County Hospital District, the Tarrant County Hospital
2-31 District, or the Bexar County Hospital District under Section
2-32 281.057, Health and Safety Code;
2-33 (19) county park rangers commissioned under Subchapter
2-34 E, Chapter 351, Local Government Code;
2-35 (20) investigators employed by the Texas Racing
2-36 Commission;
2-37 (21) officers commissioned by the State Board of
2-38 Pharmacy;
2-39 (22) officers commissioned by the governing body of a
2-40 metropolitan rapid transit authority under Section 451.108,
2-41 Transportation Code [13, Chapter 141, Acts of the 63rd Legislature,
2-42 Regular Session, 1973 (Article 1118x, Vernon's Texas Civil
2-43 Statutes)], or by a regional transportation authority under Section
2-44 452.110, Transportation Code [10, Chapter 683, Acts of the 66th
2-45 Legislature, Regular Session, 1979 (Article 1118y, Vernon's Texas
2-46 Civil Statutes)];
2-47 (23) [officers commissioned under the Texas High-Speed
2-48 Rail Act (Article 6674v.2, Revised Statutes);]
2-49 [(24)] investigators commissioned by the attorney
2-50 general under Section 402.009, Government Code;
2-51 (24) [(25)] security officers and investigators
2-52 commissioned as peace officers under Chapter 466, Government Code;
2-53 (25) [(26)] an officer employed by the Texas
2-54 Department of Health under Section 431.2471, Health and Safety
2-55 Code;
2-56 (26) [(27)] officers appointed by an appellate court
2-57 under Subchapter F, Chapter 53, Government Code;
2-58 (27) [(28)] officers commissioned by the state fire
2-59 marshal under Chapter 417, Government Code; [and]
2-60 (28) [(29)] an investigator commissioned by the
2-61 commissioner of insurance under Article 1.10D, Insurance Code;[.]
2-62 (29) apprehension specialists commissioned by the
2-63 Texas Youth Commission as officers under Section 61.0931, Human
2-64 Resources Code; and
2-65 (30) security personnel commissioned as peace officers
2-66 under Chapter 392, Local Government Code.
2-67 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
2-68 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-69 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,
3-3 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-4 passage, and it is so enacted.
3-5 * * * * *