By Wentworth                                    S.B. No. 1560

      75R9060 JJT-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the appointment of citizens by a political subdivision

 1-3     to assist in the enforcement of the Texas Litter Abatement Act.

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

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 365, Health and Safety

 1-6     Code, is amended by adding Section 365.0121 to read as follows:

 1-7           Sec. 365.0121.  ENFORCEMENT BY CERTAIN APPOINTED PERSONS.

 1-8     (a)  A political subdivision may appoint a person to have authority

 1-9     to file a charge against a person who commits an offense under

1-10     Section 365.012 by disposing of household waste by placing the

1-11     waste at a roadside park.

1-12           (b)  A person appointed under this section must:

1-13                 (1)  be a United States citizen of good moral character

1-14     who has not been convicted of a felony;

1-15                 (2)  take and subscribe to an oath of office that the

1-16     political subdivision prescribes; and

1-17                 (3)  successfully complete a training program developed

1-18     by the political subdivision.

1-19           (c)  A person appointed under this section:

1-20                 (1)  is not a peace officer;

1-21                 (2)  has no authority other than the authority

1-22     applicable to a citizen to enforce a law other than Section

1-23     365.012; and

1-24                 (3)  may not carry a weapon while performing duties

 2-1     under this section.

 2-2           (d)  A person appointed under this section is not entitled to

 2-3     compensation for performing duties under this section or to

 2-4     indemnification from the political subdivision or the state for

 2-5     injury or property damage the person sustains or liability the

 2-6     person incurs in performing duties under this section.

 2-7           (e)  The political subdivision and the state are not liable

 2-8     for any damage arising from an act or omission of a person

 2-9     appointed under Subsection (a) in performing duties under this

2-10     section.

2-11           (f)  In this section, "roadside park" has the meaning

2-12     assigned by Section 392.002, Transportation Code.

2-13           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-14     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-15     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-16     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-17     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

2-18     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

2-19     passage, and it is so enacted.